by Nickolas 38 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Ziddina - wonderful post! I think the issues that you describe are exactly right and are compounded by the crazed belief that the world is going to end soon which destroys any efforts for long term personal improvement because god is going to fix everything anyway.
z
I don't think I was very nice by imposing many of the harsh beliefs on people. Insisting that Led Zeppelin is evil, zero tolerance for viewing Christmas specials on TV or looking at the Christmas lights, and being self-righteous about people watching a PG-13 movie are not nice. And neither is hiding an embellished Peppermint Stick ice cream sign in the heating duct and putting the plain one on the display to "not be celebrating Christmas". Nor is rigging up the Christmas lights by pulling one bulb out of each mini-circuit and putting them back in with one lead not making contact on purpose, so they did not light up. And those were things I did because I was told that Christmas was evil, and those celebrating it were wicked in doing so.
Never mind what the Bible itself says at Colossians 2:16 about this kind of activity. You are not supposed to judge others because they want to celebrate the holidays. Inside the religion, it leads to dorkhood. Outside, it could lead to losing your job, getting evicted from an apartment, or even jail time. For sure, I am far more accepting of people now that I no longer have to view Christmas and other holidays, PG-13 (or R) movies, and heavy metal and rap music as being evil.
Thanks, Zarco!!!
I think your comment was spot-on!!
"and are compounded by the crazed belief that the world is going to end soon which destroys any efforts for long term personal improvementbecause god is going to fix everything anyway.... "
An excellent excuse for apathy and inaction...
I've often wondered whether some of the people attracted to the Watchtower Society might be a little lazy... Definitely out-of-touch with reality...
Zid
"nice people"? What does this mean? What makes a person "nice"?
Does just being pleasant in a superficial way make a person "nice"? If yes, then I would say most JWs are very 'nice.'
And they are also heartless and cruel.
Hah! Good point, Lisa!!!
Being raised a JW and having very limited experience in friendships with non JW's until I allowed myself to get closer to co-workers and finally my whole other side of ex-JW family, I realized that JW's along with many other fundamental cults, like FLDS, etc. are some of the most superficial (but with mostly pure intentions) people on the planet. They thrive on appearance of spiritual strength. Being visible as to what they are doing in the cong is a huge way to climb the social ladder with them.
So now knowing non JW's my experience is that just like some JW's, these people too would give the shirt off their backs, go the extra mile, but above all, non JW's are tremendously more excepting, non judgmental, and aware of boundaries that JW's seem to blur because they feel entitled to know details of everyone's lives.
It's amazing how the JW's will drop EVERYTHING if someone who could be the WORST HUMAN EVER shows any intrest in the Truth. Oh the Visits the outings with that one.....
but you as a JW who has Decades IN!!! stumble or find it tuff to go to Meetings.... you are MARKED as WEAKHEARTED and you can't get the time of day from some..... but Mr Intrested who is a Druggie and a Whore is doing SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO goood!!!
much of the way jw act is in connection to thier indoctrinization, their upbinging, personality, sometimes just not thinking before speaking and or acting and we could go on an on. my point is as a whole individualy most human beings are the same. And we are who we are because of the things we believe, accept, allow, and although we tend to judge others, we might not be so diffrent in other ways. As individual we should (I think) try to understand the individual and well hell that might take the time that we as individual are not willing to spend but if we did our thoughts might change. We should not group people not all men, women, kids, humans, jw's, catholics, baptist ext. ----companies religion or anthing else for that matter is alike in every way.
I believe we should have more love, compassion, patients, understanding and thinking ability and any other fine quality u can think of in dealing with one another not as groups but individuals. I also hope to be better at practicing what I Just typed.
Hah, Love Doctor!!!
I'd agree with you, except that I've been fascinated by the advertising industry in America since I was a wee lass in high school - ever since my Commercial Art teacher introduced us to Wilson Bryant Key's book, "Subliminal Seduction"....
Advertisers generally attempt to produce ads that appeal to everyone, but when one is dealing with a more specific product than say, groceries, gas, or insurance, then the appeal to the potential consumer becomes much more specific...
Although humans have many points in common, they can also be categorized into groups, as I did with my post above regarding the probable basic personality types that would find the Jehovah's Witnesses' theology attractive...
Since the beginning of this thread discussed honesty, then I'd agree with you there. Some JWs are honest, and some are not. There are varying shades of honesty within the general Rank & File of Jehovah's Witnesses...
However.... I have always been suspicious of people who willingly walked into the Watchtower Society, largely because I, at the age of 8 or 9, spotted the volcanic nature of the Israelites' supposed "god" when a brother read Exodus 19: 16-19 from the podium. That realization not only showed me that Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the TRUTH™, but also showed me that the bible was not of divine origin.
And if the bible is not really of divine origin, then its authors either deliberately lied, or deluded themselves and others into basing their faith upon mere human words and ideas....
The fact that my parents beat and bullied me into the religion, further convinced me that there must be some innate character flaw with people who willingly join this - or any other - cult.
So, my viewpoint is very personal, based upon my own and others' observations. However, I suspect that the current climate of "political correctness" is causing many sociological and psychological researchers to overlook significant determining factors in personalities that are attracted to cults...
Zid
