Why Guess About Dates At All? (page 2)

carla

I grew up in a main stream protestant religion and was taught it was sinful to attempt to set dates at all. Maybe sinful is the wrong word but I clearly remember it was a sign of a false teacher if anyone claimed to know a date or attempt to set one.

Pickled

When I was studying this religion with the JW I asked why the 1975 prediction was generally disregarded. The answer I was given by several was that the WTBTS never gave that specific date and it was only those spiritually weak ones who chose to take that date literally and then become disillusioned when it did not come to pass.

To confirm that explanation I looked it up. They did in fact PROVE with their time lines and charts that 1975 was the definite date. They made it clear. They stated it clearly. They use those same charts still today only for different dates.
Then when it didn't come to pass they blamed those who questioned that failure for being spiritually weak and taking those dates too literally. This is where the current members got that idea that it was over zealous and weak members who got it wrong.

It amazes me that the WTBTS makes it a disfellowshipping offense to read religious literature other than their own, and even states clearly that what they are providing in the way of literature is so necessary that even if the believer were to rely on the Bible alone, in just a short amount of time with reading only the Bible itself the believer would fall into a state of unbelief. That means that there is no greater Gospel than the literature produced by the WTBTS.

Given that fact, it seems so irresponsible and callous to turn around and blame the members for believing so strongly in the words that the WTBTS actually presented as that same supreme Gospel.

If anyone has those clearly stated predictions on hand and can post them on this thread I would really appreciate that. Potential new converts are hearing the same things I heard and I think it would benefit them greatly if they could see those statements in writing for themselves. I can type them out here, but I think it would have a greater impact to see the actual scanned in pages.

Pickled

Thank you NEJ for pointing me in that direction. I will look that up.

R.Crusoe

The WTBTS are a bookmaker gambling casino enticing people with their attractive 'odds' of dates and being saved!

They just love to see you empty out all the chips in your soul so the WT croupier has your life on its soliataire wheel of fortune!

When you realise this it's easy to know you've been had!

How to build a new soulbank is not so easy!

SPAZnik

Excellent point, Pickled.

MOG

Thanks Neverending on the Ray Franz info..I already heard from it..at this point of my life I really dont need more convincing about the truth of the JW...it gives me a headache actually.

Recently I left my last church because for the 1st time they started speaking in tongues and all I though about was 1 Corinthians on this subject and I will never go back..It freaked me out..So right now I will stay without religion and be happy

One website I find most interesting..is www.bible-truths.com...

BurnTheShips

It is hilarious when they say about stuff like 1975 "we aren't servants of Jehovah for a date, we are servants forever".

Then they show themselves to be the biggest date-mongers of all.

Burn

Pickled

I understand what you are saying R. Crusoe, and I think I am feeling very fortunate today, and that is why this is on my mind. I feel fortunate that I did so much research and spent so much time combing through the literature and teachings of the JW before making a decision. I was presented with some ideas and those ideas intrigued me, and for a time I made it my goal to immerse myself in the environment and teachings as a way to know more than just reading words on a page could provide.

The literature provides one message, and the environment adds to that message with a structure and practices that are somewhat different from what the literature indicates and that the general public is offered. I would not have known this had I simply focused exclusively on the literature alone.

I feel fortunate because the way I went about it allowed me to see how this literature is actually put into practice. There is the literature that offers scriptural insights, and then there is the actual life of the Jehovah’s Witness. The struggling and the sharing about the difficult transitions that people on this website have had to make upon leaving this religion is not because of what was in the literature alone. It is because of the way the teachings are put into practice as well. I think that maybe most of the members themselves don’t realize the differences in the two. It seems as though they continue to think year after year that those wonderful insights they are reading in their magazines are the sum total of their entire religion, and then eventually they feel baffled, confused, and deeply hurt when someone in authority over them seems to have the unlimited ability to question everything they believe and any and all of their possibly hidden motives or sins. They find themselves walking in the shoes of Hannah with Eli assigning a suspicious motive to their attempt to offer their best.

It seems designed in a way that creates such a heavy load that taxes the believer year after year, always in fear of being disciplined or suspected of something or, even when they are giving it all they’ve got, just simply always and constantly made to feel they are falling just short of who they really have the potential to be.

I just feel fortunate today because I decided after looking so carefully, to not embrace this religion or the method they offer for having a relationship with God. It did have a profound effect on me even though I never joined and I could feel myself gradually being lowered into some sort of system that I could see would eventually crush me under its’ weight. It affected me enough to want to take the time to offer in posts my sincere thoughts and observations about this religion that others may be considering as I once was. I thought I had such a strong mind, but the way these teachings are fed to a potential new convert, in a gradual piecemeal way that leaves out all the distasteful and hard to swallow bits, I was actually shocked when I realized suddenly just how much of my thinking was becoming wrapped around this religion, and how little time it took. A Witness reading this would likely respond to this comment with “Well, isn’t it a good thing for your mind to become ‘wrapped’ around the teachings of Jehovah’s Organization?”

My answer would be it is a good thing for your mind to become wrapped around those things that are true. But when your mind becomes wrapped around something that has rendered you incapable of identifying a lie when you see it, then it is not the truth around which your mind is wrapped.

Pickled

Thank you SPAZnik, and you too MOG and others for your contributions to this ongoing discussion.

R.Crusoe

Your thinking is close to clear pickled!

Very perceptive!

It's amazing that those who have only ever known JW life, 2nd 3rd or more generation etc., have no perspective other than to keep beating believers with burdens too great for any human to feel happy and joyful. Kepp everyone coming back to their soliataire tables!

It's good to see your views were preserved before your belief slipped too far to let your mind stay linked to you as a person!

Maybe you played a few chips and felt you were winning but saw the long timers were big losers???

Why Guess About Dates At All?

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