I don't like genocide

by nancy drew 12 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  nancy drew

  The other day I was thinking again about what was at the core of my feelings about the wtbs and i realized that I don't feel right about anything that requires genocide for it to exist. When i think about the "paradise earth" relying on the death of 7 billion humans or the hebrew scripture loaded with extermination orders for anyone who got in the way I feel a wave of unhappiness. During the time I was in the org I kept thinking surely at the end of the 1000 years happiness won't exist on the backs of 99% of humanity. Another thing if you have the capability to just put people to sleep why kill them so horribly for who's benefit is it to terrorize the survivors so they will obey you and who's to say the entity is really going to provide a "paradise earth" what if it pulls a new lighter and says the joke's on you. Now that I have you're attention and you're terrified of me I'll let you know what I really want.

  I don't know the real answers but I do know genocide doesn't feel right.
• 

  finally awake

  thank you for putting into words one of those vague ideas floating through my head.
• 

  00DAD

  Yes Nancy, Genocide can really wreck your whole day!

  Seriously, the whole thing is about terror. When I first became a JW I was relieved that they didn't believe in Hell. When I started studying with JWs one of the sticking points I had with OTHER religions was the Hellfire doctrine. Maybe it's just me, but the whole idea of Eternal Torture in burning fires and Never-ending Torment in lakes of lava just didn't mesh with my concept of a Loving God.

  The fact that JWs did NOT believe in the Hellfire doctrine appealed to me. Of course at some point in my studies I I learned about Armageddon, but that was God destroying "the wicked" so it was OK with me (at the time).

  It took a while before it finally dawned on me the dilemma of that doctrine, which is of course the question suggested by your post above. But by then I was pretty well indoctrinated as a good little witness and knew (but not quite accepted) the answers repeated by the WTBTS.

  For many years I tried to set aside the cognitive dissonance in my mind between JW theology on this point and my own conception of a loving, just God. I actually never quite got over this contradiction. In the meantime, I would try to witness to my "un-believing" relatives and friends when I could because, hey, we love 'em and don't want them to die at Armageddon. How annoying I must have been to them.

  Note to self: Better apologize to all my "un-believing" relatives and friends for being an obnoxious ass!

  Also, JW indoctrination is really good at making us feel bad: Those nagging doubts we have are evidence of OUR lack of Faith, Understanding, Knowledge, Spirituality, etc. We are the one in error, we are the weak one. It couldn't possibly be the FDS or it's GB. They are after all God's Channel ... blah, blah, blah.

  It was only after the doubts kept piling up in my mind and the evidence of their hypocrisy and lack of divine backing became overwhelming that I could clearly see that the problem with this "dilemma" is not me, it's their error.

  Paradise Earth = The Carrot

  Armageddon = The Stick

  It's so nice to not be afraid of hell or the Big "A" anymore. Ahhh, what a relief!

  00DAD
• 

  Knowsnothing

  I don't like it either, Nancy. I also didn't like the prospect of "screw up once in paradise (once you're perfect), and die."
• 

  BluesBrother

  It is a strange thing. Looking back, I wonder now how ever I bought into the idea that the God we loved would slaughter billions of people for simply making the "wrong" choice of religion...It sounds evil - like an extremist terrorist might say. "They are an affront to God (as we see it), so they deserve to die"

  My only excuse is that I learned it at a very young age, and what you get used to knowing seems natural - like patriots who always defend and kill for their country, right or wrong...?

  In truth I used to have recurring doubts about the morality of Armageddon, but I suppressed them because I reckoned that "God is in charge and he must know what he is doing". But the doubts never completely went away and when things happened in my life to bring it to a head, I could see as clear as day that this doctrine could never be true. God is just not like that. It is an insult to accuse him of such plans.

  A good many dubs have "personal thoughts" that it will not be as black and white as it is taught. The WTS still teaches it though..This was the book

  God's Word For Us Through Jeremiah (2010) p 166/167

  "24 Jeremiah’s words to God’s ancient people balanced a promise of better things for the faithful with a warning of destruction for those not holding to their relationship with Jehovah. It is similar today. We can hardly fail to see the urgency of the warning implicit in these words: “Those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be in that day from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth. They will not be bewailed, neither will they be gathered up or be buried. As manure on the surface of the ground they will become.”—Jer. 25:33.

  25 Yes, like Jeremiah, we live in critical times. As in his day, people’s reaction to Jehovah’s message can mean life or death. "

  This was recently culled from their website.

  

  And they call it "Spreading the Good News"?
• 

  Sic Semper Tyrannis

  I wouldn't call the WT version of Armageddon 'genocide'. As you can see on every WT new system illustration, there are people of all races represented. As proposed, Armageddon would be more in the lines of a jihad or holy war against unbelievers.

  I always openly wondered about the sheer amount of unburied bodies. How would a few million Witnesses, disproportionately spread around the world dispose of these bodies before they really begin to rot. Would we be organized into burial squads to head over to Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia where there are virtually no Witnesses present to bury the bodies of the infidels and pagans? How about Pakistan, India, and China? That would be a few billion mounds of stink to get through.

  One of the newer GB members gave a talk at a convention a few years back and tried to give a few answers about the big A and the subsequent cleanup. As for the destruction, Jehovah could use radiation. As for the bodies, he theorized that Jehovah could just zap and vaporize them. The thought of that really makes me realize how out of touch with reality these people are.
• 

  james_woods

  OODAD said it right:

  Paradise Earth = The Carrot

  Armageddon = The Stick

  In the JW arch-enemy of ordinary Christianity, Heaven is the carrot - Hell is the stick.

  What really is the difference?
• 

  Phizzy

  No difference, they are both playing on simple minds.
• 

  2tone

  I wouldnt be too upset if there was a genocide at bethel and branches all around the world.
• 

  just Ron

  I thought the birds and beast were going to clean up the mess of the bead bodies.