WHY DO ELDERS LABEL THOSE EXPOSING ERROR AS APOSTATES?

by Fernando 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Fernando

  Hello all

  First topic posted - sorry if it is a bit too long.

  Why do elders accept this absurd teaching of demons: "anyone rejecting what is not of God, is rejecting God"???

  EVIDENCE THAT THESE ELDERS - not their victims - ARE APOSTATES (wolves, weeds, the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, practicers of spiritism)

  Having gone through extreme adversity and consequently deep spiritual waters our family has come to understand apostasy to fundamentally mean the following:
  
  Apostasy = unfaithfulness = spiritual unfaithfulness/fornication/adultery/prostitution. Unfaithfulness to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, in particular by not obeying the gospel, which JWs cannot because they do not even know what the gospel is.
  
  Being unfaithful to misguided and/or deceitful men or organisations is not apostasy - except from Satan's point of view. It is insightful to remember that the elders and GB (Sanhedrin) in Jesus day viewed him as the greatest apostate who ever walked the earth. Elders today too, would DF (kill) him in a heartbeat, as they do those choosing to follow Jesus instead of them.
  
  It is very interesting to search the wt library for - prostit* (and then select to display results from the bible only, should see 37 hits in Ezekiel). Here God was calling his own people apostates because they were eating from the table of demons.
  
  The elders along with their leaders and followers will understandably be very uncomfortable with this definition, since it makes it clear that there are two types of apostasy namely overt and covert. Now anyone living a double life is also an apostate. Even worse for the GB et al - persons who reject what is not of God CANNOT be apostates, plus those who go along with what is not of God actually ARE apostates.
  __________________
  
  *** w55 5/15 p. 309 par. 6 Christian Channel of Communication ***
  Finally the apostasy, the unfaithfulness of Israel
  
  *** Rbi8 Jeremiah 3:6 *** Footnote
  Lit., “the unfaithfulness (apostasy), Israel,” thus terming Israel a concrete example of unfaithfulness, or apostasy.
  __________________
  
  We were reminded some time ago (before leaving) of a point at the Divine Teaching convention of 1994: "If it is not in harmony with divine teaching, it is teaching of demons". No argument here. Agree fully.
  
  Some time after a comment at the meeting reflected the rank-and-file belief obtained by oral tradition from the GB: "It is better to be wrong with the elders/congregation/society than right on your own". Problem!!??
  
  Let's combine the above two: "It is better to eat at the table of demons with the elders/congregation/society than at Jehovah's table on your own"!!??
  
  Clearly all religion is a "snare and a racket" - especially this one!!! What a shock when they finally realise that "Babylon the Great" is actually ALL religion including theirs!!!

  ________________

  Revelation 18:21 NW: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again".

  *** yb75 p. 161 Part 2—United States of America ***
  Concerning the sign “Religion is a Snare and a Racket,” Ursula Serenco observes: “This was the time when we did not designate ‘true religion’ and ‘false religion’; all religion in totality was bad. The true we referred to as ‘worship,’ while the false was ‘religion.’”
  _________________
  
  It is interesting to see what Jesus had to say to the elders of likely his own congregation about their proselytising (teaching religion), in Matthew 23:15 NW: “Woe to YOU, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because YOU traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one YOU make him a subject for Ge·hen′na twice as much so as yourselves".

  Clearly Jesus was himself against religion. He wanted his disciples/followers to teach others the gospel message - not religion (traditions of men).

  Best wishes for all
  
  Warm Christian love
  
  Fernando
• 

  sammielee24

  It is not only Elders - all JW's are quick to label anyone apostate if they dare question or deviate away from WT teachings. The Elders might be the final judgment or action of said apostasy, but ANY JW, at ANY time, can call someone out for apostasy - and they do. sammieswife.
• 

  Lillith26

  Hello Fernando and welcome to the board

  I like what you said (great thread), and thankyou for pointing out that Jesus "wanted his disciples/followers to teach others the gospel message". This is where most religions clash- what is the message??? to simply love god and love your neighbour... thats it! short and sweet... before I go too much further I should mention to to you that I am a deist of sorts, and I see this one 'message' from the bible as the only one worth keeping :)

  I remember sitting through what felt like a 3 hour lecture 'talk' about Solomon's Temple and the kingdom of God....... we were shown pictures and diagrams of what it may have looked like blah blah blah.... but the real kingdom is not like that at all.... if were all too follow the one simple message of 'love thy nieghbour as ourselves' (even if we didn't believe in god) then Jesus was right to say that hunger and needless death and war would be no more.... but he was not the only person to say such things, nor will he be the last....

  Religion truely is a snare and a racket... and to the making of many books there is no end...
• 

  DaCheech

  jesus' gospel message is contrary to WT law based on old testament principle (pharasitical rules and regulations)
• 

  WTWizard

  The Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger is the real idol (along with the Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery, which they manage). Whatever the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger says, goes. And, if the hounders interpret it one way, the flock had better interpret it that way (or, if the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger only "suggests" something and the hounders make it mandatory, you have to abide by it). Otherwise, you are going against theocraptic arrangement.

  To me, apostasy is not necessary wicked (even true apostasy--going against God Himself). Anyone that is brave enough to expose the errors coming from God Himself (and not just from the religion) is likely to create less misery than some pious person that is going to impose the Bible or Quran on everyone else. Now, how many Dark Ages's are the result of people going against God? Or of questioning errors found in the Establishment teaching (or the Bible or Quran itself)? How many atheists or Devil worshipers have created major oppression of whole nations, in the name of religion? True, there are atheists that are more militant--but most of them simply refuse to accept the Bible or Quran, or to give God the credit for anything.

  As for me, I would rather worship the Devil and help those I care about more, than worship God piously and turn my back on people because they don't also worship God in my way.
• 

  Borgia

  Probably because every person who pojnted out wrongs to the establishement, was persecuted by said establishement. It is an over an over repeated song.

  The point is: it only goes to show that a revolution so now and then is a healthy thing. And as always ... you need a sufficient amount of people to make it happen ....

  Perhaps that's why we like hero's ... loners who persevered despite massive pressure and upheaval ....

  Cheers

  Borgia
• 

  LongHairGal

  It is all about protecting the reputation of the religion. Period. They are not even interested in how 'correct' their doctrines are at this point. The religion has reinvented itself so many times over the decades that many people don't even know what the current stand is on certain things. So, it is not really all about how 'correct' anything is at any one time. What it IS all about is uniformity. And, they do NOT care how any individual is damaged either by their wrong teachings or how they were treated by anybody there. You suffered? So what. Your child got molested? So what. You never went to college and are in poverty in your senior years? So what. No accountability. Period.

  At one point I tried to accept their brush-off statement of 'waiting on Jehovah' for relief of some bad situation. Then, I realized that certain people there are benefiting from the status quo and would not WANT things to change for the better! They like things just the way they are. I realized that some could not even fear the true God, if they even believe in him in the first place. Why would certain people there do the things they do to other people and then go knocking on doors? I don't think they EXPECT Jehovah (or any other god) to punish them for anything. Their doctrine of adamic death wiping the slate clean has also made many there think they can be forgiven for anything.

  They use the label 'apostate' to hopefully silence would be critics and those who would expose them to the world as the hypocrites they are.
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  babygirl30

  For the SAME reason abusers convince OTHERS (outside the home) that the victim is 'crazy....deranged....mentally ill...and a liar". By doing that, the abuser is able to protect his ego and maintain a good reputation, while making his victim look SO unstable to other people that most won't even question HER or believe what she says. The best way to get others NOT to deal with someone is to negatively 'label' that person so that people are manipulated to the point of NOT wanting to deal with them.

  Labeling someone 'apostate' sets them apart from ALL JWs and isolates them. People will believe the org, and they will take a stance against that person...which is sad. It all comes down to control! If you can't control em - threaten em!!!! (the abusers mantra)
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  nelly136

  i cant remember the proper name but this is along the lines of how it works.

  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snarl%20word

  snarl word

  A word used to induce a negative response or association in the person hearing or reading it. Commonly used to appeal to people's emotions rather than their reasoning, and thereby get them on your side.
• 

  daniel-p

  Welcome Fernando.

  It's a war of words. The Society labels whistleblowers as apostates in the same way as the Religious Right labels any dark skinned muslim a terrorist.