January 15th 1983 Watchtower

by Bring_the_Light 21 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Mary

  The question box at the end of the article contains the question "What is an evidence of independent thinking, and what can help us to avoid it? "
  
  The clear answers from the paragraphs are that noting that "Gods organization has made adjustments in the past, to point out their fallability is the result of "Pride" and independent thinking can be avoided by remembering where you learned Bible truths in the first place. "

  Yes, especially when you consider what the WTS has on it's own website:

  Do Not Be a Victim of Propaganda! "A fool will believe anything." —P ROVERBS 14:15, T ODAY'S E NGLISH V ERSION. THERE is a difference—a big difference—between education and propaganda. Education shows you how to think. Propaganda tells you what to think. Good educators present all sides of an issue and encourage discussion. Propagandists relentlessly force you to hear their view and discourage discussion. Often their real motives are not apparent. They sift the facts, exploiting the useful ones and concealing the others. They also distort and twist facts, specializing in lies and half-truths. Your emotions, not your logical thinking abilities, are their target. The propagandist makes sure that his message appears to be the right and moral one and that it gives you a sense of importance and belonging if you follow it.You are one of the smart ones, you are not alone, you are comfortable and secure—so they say. How can you protect yourself from the types of people that the Bible calls "profitless talkers" and "deceivers of the mind"? ( Titus 1:10 ) Once you are familiar with some of their tricks, you are in a better position to evaluate any message or information that comes your way. Here are some ways to do this. Be selective: A completely open mind could be likened to a pipe that lets just anything flow through it—even sewage. No one wants a mind contaminated with poison. Solomon, a king and educator in ancient times, warned: "Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps." ( Proverbs 14:15 ) So we need to be selective. We need to scrutinize whatever is presented to us, deciding what to accept and what to reject. However, we do not want to be so narrow that we refuse to consider facts that can improve our thinking. How can we find the right balance? By adopting a standard with which to measure new information. Here a Christian has a source of great wisdom. He has the Bible as a sure guide for his thinking. On the one hand, his mind is open, that is, receptive to new information. He properly weighs such new information against the Bible standard and fits what is true into his pattern of thinking. On the other hand, his mind sees the danger of information that is entirely inconsistent with his Bible-based values.
  Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant or misleading information		Use discernment: Discernment is "acuteness of judgment." It is "the power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another." A person with discernment perceives subtleties of ideas or things and has good judgment. Using discernment, we will be able to recognize those who are merely using "smooth talk and complimentary speech" in order to "seduce the hearts of guileless ones." ( Romans 16:18 ) Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant information or misleading facts and distinguish the substance of a matter. But how can you discern when something is misleading? Put information to the test: "Beloved ones," said John, a first-century Christian teacher, "do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions." ( 1 John 4:1 ) Some people today are like sponges; they soak up whatever they come across. It is all too easy to absorb whatever is around us.
• 

  undercover

  I remember that article well...I had a hard time with it.

  I kept thinking...shouldn't we be able to think for ourselves? Something stood out as very wrong about that article.

  And the WT that came out about cults. It showed a yound couple in door to door work and the title was something like, "Jehovah's Witnesses - cult or religion?" And I remember thinking...if you have to publish a whole magazine defending the charges against being a cult...maybe, just maybe...something's wrong.

  I had flashes of rational thought and logic and then I'd slip back into WT-think and the doubts would get suppressed. Later when it was too much, those two instances came rushing back as early indications that subconciously I knew something was wrong.
• 

  StAnn

  Be selective: A completely open mind could be likened to a pipe that lets just anything flow through it—even sewage. No one wants a mind contaminated with poison. Solomon, a king and educator in ancient times, warned: "Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps." ( Proverbs 14:15 ) So we need to be selective. We need to scrutinize whatever is presented to us, deciding what to accept and what to reject.

  If the Dubs applied this advice to their lives, they'd take the literature offered to them by others they meet at the door, visit websites they are referred to, scrutinize the data and then decide whether to accept or reject it. But doing that would get them DF'd. Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies. The WTS should be able to do an entire magazine about propaganda, since they are expert at using it.

  I hate the WTS and I have a very low tolerance for Dubs who are too stupid to even question or doubt what they're told. I know that's not kind but it's true. I'm losing patience with my Dub family because it's just appalling to be related to people who choose to remain so ignorant.

  StAnn
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  Steve_C

  I faded away over 10 years ago. However, if I had still been in, I'm sure this "independent thinking" crap would have done the trick, especially the recent KM that discouraged witnesses from independently studying ancient Hebrew and Greek. Hello WTS...paranoid much?!
• 

  BluesBrother

  w83 1/15 p. 27 pars. 19-21 Armed for the Fight Against Wicked Spirits *

  "As we study the Bible we learn that Jehovah has always guided his servants in an organized way. And just as in the first century there was only one true Christian organization, so today Jehovah is using only one organization. (Ephesians 4:4, 5; Matthew 24:45-47) Yet there are some who point out that the organization has had to make adjustments before, and so they argue: "This shows that we have to make up our own mind on what to believe." This is independent thinking. Why is it so dangerous?

  20

  Such thinking is an evidence of pride. And the Bible says: "Pride is before a crash, and a haughty spirit before stumbling." (Proverbs 16:18) If we get to thinking that we know better than the organization, we should ask ourselves: "Where did we learn Bible truth in the first place? Would we know the way of the truth if it had not been for guidance from the organization? Really, can we get along without the direction of God’s organization?" No, we cannot!—Compare Acts 15:2, 28, 29; 16:4, 5.

  21

  When we consider the mighty spirit forces who are fighting against us, we must acknowledge that on our own we could not possibly win. Yet with God’s backing, and with the help and support of his organization—our worldwide association of brothers—we cannot lose. (Psalm 118:6-12; 1 Peter 5:9) However, we must never forget that we are in a spiritual war, and that wartime is no time to be relaxing, enjoying only leisure and the pleasures of life. Rather, it is the time for vigorous training, alertness and self-sacrifice. The enemy has been able to get some from among us to relax their guard, and these have become battle casualties. May this never happen to us! It will not if we keep on "the complete suit of armor from God" and "stand firm against the [crafty acts] of the Devil."

  ......................................................................................................................

  This is an evidence of control ..evidence of a cult like attitude ..It is what The Bible calls pride and boasting. I saw the recent assembly drama on You Tube, it had the same message ..Trust us because we know what is good for you..I liked this article on identifying a cult, Enough said :

  http://www.religio.de/cudef.html
• 

  OUTLAW

  I can`t count how many times have I heard.."Why would you want to think for yourself,when the Watchtower does it for us.".........Yes,Im serious!..LOL!!...................................OUTLAW
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  kurtbethel

  "and independent thinking can be avoided by remembering where you learned Bible truths in the first place."

  Let me see....hmmmm...oh yeah, from the Bible!"
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  VM44

  The Watchtower wrote once that "it isn't necessary for an individual to to their own research as there are brothers at Bethel" who have already done the research for them.

  Anyone remember that quote?
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  Eliveleth

  This WT study was the last one I ever attended. I only went to one other meeting and that was the memorial that year.

  After this WT study, I was totally disillusioned about the WT. The organization that I had thought to be God's began to seemlike it was attacking the "sheep". The scripture came to mind Ezekiel 34:

  1" The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

  7 " 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

  11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

  17 " 'As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

  20 " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered."

  This was the last straw. It began with the abuse of the elders in our congregation against a friend and ended with this Watchtower in 1983. During the study, people were like in a feeding frenzy. The WT was calling names and the people in the congregation were like sharks. One brother made the comment (as if it was a great sin) "They have even found groups studying just THE BIBLE in their rooms". "Dogs returning to their vomit", spiritual adulterers and other name-calling comes to my mind. I left that meeting with a sick feeling in my stomach. My exit was quick. About 6 months as I recall. After this WT study, I could not longer stomach being in the congregation. It just changed my view of my "loving brothers".

  This WT showed me that the WT was not the "faithful and discreet slave of Matthew 24:45 but the "evil slave" of Matthew 24:48.

  Velta
• 

  Bring_the_Light(ghost)

  Eliveth (sp?):

  That's really cool that this WT article was illuminating for you too.

  I could have sworn that there was some pamphlet handed out at some SAD that had the same sentiment. My clearest recollection of feeling angry at the Borg was this concept of "not having independant thought". I remember there was a long talk about the merits of not thinking and then a little pamphlet that said "something like" "Avoid Independant Thought".

  Looking for this pamphlet led me to this WT article, but if anyone knows what SAD tract I'm talking about and can get me a copy. I can make it worth your while.

  This very concept that "god doesn't want you to think" is what draws the line for me between a religion I don't happen to believe is correct and a dangerous, evil, borganization that must be resisted. Its pure evil.

  If I ever get the mood to picket conventions, my sign with say "STOP TORMENTING SMART PEOPLE". :oP

  Speaking of not tormenting smart people, please take note that I'm not taking any attempt to hide my IP (which I'm completely able to do), I'm not making any attempt to hide who I am (Bring_the_Light) and yet, this will probably be the 8th or 9th account that will get shut down, even as I do nothing wrong. Don't know or care why, just stop it, thank you.

  Bring_the_Light