AMATEUR religion...Amateur doctrine...Amateur mistakes

by Terry 26 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Terry

  What is an Amateur but a person who does something because they love doing it rather than a specially trained professional serious about study?

  What would you expect if you went to the Emergency Room at the hospital and an Amateur doctor examined you and recommened surgery?

  Would you trust them because they love what they are doing? Or, would you...umm..oh, I dunno sort of want a 2nd opinion by a REAL doctor?

  Or, what if something went wrong with your expensive automobile and your next door neighbor walked up and peered under the hood and suggested

  some radical repairs nobody else ever heard of? Would it be worth trying? Would you turn it over to them? Naw, didn't think so!

  One of the big problems with the Amateur is they have nothing at stake except their ego. They didn't invest time going to special schools and earning a degree and passing strenuous exams. They don't have multi-thousand dollar student loans to pay off. They don't have a brick and mortar establishment to operate out of with insurance indemnity against malfeasance. There are no watchdog agencies guarding you against their malpractice.

  An Amateur is just a big grin and a lot of opinion and not much else!

  Until it comes to Religion.

  What about Religion founded by an Amateur? What would the doctrines look like? Would they seem normal or slightly off-center?

  Would you expect an amateur theologian to come up with some really wild, weird and crackpot "truths" they'd defend? Sure.

  Why? Because, like the amateurs who write books about the Kennedy asassaination, imagination is all it takes to reach a conclusion. Evidence can be bent, warped, twisted, ignored or misunderstood. Amateurs read other amateurs for ideas. Why? Because they aren't schooled in difficult texts by real experts.

  Religious amateurs go with their whims, deuces wild and end up so far away from mainstream they are convined they MUST REALLY BE ON TO SOMETHING.

  When they predicted something wacky and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN wouldn't you expect to hear, "Aw, I was just enthusiastic--I didn't mean any harm. You shouldn't have listened to me so seriously."

  Yep.

  And with the Watchtower Society you have over a hundred years of Amateurs and more Amateurs teaching other Amateurs until stuff has to be changed, fixed, repaired, turned around and explained away constantly.

  Why?

  Because they do it for the love of the subject. They do because of their egos. They are easily self-duped.

  That's what you get with amateurs.
• 

  N.drew

  Part one. The trouble with "training" is it had to start somewhere. And we know we're stuck. Or you will know. That's what's new, so we have to sort of start over.
• 

  N.drew

  Part 2 "professional" means "paid" you received free-give free
• 

  N.drew

  part 3. we make it our habit never buy "expensive" autos. Because later they might make you cry, and that would be just silly.
• 

  N.drew

  The ego thing you got right!

  But professional and fancy cars have to do with the ego, so whada mean?
• 

  N.drew

  part 4 is this a joke?

  They didn't invest time going to special schools and earning a degree and passing strenuous exams. They don't have multi-thousand dollar student loans to pay off. They don't have a brick and mortar establishment to operate out of with insurance indemnity against malfeasance. There are no watchdog agencies guarding you against their malpractice.
• 

  Terry

  Professionalism means you are vetted.

  It means there must be evidence, standards, testing, judgement and oversight.

  Without a baseline you have nothing but imagination and rhetoric.

  The JW's thrive on teaching ignorant people inside "tricks" that appear to refute a mammoth load of historical bullshit.

  But, they don't go far enough!

  The basis of everything they claim comes from that all-important BIBLE which has nothing but tradition on which to rest.

  Non-experts who tell you what an ancient language really "means" are kidding themselves and you as well.

  Jehovah's Witnesses are the blind leading the blind. When they fall into a ditch they call it New Light.
• 

  N.drew

  part 4.

  Oh, I thought you were talking about me...

  Yes, the blingdleading the blind-they are

  BUT did you never hear of it takes darkness to appreciate the light? I do not subscribe to that.

  But again, error can be good for causing an examination and a seeking for the right meaning. And it makes for some real funny posters (waves to OUTLAW and The Wizard) and some excellent debates. Where is the debator? Who knows? Without those clowns running Bethel, there might never have been the debates. Maybe. Or they would have been boring, which they ARE in some places. But not here!
• 

  PSacramento

  I never understood the history of religious doctrines untill I started my degree in Theology.

  There is studying the bible and then there is Theology and they are twp very different things.
• 

  AGuest

  They didn't invest time going to special schools and earning a degree and passing strenuous exams. They don't have multi-thousand dollar student loans to pay off. They don't have a brick and mortar establishment to operate out of with insurance indemnity against malfeasance. There are no watchdog agencies guarding you against their malpractice.

  Sounds like a paid-professional, to me, dear Terry (peace to you!)... which can be dangerous, can it not, depending on their clientele/employer? I mean, if one has loans to pay... or just a need for/love of money... one might be willing to "do" anything WITH that degree to "make" money, yes? The WTBTS are paid professionals. The donations, living arrangements, and real estate holdings prove that.

  Whereas, someone who does "it" simply for the "love"... isn't necessarily an "amateur", as that word denotes lack of knowledge/experience. It just simply means it's not their paid profession. Many amateurs know as much, if not more, than the so-called "experts." Simply because it's NOT a job for them... and so their work... and research... is something compelled by love, not money... and so is never a "job", per se. They get some kind of JOY out of doing whatever it is. Many amateurs are sought after for their knowledge and expertise, however. Some are even offered pay (which is often refused) and the opportunity to become a professional. Hackers, for example.

  The difference between the professional and the amateur is usually that the latter doesn't expect anything in return. Because he doing what he does for the LOVE... and JOY... of it... not the compensation. True, one might be taking a risk when dealing with an amateur; one also takes risks with professionals, however. Hence... insurance. If all professionals were no-risk, then no need for insurance.

  The reason I'm commenting on this is because my father was an expert turbo diesel mechanic for the U.S. Navy. He serviced, maintained, and repaired the engines to the jets on aircraft carriers. For close to 24 years. A job he got at age 19... after entering the Navy at age 17... because he learned about engines by working on the trucks and tractors on my grandparents farm as a kid. Outside of the Navy he was not considered a "professional" by the standards you state here: he had no degree, but only years of training by the military. He had no shop, but everyone in the neighborhood (and all of is Navy "buddies") knew he knew how to fix engines, of any size... and many, many other kinds of machines and electronics... and so brought their things to him. He build my first car, a Galaxy 500, almost from scratch... from parts of about 5 cars he got at the junkyard. I know this... because I helped him do it. Mechanics who HAD shops often consulted him, brought cars to our house for him to look over/check out before they made a recommendation to someone wishing to purchase them.

  He didn't have insurance, no... and at that time there were no watchdog agencies guarding people from him. I can tell you, though, that I never once saw where someone was disappointed, upset, or angry over any work he did for them. He didn't have any of the things you mention. But... he had (1) a LOVE for what he did, couplded with (2) years of experience. He simply chose not to make what he LOVED his vocation after the Navy. Rather, he chose to open a bar as a profession. Because he literally HATED working on engines... as a job. As an "amateur", however, HE could choose what to work on, when, and for whom. And... how much to charge, if he charged anything at all.

  Just because one isn't paid... or paid well... doesn't mean one doesn't know what they're doing/talking about, dear one.

  Again, peace to you!

  A slave of Christ,

  SA