by SweetBabyCheezits 25 Replies latest jw friends
I have heard this many times, including "where are we to go to?", and "if JW's don't have the Truth, who does?" It is obviously wrong and it's questionable how much you can reason with people who come out with something so unreasonable.
One argument is that from ~100-1900 AD there was no organization that had God's blessing under current JW beliefs. So there is no guarantee such a thing exists today.
...."A destroyer of weeds, thistles, and thorns is a benefactor, whether he soweth grain or not." I cannot for my life see why one should be charged with tearing down and not rebuilding simply because he exposes a sham, or detects a lie. I do not feel under any obligation to build something in the place of a detected falsehood. All I think I am under obligation to put in the place of a detected lie is the detection.
I like this response.
The WTBTS does its own fair share of tearing down and loves to boast of how they expose the lies of other religions. Fair enough. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. What makes what they do and how they do it inherently evil is the fact that it isn't enough to merely expose a lie and leave in its place the mere detection. They go even further by replacing one lie with another.
There was a time when I thought giving up the belief system I held my entire life was the scariest thing in the world, for if THIS wasn't the truth, then WHAT is? Fallacious thinking, indeed. Wisdom prevails in that you simply do not need to replace one belief about something immediately.
We tend to think that a belief is like the golden idol in the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Indiana Jones must quickly replace the idol he removes from its pedestal with something of equal weight in order to prevent the cave from crashing down and springing death-dealing booby traps. It really isn't that dire.
It is sufficient to simply acknowledge that a belief is false. Once we do that, we are open to perhaps replacing that belief with one that is far more powerful. A sense of tremendous peace came over me the moment I accepted that what I believed was a lie, and when it came to the question, "then what IS the truth if not THIS . . . ?, being able to say with all rationality, "I don't know, and it's OK that I don't know". If I had not have let the detection of a lie sit in the place of a the lie for a while, I never would have come to the knowledge and acceptance that God(s) and spirits, and angels and demons do not really exist. I never would have liberated myself from superstition, religion, mysticism and fear. I never would have learned the joy of being a decent person out of compassion and empathy for others rather than doing it out of fear of destruction by a lunatic god who is extremely immoral and pathetically incompetent.
Interesting that JDubs use the same tired argumements and responses that other fundamental Xtian groups have been using for hundreds of years. Just goes to show that they are little more than a fundamentalist Jesus group themselves with no original thought. All they do is eschew education, free will and free thought and practice "Obey us or else", which, incidentally, is what makes them a cult.
Some see a beautiful field of grass and flowers and smile, others only see the dandelions and frown....
Mrs Jones, sounds good to me...
a question to be settled at the bar
Snoozy..
where should we go is a good argument tho because lots of ppl who leave jehovahs witnesses,specially the younger ones feel like they can just go buck wild they get into drugs,alcohol, crime, promiscuity, i myself when i was df'd at 19(now 24) i started getting into drugs and drinking alot, fortunately i never got into to much trouble with the law but one of my old jw friends who left the kh is now facing 10 to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking,and i know of several other examples of ex witnesses getting involved in things they probably wouldnt have if they would have stayed in the witness world . I myself am still lost as to what to do next with my life!
SWEETBABYCHEEZITS:
I remember that stupid line and also another one: "Apostates have nothing to offer". Both these statements left me with questions resounding in my head about whether it all had to do with actually being offered something. If something isn't entirely true, well, who needs it?
As far as 'tearing down': Well, what are you supposed to do when you find major fault with something? Should you say nothing and then lavish false praise on somebody?
To me, this statement makes them feel like sore losers because they are being exposed.
Great illustration and Indy pic, PC. I like your path to enlightenment.
I also like the Thomas Jefferson adage, "He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors."
deservingone, I think of the character, Brooks, in The Shawshank Redemption. He was institutionalized and unable to function normally in the real world outside the walls of the prison. That doesn't mean prison life was better, though. He'd just come to rely on it as his "structure".
I think a number of exJWs find their freedom overnight and lose sight of the value of moderation. One day they're behind bars, the next day they're free, but unaccustomed to life on the outside. The abrupt change isn't best for everyone.
Lovit Cheesits
Im off to read more...
LHG: To me, this statement makes them feel like sore losers because they are being exposed.
True. Thinking back about the tone in which it was spoken, I can see some petty emotions talking, too.
where should we go is a good argument tho because lots of ppl who leave jehovahs witnesses, specially the younger ones feel like they can just go buck wild they get into drugs,alcohol, crime, promiscuity . . . i know of several other examples of ex witnesses getting involved in things they probably wouldnt have if they would have stayed in the witness world . I myself am still lost as to what to do next with my life!
I believe that this is a myth perpetuated by the WTBTS, just like the myth that apostates are demonic liars under Satan’s control, a wicked people who promulgate lies, deceptions and half-truths about God and his spirit-directed organization, the WTBTS. In order to distract from the truth, the WTBTS will paint you with the broad brush of slander and character assassination, and put you into a box. The brand you’re given asserts that apostates are selfish, egotistical men/women who just want recognition for themselves, they want prominence, and a following of their own, and they are willing to tell any kind of lie against the organization of JW to meet that aim.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc- a logical fallacy. The fallacy lies in coming to a conclusion based solely on the order of events, rather than taking into account other factors that might rule out the connection.
There are far more examples of young ones who have left the organization and never get hooked on drugs and alcohol. Furthermore, I believe there is plenty of evidence that there is a direct link between drug use and alcohol abuse and the trauma and abuse children experience growing up in the organization of JW's. Most young ones do not want to leave the org just because they want to party and abuse drugs, they leave because they are being smothered and deprived of the normalcy of adolescence. The young lady in the video below articulates it very well.
