I don't think many truly know what they should believe. They just kinda go along with it
Do Most Witnesses Truly Believe In Their Religion?
by minimus 26 Replies latest jw friends
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minimus
It's easier to follow than to think.
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DesirousOfChange
The WTS has systematically dumbed down the religion to the point that most JWs under the age of 40 only understand that they don't celebrate holidays, don't take blood and don't partake at the Memorial. They can't explain the 7 Times, they can't explain 1914, they don't know 1918, 1975 or the current 'generation' teaching. They have no clue about the shifting doctrines, the failed predictions and they don't realize how much under the WTS control they really are.
This is SO true, and yet, they ramble on and on about their great educational programs (TMS, Elder School, Pioneed School, etc etc), and about the F&DS provides an overabudance of material -- food at the proper time -- that is really meaningless fodder, but they eat it up like they are learning something.
Ask 95% of them a deep question on the Bible and all you'll get is a blank stare. They'll have to "do research", which means the rs book or WT-CD.
BOC sums it up well:
With my wife, here is what she believes:
This is the "old system" and there will be a "new system"
There is no other religion doing the preaching work earth wide ( although she admits it is just busy work)
Earth will be a paradise
Where else will you go?
Here is what she doesn't really believe:
That 99.9% of earth's population will be destroyed in armageddon
That what the WBTS prints is 100% true.
Most JWs cannot make a decision on their own. They send their kid to school and don't know what to do about the flag or pledge or national anthem, without asking someone. Can they go to a church funeral or wedding? They get accustomed to just being told what to do and what to say. If they ever really went to a door and got asked a REAL QUESTION, they'd fall apart! It didn't happen like that on the TMS!! You always get the right answer there! They'd tell the householder then need to research it and then never go back after being told that anyone who asks such a confrontational question lacks the right heart condition.
NOW MORE THAN EVER BEFORE tho, many are questioning the New Light on the "generation". Everyone whispers their doubts about this, afraid to say anything too loud as to get there @$$ hauled into the back room for being a trouble maker (at the least) and an apostate (worst case). Because of these flip flops, New Light changes, and the ability to read and hear about the Organization history in "secret" via the internet, MANY have nagging doubts. If it were not for the "But where else would we go?" they'd be gone.
Doc
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mercedes_29
Most of them would never admit to not believing for fear of being marked. I always had a hard time beleiveing that only Witnesses would survive Armageddon and everyone else would die - children of non-Witnesses, babies, adults with mental illness and simply good people in general who happened to be of another religion. I also never believed that the Witnesses knew when Armageddon would come. The Bible states pretty clearly at Matthew 24:36 that no earthly person will know when it is going to happen - the GB is full of beans if they think they can figure it out.
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charlie brown jr.
I Truly TRULY Believed in IT!
Some of the teachings I felt were Way Off............
But they were things I could live without.........
I did believe we were a Special People "Chosen"..........
I would've of Died for it....
yep that caught up in it.........
That's why walking away was so tuff.......
I left Jehovah....... and felt if it were the Old Days...... I was walking away from Moses's God!
How Foolish I was..........
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outsmartthesystem
I think the majority do believe. but there are a LOT that have doubts they simply do not allow themselves to focus on.....thereby claiming imperfection.....and relying that much more heavily on faith that it MUST be the truth and that all will be made well and will come to make sense "in Jehovah's due time".
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outsmartthesystem
When I was 19 years old, I recall noticing that not only is there no definitive faithful slave from the 1st century down until the 1800s.....but any that are even remotely mentioned are INDIVIDUALS. So it went from a slave "class" in the 1st century......to individuals......and then back to a "class" again? I asked this question to a particular elder. He reprimanded me for focusing too much on something that does not matter. It does not matter if there was a class or if Jehovah used individuals. What really matters was that I was beginning to question the writings of the faithful slave. Remember what happened to Miriam when she questionned the authority of Moses? She was stricken with leprosy and spent 7 days outside of the camp. Think about how close we are to "the end". Do I want Jehovah to see me questionning trivial things in his organization when the end comes?
That speech scared the shit out of me. I recall praying incessantly that evening....hoping that the God of the book of Numbers wouldn't strike me dead for my insolence. At the time....I was so greatful for the rebuke I received. Now I look back and I realize it was just a fear tactic to get me to fall back in line. I would like to punch that elder in the shnozzle right now.