by Aussie Oz 18 Replies latest jw friends
It's like one side of the brain fighting the other.
It is EXACTLY like that, Oz. It is the genuine person and the cult personality (what Borg calls "the new personality") struggling for dominance. Even when you see a bit of the genuine personality the cult personality is always right there to jump in and temper any joy or genuineness the real person might have.
Sad.
THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE END!
Actually, that's what I heard TWENTY YEARS AGO when Iraq was invaded...
TEN YEARS AGO on 9/11...
FOLKS, GO TO THE LIBRARY AND READ A HISTORY BOOK.
Misery, unrest, violence have existed since man can remember. We just live in an age where technology ties the world together and brings all the big messes to your TV/computer screen.
As a non-JW I can't quite get my head around the idea of wanting "this system" to fall apart. All responsible people, Christian and otherwise should surely want to have a positive imput on their communities and countries. If everything degenerates I don't want to say I helped it happen by standing back and doing nothing. Even litter-picking, volunteering to help with clean-up programmes, weeding public green spaces makes a difference.
As Christians we're told that all governments are appointed by God, are God's servants and are answerable to him for the messes they make. We're supposed to submit to them and pray for them, not enjoy watching them go down the toilet.
Ever since the WTBTS first came onto my radar I've been surprised that they don't do things like build universities or hospitals or run homeless shelters - things to try and make life better for everyone. Now I'm starting to see that they don't give a fig about any society. That's very sad.
Can I ask a really stupid question? What then is the POINT of living if one is a JW. If (and I might be wrong because I'm not hot on JW theology) one's death pays for one's sins, what is the point in this system at all? In fact, if one's death pays for one's sins what's the point in following a grueling programme and living hand-to-mouth if you just die and get resurected the same as millions of non-JW's? It all seems very odd to me.
Breakfast of Champions - I totally agree. In the 14th century Britain lost an estimated third of her population to plague. So many that most of the dead were just buried in pits and covered with lime. Anyone living then must have thought it was the end of the world. If we lost one in three people today can you imagine what that'd be like. But society survived it.
As Christians we're told that all governments are appointed by God, are God's servants and are answerable to him for the messes they make. We're supposed to submit to them and pray for them, not enjoy watching them go down the toilet.
To the Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses that all ended in 1914. Seriously. The only doctrine they have that remotely supports the secular authorities on this planet is to obey the laws as long as they don't conflict with what our religion tells you. If it comes to a choice, the religion comes first, above the government.
Some examples are that JW parents will try to refuse blood transfusions for their kids even when the law requires them to accept, that JW elders refuse to get criminal background checks even when the law requires that they do so, and that JWs will often ignore "No Trespassing" signs, opening and entering private property through closed gates even in places where it is unlawful to do so.
If the organization told them to take all the money that they should be paying in taxes and instead donate it to the Watchtower, the majority of JWs would do so with little or no hesitation.
Seriously Mad Sweeney? What do they do with Romans 13 then? Skip over it? It's fairly explicit.
In Watchtower World..
Everything looks Shitty..
...................... 
...OUTLAW
Another thing I notice is that many of the "problems" are of their own making. People are having a hard time making a living, thanks to a Rothschild-size hole in their pockets, as it is. But, when you add tons of extra rules prohibiting certain lines of work or investment, you are making the situation even worse. And they talk about how people that break those extra rules are "wicked"--so they can declare that it won't be long before they can live without having to break those rules.
Some of these rules are downright stupid. They do not want you working full time, because that leaves less time to pio-sneer. Most of the part time jobs that allow one to make a decent living are banned. Most computer programming jobs are banned because of possible ties with military applications or making "bad" video games. Running your own business (one that actually creates value) is disallowed because it takes too much pio-sneering time and violates some obscure rule. Holiday businesses are banned, as are things involving gambling, sale of tobacco, and religion. And so many other lines of work have added stress because you are supposed to decorate a place for Christmas, participate in a birthday celebration, or listen to Christmas music.
They add stupid rules in other areas. We all know about the blood. I wonder how many other medical treatments the witlesses are banned from having because they don't have enough funds (because of the rules), or because the treatments are "spiritism". Many legitimate alternative treatments are now scientifically proven, though not FDA approved--that were once thought of as being spiritism. The witlesses continue acting as if they are still spiritism. Magnetic or electrical therapy, as well as treatment involving gem stones or meditation, are among these--and they actually work some of the time.
Additionally, they add more burden to people. To start with, they don't have much money to work with because of the rules. Add to that the waste they impose, and no wonder things are so bad for the witlesses. They have to waste gas, wear and tear on the car, suit dry cleanings, excessive haircuts (getting a haircut every 4-6 weeks to meet some rule is excessive), continually changing rules on footwear and accessories, and maintaining the Kingdumb Hell. They already don't have much, and they are supposed to waste what they do have on these stupid things. And their time--pio-sneering and attending boasting sessions all waste much time.
If they were to make things easy, like Jesus promised it would be, they wouldn't be hoping so strongly for the end.
"The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad." - Nietzsche
