by KnowlegeSeeker_UK 27 Replies latest jw friends
My concern is "where else is there to go ?"
If only you knew how many exJW's have said that very same thing....it's quickly followed by 'I'm going to die!'..with a look of abject horror on their face.
Go inside yourself for the truth first of all...sammieswife.
: Because, if there is enough if us with the same feeling, with scripture to back us, I truly believe we can effect change.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Bankruptcy or facing the prospect of bankruptcy is the only way the WT Coroporation will change. (If one doesn't count thermonuclear devices.)
Farkel
We were all taught the "where else would we go?" question by the WT after they had thoroughly trashed the competition, calling them "false" religion, etc. This self-serving line of reasoning is based on a misapplication of scripture. It's not that we don't understand the WT, we recognize them to be wrong. There is a difference.
As far as no where else to go is concerned, as one former brother used to say, "That's not a reason to stay." If the WT can't give good reasons to be part of them, and can only scare people into not leaving, they don't deserve our loyalty.
For the first couple of years after I left, I remembered fondly how the "brothers" would treat their fellow JWs well. They would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. After awhile, I realized that others are capable of kindness too. And, unlike the JWs, they do it for anyone, not just those "related to them in the faith," while ignoring the needs of those suffering around them who were not part of their exclusive group of approved Christians. If you research a bit about cults, you will find these kinds of common experiences among those belonging to an exclusive "in group."
I have witnessed Christians at soup kitchens and homeless shelters who were trying very hard to apply Jesus' counsel to feed the hungry and care for the poor. In one case, I saw a woman give the coat she was wearing to a homeless person who didn't have one and was cold. They didn't ask those they helped what religious views they had, nor did they try to take advantage of the opportunity to gain converts for themselves. They were merely acting out of love for their fellow man. That is true Christianity IMO.
I don't have any further words of wisdom to add, but my mission objective is to help people who have been battered and broken by the Watchtower. I spend several hours a month advising, consoling, and counseling the poor souls who have been victimized by this cruel cult. There are no words to describe the heartbreak that these people experience.
The org is too corrupt to rehabilitate. Worship in your own way, and if you feel you must do so with others, seek out like-minded people. But don't go around claiming you're God's Special Super Stars, then create an authoritarian pecking order with titles--that's what caused a ton of problems within the org.
I did some checking regarding your question about pacifist religions. Wikipedia has a list of pacifist faiths. They show 24 different groups, including JWs, Quakers, Unitarian Universalists, the Unity Church, Buddhists and others. Even groups within religions are mentioned such as Catholic peace movements.
Some religions tolerate war under certain conditions, but generally discourage it, for example, the official Catholic teaching of "just war." I don't know any legitimate, mainstream religion that likes war. Some have more nuanced positions than others, however.
Regarding your question about religions that preach, Christianity is a religion of conversion. This is different than some religions that discourage conversion and propagate the faith by passing it on to the next generation (ex-Judaism, Hinduism). Since that is the case, you can expect the vast majority of Christian religions to be doing what they can to proselytize and attract converts. Most have some form of missionaries as well as community outreach for this purpose.
The WT claims that the only legitimate way to fulfill your duty to preach the "good news" is to go door to door. Most Christian religions would disagree. Christianity didn't get to be the largest religion in the world by accident, or merely because of the Roman Empire either. The religions of Christianity have a long tradition of preaching as Christ commanded. Even so, there are groups who are well know for going door to door, such as the Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists (another pacifist religion, by the way).
The WT likes to set the parameters of how a religion should be judged and then make sure that only they meet that (their own) criteria. Not only is this unfair, it is misleading. Everyone should do their own research with an open mind, not accepting the WT self-serving view of everything. It is enlightening to see how people of faith from many different traditions have lived out their Christianity.
Hi there,
I had similar feelings for a short time, but I continued my research to find as much accurate information as possible about the Watchtower Society and its real history - history regarding its early years as well as recent times.
I quickly discovered that it was not worth trying to reform.
I also recognized, as you have that there are many decent people who follow the Watchtower. Instead of trying to reform the Watchtower, I chose to attempt to free the minds of innocent people and at least allow them to see the real truth so they could make an informed decision to either stay or leave. I stayed on as an influential elder for several years, until a few weeks ago I decided I had done as much as I could in that capacity and it was time to move on.
As other posters have encouraged you to continue your honest research, I would like to do the same.
Interestingly enough as you continue to take in knowledge you begin to realize that even the notion that the JW faith has attracted quality individuals is not well founded. Although there are some wonderful people to be sure, the religion seems to attract some rather unsavory characters as well.
I sincerely wish you well, and would love to hear about your progress and how your views are developing.
Take care,
The Oracle
KS,
Glad you stopped by.
My mission is the scientist's mission (and yes I am a scientist--geologist, specifically).
My mission is to find and understand TRUTH and to unwaveringly pursue intellectual honesty no matter where that leads.
After having been baptized for 26 years I too started having concerns about the BORG's teachings and their intellectual honesty. And, like you, I had grown up around the Dubs and ended up getting baptized in my teens.
There is phone-book size summary I could write but I will limit my comments to some of the issues that tipped the scales for me against the BORG.=
One of the main sets of issues is the age of the earth, age of life on it, and the BORG's explanations about the geologic record and the history of life on the earth. Logically, if their teachings were scientifically unsupportable then the whole belief system was built on a house of cards with a string of inseparable vulnerable dominoes... there were implications for the Adam & Eve account, original sin, the Flood account, the need for a redeemer, the need for Armageddon, and the reality of the earth being "restored" to paradisaic conditions.
If you are a scientist, then you should welcome the opportunity to examine the BORG's explanations and interpretations of science. The two following links (from Randy's Freeminds site) offer some resources for very well written considerations of these issues.
--formatting code deleted-- Lady Lee
