by metatron 19 Replies latest jw friends
Met,
Great post as always.
:It always was a heady mixture of fact and fantasy.
Thomas Paine in his "Age of Reason" talked about the three things religions have in common: myth, mystery and miracle. The WTS is no different.
Myth = "the governing body speaks for God."
Mystery = "except when they screw up in a big way. Then they are 'just imperfect men' who don't speak for God."
Miracle = it's a miracle anyone still believes that shit!
Farkel
I agree that lots (if not all) of religions deal with mythic ideas. That's the whole point of a religion. However, the Watchtower's problem is that it demands that everybody live like the myth is reality. "The end is coming soon, no need for an education, or a good job, or insurance, or a retirement fund. Jehovah will provide." Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
The last church I attended regularly. believed that Jesus was returning, and it might even be soon. But they never told anyone to skip the insurance or financial planning, young people were applauded when they got into college. The attitude was "hope for the best, plan for the worst."
Interesting.
However i think this principle of 'Fantasy' affects all religions not just the JWs. They all seem to have their own hopes, eventualities, and ideals.
No religion can be concretely proven as being the one and only truth, otherwise we would all be followers of it. Therefore in some degree all followers of religons live in their own little fantasy world.
CC
old chuck was good at fantasy, maybe he shared a room or two with j. r. r. tolkien
Just have to bookmark this Watchtower passage posted by Leo:
"If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system of things is due to end in a few years. Of the generation that observed the beginning of the 'last days' in 1914, Jesus foretold: 'This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur' (Matt. 24:34). Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers" (22 May 1969 Awake!, p. 15).
Is Fantasy Destroying The Watchtower?
The WT is built on fantasy, just check out Charles Taze Russell and his fantastical, totally false predictions.
Successive leaders have brought their own brand of delusion.
These days, the deception is becoming more insidious. The game has long been up since the arrival of the internet and the WT are being called to hold account for their falsehood.
Some don't care, they know the food isn't real but they like the taste so they take the blue pill and get plugged right back into The Matrix
I pray the walls of the tower come down like the Worldwide Church of God did.
Rest assured, there will be new mutations and distortions. If you are looking for God then look for His Son.
All the best,
Stephen
As a JW, I criticized "lying political leaders" and "hypocritic religious leaders". But then I had to ignore the lies and hypocrisy of the GB. I lived in the JW fantasy "spiritual paradise" in expectation of a reward that isn't coming. I pasted on a smile and whitewashed over the sh!t I endured in bethhell. Finally, I couldn't endure it any more, wasting my time and energy on all the crap.
Although other dubs easily see all the foibles and flaws of Watchtower, Inc., they just can't admit that they've been living in a fool's paradise.
So they have a fantasy of Jehovah supporting the Kingdumb Hell and the work. So, I challenge that Almighty Lowlife Scumbag to support it. Let Him support it, and let them wait (and wait...and wait...and wait) on Him. Just don't let that Almighty Lowlife Scumbag steal from me to support His damn missionary work.
It always was a heady mixture of fact and fantasy.
Just curious since I'm not a JW (just related to them).... which part was the 'fact' part?
"Reject Worldly Fantasies and Pursue Kingdom Realities."
Reality is in the eye of the beholder.
If God does not exist and there is no life beyond this one then all religion is fantasy.
