Things to understand about talking to a Jehovah's Witness... (page 3)

5go

The problem though is they better be doubting before you try or else whammo! He(she) tells the elders you are in doubt, and need more help than they can provide; and then you are in an interrogation, or a JC. The watchtower has been planning a counter to this for a while.

SirNose586

How about the "those are just men" aka: "imperfect men make mistakes that will be corrected" fallacy? grr.

That was an easy one for me, one thing that my grampa kept saying to me. I reminded him that imperfect men who are trying to figure out doctrine should at least admit that they aren't sure of what the "best answer" is. Furthermore, if they have the wrong answer to doctrine, why do they throw out and spiritually destroy the fellow slaves who think differently, who aren't trying to sway others? And if said person was thrown out but later found out to be in the right, do they apologize and immediately bring him back in the congregation? No, they do not. If they were just trying to figure out the answer for everyone else, they would have the humility to admit that they do not know the full answer on a certain doctrine. Instead, policy changes instantly, and anyone who doesn't toe the line is given the boot. This behavior is hardly befitting a "discreet" servant.

drew sagan

Thanks for all the positive comments. I'm glad this has been helpful.

TD
Thanks for pointing out the 'Burning House' analogy. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't remember it when I was writing everything out.

willyloman
You are so right when you say it is best for people not to talk with the Elders when they fade. It's exactly what I did. The only reason I eventually did was because charges had been brought against me and my wife. If that never happened then we would never have been bothered by them.

Robert222
In your situation I would suggest you to do some of the things I wrote about at the end of the article. Instaed of focusing on facts and debates that focus on the Watchtower, discuss things with here that will help her develop the ability to see a bad argument when it comes her way. Empowering a person can like this can do a lot of good.

5go What you said is so true. That's why I say if you realize where the JW is you can indirectly do things to possibly help get the person past the bad methods of reasoning and skip in depth arguments about the Watchtower altogether. Talking about other religious groups that are similiar and share the same bogus methods of reasoning is very helpful.

SirNose586
You said:

I reminded him that imperfect men who are trying to figure out doctrine should at least admit that they aren't sure of what the "best answer" is.

Excellent point! Said in one sentence and very well put. I'm going to store that one in my memory bank.

5go

Talking about other religious groups that are similiar and share the same bogus methods of reasoning is very helpful.

Sorry my attempt at that ended in an interrogation. Becareful no matter what! If they are still plugged in they might consult the elders. Then the elders will ask" where did you here that?". Then the elders come looking for you, and fade over.

willyloman

What really struck me is how quickly dubs can move back and forth between positions without noticing the conflict.

This is the classic definition of a dub-related condition often discussed on this forum: "cognitive dissonance."

drew sagan

Sorry my attempt at that ended in an interrogation. Becareful no matter what! If they are still plugged in they might consult the elders. Then the elders will ask" where did you here that?". Then the elders come looking for you, and fade over.

This is why one should always use discression when talking with fellow JWs. If you can get away from the JW world without having to discuss anything at all, then it is usually better that way. If one has to engage it at all (wife or husband is in, kids, parents, ect) it can be helpful.

I also think that the relationships people share make a difference as well. Talking with your spouse is one thing, talking with your parents is another. Each situation is different. Some people you are around every day, others you are not.

Discression is always needed because some JWs are barley hanging on while others are as solid as stone. It can be very difficult to tell.

NeverKnew

marked

HeyThere

saving...

my convos are now beyond my husband amd with my study sisters. they have embraced my questions. they said hey wished more people had questions....we shall see.

i took the approach of telling them that i know longer want to book study, but have a list of topics that i want supported by the bible only... they agreed. quite happilly. we had quite the conversation today. one of them was very shocked by stuff I read from old wt. she is going to start her own research, she said.

thank you to this site and alll of th

e and contributers for helping me see my way clearer in this haze of dub i have find myself in...

losingit

Love this thread

nonjwspouse

Very good insight at the reasoning of the JW. It's about how they think, how they decide what is real and true. If that can be tackled, and only after that is tackled, then the doctrines will sort of out themselves. The doctrines cannot survive critical thinking.

Though it is incredibally frustrating when a JW posseses critical thinking skills, yet will completely turn it off when it comes to the WT. True deep indoctrination.

Things to understand about talking to a Jehovah's Witness...

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