JW's and non-JW's

by dgp 3 Replies latest social family

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  dgp

  Sorry, I forgot to add a title to my post. So I'm repeating the post.

  In another thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/social/family/189023/1/Interfaith-marraiges-and-children), Balsam wrote this:

  ...challenging her concepts, especially challenging the words like "Unbeliever", or "Worldly Person", you need to point out to your wife those are words used to try and put a division between JW's and other Christians or people of other faiths...

  I know that Jehovah's witnesses are told not to befriend (much less marry) people of different religious faiths, or no religious faiths at all. But the people in the WTS can but realize that not everyone outside is bad, and not everyone inside is good. I wonder what it feels like to be unable to relate to good people, people you might like and work with all the time, and on the contrary have to hold that a bad person who also happens to be a witness is "better association".

  In my mind, anything whose final effect is dividing people and making them unable to love their neighbors is plainly wrong. I would appreciate your comments on this.

  Thank you.
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  Think About It

  In the WTS thinking.....associating with a known pedofile in good JW standing, is better than any association with a DF/DA X-JW or "worldly person" (wow....it's been a long time since I've used that term), even is the DF/DA or worldly person has higher standards and morals.

  Think About It
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  LostGeneration

  It is cognitive dissonance at its best: From Wiki

  Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The "ideas" or "cognitions" in question may include attitudes and beliefs, the awareness of one's behavior, and facts. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. [ 1 ] Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.

  Think about the conversations they have about a "worldly." Oh he is so nice, kind, etc. Takes an interest in me, BUT (sigh) he is "in the world" "not a witness" "doesnt serve Jehovah" "is a Catholic/Born again/Lutheran/Baptist/Christian"

  Then what's really the kicker is they sometimes say something admirable about this person's faith! So lets get this right, this is a good person according to everything you see and know about them, they have strong faith in God, or they just happen to be an outstanding human, but because they don't believe in petting animals for eternity they are doomed to destruction.

  Of course, for some its easier to have their thinking done for them rather than making the decisions for themselves. So simple to slap a label on them. Us/Them. Worldly/JW. Good association/bad association (the default for every non/JW)

  its sad
• 

  garyneal

  In my mind, anything whose final effect is dividing people and making them unable to love their neighbors is plainly wrong. I would appreciate your comments on this.

  I recall a few years ago while my wife and I were on a date we were discussing the trinity. I told her that it is concievable that God may not be a trinity but do you think that it is also possible that He might be? Bear in mind that, although she was studying, she was not in any way getting in as deep into the religion as she is now. Yet, she stubbornly refused to even consider that the Bible could be interpreted in a way that supports the possibility of the trinitarian concept.

  I recall commenting on how much I did not like her singlemindedness view of things and said that I did not really believe in 'religion' because religion divides us (humanity).

  The Jehovah's Witnesses certainly seem to have a warped view of the world at large. When I ask my wife if it is even possible that bad people can be found within the organization, she indicated that there could be bad people but that they would be promptly disfellowshipped. Only the witnesses do their best to keep out the bad elements, all other churches are just too lax in this responsibility. They allow men and women who openly live together out of wedlock to call themselves 'christians,' for example.