How many reasons can you think of for a worldly not to join the Watchtower? (page 2)

Billen76

I remember an friend I had when I was teenager. He had been made to break up with his 16 year old girlfriend by his elder-father (or his father would be loose his priveleges as elder). I talked with the teenageson afterwards. He explained to me, that he did not feel what he did was "wrong", but he knew he should view having a girlfriend when he was 16 as wrong. Thus, he concluded, he had to be a really bad person for not feeling he have done something wrong!

This sort of control, this state of mind, is what one goes into when joining JW.

One may "shine" at first but after a while the rules in JW will eventually bring you into conflict with what you really believe, think, feel and act vs. what you are told to believe, think, feel and act. A lot of JW's and former JW's suffer depresions due to the state of confusion they have within themselves, which I conclude is rooted in the above mentioned conflict.

Heaven

How's this for starters?:

1) This is a performance based religion. You are expected to work towards baptism AND you must go door-to-door and report your time. You must attend all meetings.

2) You must work for them without being compensated.

3) They lie. They are hypocritical.

4) Many of their beliefs have no scriptural backing. Others are based on warped interpretation of scripture.

5) You cannot celebrate holidays or birthdays.

6) They want your money.

7) They will destroy your family if they don't join with you.

8) Their 'friendship and love' are conditional. If you decide to leave in the future, they will shun you. So will any of your family you were successful in bringing in unless they, too, see the hypocrisy.

9) You will be 'shepherded' when you aren't doing anything wrong.

10) They lead boring, unproductive lives. You are not allowed to do alot of normal, fun things. Example: do not use the Internet as it is a tool of Satan. Higher education is frowned upon.

11) You cannot question anyone in a position of authority, especially the Governing Body and it's nebulous Faithful and Discreet Slave.

garyneal

He had been made to break up with his 16 year old girlfriend by his elder-father (or his father would be loose his priveleges as elder).

That brings back memories of when my wife and I were dating and her mother reported it to the elders. They had actually threatened to remove her mom as a pioneer and revoke whatever priveledges her dad had as well (I think he was/is an MS). All because she chose to date me. They were even threatening to kick her out of the house for it. None of that made any sense to me and I pointed this out on more than one occasion with them.

Of course, they are fine with me after we left town together and got married. It is really all about image with them.

Billen76

garyneal wrote: It is really all about image with them.

It is mix of fear of reproach and and awareness of the rules they are "bound" to follow. The rules are based on the WTS wanting to claim "true christianity", which they wish to show to the world. And when it comes to the kids, they consider them a "mirror" of the spirit in the family, which the father have responsebility for. Therefore the result is that the kids in JW often recieve a harsh treatment at home, and paniclike defensive behaviour from the parents when JW's outside the family might get to accuse them.

Usually I go by the thumbrule: The more paniclike the JW is in defending the rules, the more that JW morally object to the rules inside her/himself.

It is those that explain the WTS rules with "calm" and "logic" I usually have a problem with. The others are just....confused.

But no matter which one one have been, the ability to relate to the aspects of life, like authorities, family, faith, social behaviour aso., somewhat breaks while staying in the JW-enviroment. And again a thumbrule: The longer one have stayed, the more one have involved oneself, the heavier the damage.

I envy those who had the courage to leave while they were still teenagers.

OnTheWayOut

One huge reason is all I need:

You need to think for yourself.

dgp

Thanks, everyone, not so much in my own name as in the name of all the people who see these posts and think by themselves.

Great reason, On The Way Out!

I<3MYGod

-you are not allowed to think for yourself

-you are not allowed to question anything

-you are in the "truth" thus you must present yourself as that in every single aspect of your life every second of your life

-you will not know true happiness

-you will not have a true relationship with God, but with a religion/cult

-once you are "clicked in" it's not so easy to get out

I<3MYGod

-it's all hypocrisy, lies and cover ups

ziddina

Oooo, Heaven, and 3MyGod - GOOD lists!!!

I'd say about the same thing - just state it a bit differently...

Joining the Jehovah's Witnesses - the Watchtower Society - will seriously and negatively affect your financial stability and financial future.

If you are earning a good wage, you will be expected to donate, donate, donate... You may even be asked to commit to a certain amount of money to be paid every month, especially if your local group of JWs happen to be building or refurbishing a Kingdom Hall...

If you are asked to work overtime at your job - with or without additional compensation - the elders in your congregation will imply that your extra effort at work makes you a "weak" Jehovah's Witness. If you are male, you will be urged to forget about the overtime or striving after professional advancement, or be penalized within the congregation by having 'privileges' withheld, like holding the microphone at the Sunday Watchtower study or passing out literature at the literature counter.

Any effort you put forward to advance yourself professionally will be viewed with suspicion - while at the same time, if you DO achieve professional advancement, with corresponding financial benefits, you will be EXPECTED to donate more, more, more to the Kingdom Hall...

It almost becomes a form of Papal "special compensation" - paying your hard-earned money to obtain a slightly lower level of disapproval from the elders and general membership at large...

Planning for your long-term financial future will also be viewed with suspicion, as it will indicate that you DON'T buy into one of the Watchtower Society's linchpin teachings - that "Armageddon" is "just around the corner", therefore you really shouldn't be "doubting Jehovah" by planning ahead, just in case...

If you have chldren, sending them to college will also be viewed with suspicion, for the same reasons as stated above. Additionally, your generous provision for your childrens' higher education and financial future will be viewed as a form of spiritual "child abuse", since you will be exposing them to "Satanic influences" ever-present in the college environment...

If you have children, you will be expected to allow them to die, rather than accept a blood transfusion - and at present, that would be a WHOLE-blood transfusion. Right now, there are several transfusion options available to the Jehovah's Witnesses; unfortunately, most may not be aware of the entire set of options... Also, based upon past Watchtower Society flip-flops, that stance may change in the near future; options presently available may become "un-Scriptural" in the near future, and without any real warning...

Those are the most compelling reasons I can think of, for a "worldly" person to avoid joining the Jehovah's Witnesses...

Zid

I<3MYGod

Oh yes...I like those as well Zid.

and to add

-it controls every aspect of your life:

buy a car that is suitable for field service - must have 4 doors, plenty of room for your family as well as others to ride with you.

clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, accessories, home furnishing, choice of music, movies, books etc should not be in any way worldy.

-your time should be 97.9% used to further the kingdom, 2% work to earn money to donate to the kingdom, .1% sleep. you do anything other then that and it's questioned.

-never want to be anything more than a jay dub, because there isn't anything other than being a jay dub

How many reasons can you think of for a worldly not to join the Watchtower?

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