Why can some question and others not

by joelbear 44 Replies latest jw friends

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  AMarie

  Wow. People have made alot of interesting points on this thread, some that I hadn't pondered before.

  I understand what you mean Joel, as to not being able to put your finger on what makes people leave. For me, it was an indescribable feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me things were just not right. There are so many discrepancies in what the organization teaches. It's almost like my soul and mind wanted to grow but couldn't because of the JW limitations. I wanted to reach out and make a difference with human kind, but we were warned of "bad association" in the world. I think human beings have the natural desire to love and connect with others, but the WTS prevented you from doing that by limiting who you associated with. I was eager to learn, but was told college was bad as another Watchtower was shoved in my face to read. And above all, it was the lack of individuality. As many of you said, you weren't allowed to have your own thought, opinions and consciences.

  AMarie
• 

  YoYoMama

  ianao: thanks for being my psychiatrist. you are all knowing, oh you have everything figured out, or so you think...
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  NameWithheld

  What is it with JW-types feeling so smug that they 'have all the answers'? YoYo's attitude is like that, so are so many others. Can they not deal with the fact that there are things that we will just not understand/answer in our lifetimes? Is that not one of the joys of being human, that of examining the world around us and discovering? Imagine if the entire world were JWs. NOTHING would get done, 'cause they'd all be 'waiting on Jehovah' to do it for them!
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  YoYoMama

  NameWithheld:

  I certainly don't think I have all the answers. Let's get down to basics. Jesus spoke of the end. Revelation speaks of Armageddon. My goal is simply to make it through to a new system of things. That's it. Many questions will be answered then.
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  NameWithheld

  So what will you do when you are 70 years old, soon to be dead, and those 'answers' are not yet answered for you. Will you regret all the time you spent ignoring life itself, living the will of 12 old men in Brooklyn? Don't think this WON'T happen, it has happened to every JW so far, and they all believed just as hard as you do that the big "A" was 'just around the corner'. Ask the fellow who sold his home, business and car in 1974 if he feels 'good' about that decision now ...
• 

  YoYoMama

  If I get to 70 in this system of things then I would have had the satisfaction of having served Jehovah wholeheartedly all of my life. If I die tomorrow, well I have faith that Jehovah will resurrect me. Either way I win.
• 

  ianao

  YOYoMamma:

  ianao: thanks for being my psychiatrist. you are all knowing, oh you have everything figured out, or so you think...

  Any time, any time. BTW, thinking is not such a bad thing. You should try it sometime.
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  NameWithheld

  "Either way I win."

  Might want to rethink that one. Cause you don't win if a) your life was wasted serving a printing corporation, and/or b) you are NOT resurrected. Because in that case you will have shot your one chance for a good life.

  For you bible types, what about the thought of Satan transforming himself into an angle of light? What if you JWs are really serving Satan while being all convinced that you're serving god, eh? How could you know for sure - you dirty devil worshipers?
• 

  JBean

  Withheld: Wow... a kind of freaky point you made about Satan transforming himself into an angel of light... JW's use that scripture all the time... WHAT IF it really applies to them? Wow. (Actually, that thought had come across my mind a few times throughout my life, but it is so frightening to actually think about that I, in typical JW fashion, just ignored it!)
• 

  crownboy

  YoYoMama,

  You mentioned in a previous post whether someone read information about the society from "apostates" or not. Someone ask whether it made a difference or not, as long as they're presenting fact. You never replied to this.

  It's really dishonest (and totally unfounded) for you to imply that "apostates" cannot possibly tell the truth when they write about the society (unless there's another reason you had in mind). You read publications written by the society that present themselves in a positive light, perhaps it's impossible for them to be objective? By your standard (for "apostate" material) you should only be reading pro-society publications written by outsiders because only they can be objective, right? See the ridiculous nature of the argument?

  The only thing that should measure whether something is valid or not is how much that thing is truthful. I'll assume the reason you trust the societies publications, isn't because "the society made them" but because you think their truthful. Even if they print an article that makes them look good, it doesn't matter as long as it's factual.

  Same with "apostate" material. You can't knock it "because it's written by "apostates"", you can only distrust it if it's incorrect. As most of us who have done research know, most of the "apostate" material has verifiable facts, most of which can be found in the societies publications! Don't you think maybe you refuse to look at "apostate" material solely because "the society says so"? Most people have agendas when they write (especially the society). What makes something worthy is whether it's truthful or not. Just something to think about.

  Go therefore and baptize the people in the name of the father and of the son... what the hell, we just need to bring up the yearbook numbers!