This is a scam. They do that from time to time so people will not simply quit when they make one "mistake". If people quit, the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund would empty, and soon the Kingdumb Hells would, too. However, if they get people to try ever harder after screwing up once, they brainwash them some more. Jehovah is still the mean-spirited, tyrannical scumbag that stops fulfillment, and is just as strict as always.
A Kinder, Gentler Jehovah Emerges at the 2012 DC?
by Socrateswannabe 30 Replies latest jw friends
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BluesBrother
They are running scared in case of more legal cases. They know that they cannot get away with berating homosexuals as they used to do. This is the first time that I heard of them allowing for genetics , they always said that it was a learned behavioiur that could be unlearned.
They are toning it down because of the laws, but they still d/f you for it....
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blondie
*** g96 9/22 p. 9 Take Control of Your Life Now! ***
So Jehovah God holds us individually accountable for our actions. We must be careful not to try to excuse ourselves because of our genetic makeup and inherited imperfections. God held the violent, homosexual community of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah accountable for their corrupt acts. Obviously, he did not consider the inhabitants as poor, unfortunate creatures who because of some presumed genetic flaw could not help being wicked.
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JW GoneBad
Socrateswannabe says last paragraph: 'Has the WTS reinvented him (Jah) to be more tolerant......'
'Reinvented', interesting choice of word for an organization that is a master of inventing and reinventing Biblical doctrine!
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Pistoff
'Jehovah' may forgive and forget, but not the WT.
The WT DOCUMENTS the sins you confess, sends them off to headquarters, and they tell the elders to bury it if you are an accused/unproven, or a confessed/repentant child rapist.
If it is garden variety teenage drunkenness, drugs or sex, you will likely get the boot, and never get it off your record.
If you are apostate, you are bound for the wilderness.
So God may forgive and forget, but the WT documents.
It only ignores you if you are a child sexual predator, see the dozens of threads on the subject.
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minimus
sounds like an apostate convention.
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FlyingHighNow
It's a push me pull you, isn't it? The Awake once said, "You must assist those who are weak." But the brothers continued to teach that you should not associate with "weak" ones. Damn the Pharisees.
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Leolaia
I want to focus on another aspect to the statement about sexual orientation:
Symposium: Guard Your Heart Against the Words of the Flesh/Fornication, Uncleanness, and Brazen Conduct. A more tolerant view toward homosexuals? Sort of. While still hating the sin (homosexuality), we imitate God in his view of the person practicing the wrong: "Let it be known that we honor men and women of all sorts, regardless of their sexual orientation." The speaker said that the bible doesn't comment on genetic issues and so the organization likewise can make no comment on that aspect of the issue, but homosexuals can be held to the same standard as heterosexual single persons: they can choose not to act upon their urges.
This paragraph is essentially a summary of what is stated in the December 2010 YPA article. When that article came out, it was thought to present a more accepting attitude, but it really doesn't. The article actually has no interest in the problems of JW youths grappling with their sexual orientation but is instead directed at straight-identified teens reassuring them that they shouldn't be ashamed or embarassed to express their anti-gay attitudes when preaching at school; this acknowledges that an increasing number do feel relunctant to parrot the JW position or afraid that their peers would think them to be homophobic. I have written a detailed analysis of the rhetoric in this article HERE. In that piece I criticized among other things the false equivalency the Society expresses here. In the YPA article, the Society writes: "The Bible is not unreasonable nor does it promote prejudice. It simply directs those with same-sex urges to do the same thing that is required of those with an opposite-sex attraction — to 'flee from fornication'—1 Corinthians 6:18". In response, I pointed out:
The author tries to put heterosexual and homosexual conduct on a parity; the Bible's condemnation of fornication is not specifically directed towards gay people but applies to all. And yet this parity is false: sex is designed "only between a male and a female only" and only "within the arrangement of marriage," which is an option that the Society does not recognize gays and lesbians as having. This means that both are not on a equal playing field when it comes to fornication, but this is unacknowledged.... Again we have a supposed parity between heterosexuals and homosexuals — they both are directed to "do the same thing" — so straights have the same challenges that gays/lesbians do, except they don't. They have recourse to both "flee from fornication" and find fulfillment with someone (whether sexual or emotional) via marriage.
The author of the article continues: "The fact is, millions of heterosexuals who wish to conform to the Bible’s standards employ self-control despite any temptations they might face. Their numbers include many who are single with little prospect of marriage and many who are married to a disabled partner who is unable to function sexually. They are able to live happily without fulfilling their sexual urges. Those with homosexual inclinations can do the same if they truly want to please God." And in response I noted:
In this last paragraph of the article, the author finally shows some awareness that gay/lesbian JWs are not on a parity with heterosexuals, so the author mentions exceptional cases of heterosexuals who similarly may have their "sexual urges" denied. Again, orientation is reduced to "sexual urges". The case of those "who are single with little prospect of marriage" could either refer to a person who chooses not to marry (such as to devote themselves fully to the ministry) or a person who cannot find a partner (but may wish to). In the first case, the person still has the option whether to find a partner or not. In the second, it is a matter of personal circumstances. The most interesting example is that of those "who are married to a disabled partner who is unable to function sexually." Here the inordinate focus on "sexual urges" eclipses all other aspects of orientation, for a person who is married to a disabled partner "unable to function sexually" still potentially has a partner in a loving mutual relationship. How is this analogous to gay/lesbian JWs unless they are also allowed to marry or at least have relationships with the partners whom they love?
The Society unsurprisingly is out of touch with the realities of the issues they single out. If the Society does truly "honor" gay and lesbian JWs, they would make the effort to understand the actual issues they face.
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yadda yadda 2
Your parity argument is outlandish and flawed. It tries to argue on the basis of scripture that gays do not have parity against a scriptural injunction, but it completely fails to take into account that scripture prohibits homosexuality outright as obscence, contrary to nature and ipso facto prohibited by God, therefore homosexuality does not rest on any scriptural premise to even begin to claim marriage as a way to flee fornication. In any event, the injunction is to flee from fornication, not "flee from fornication into marriage". Paul actually encouraged singleness.
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Quendi
As usual, yada yada 2 strains out the gnat and gulps down the camel. A study of both the original language words used in the Bible as well as a reading of the context of the scriptures the WTS cites show the points Leolaia raises are correct. The organization's obtuseness in this matter is shown by its implying that sexual attraction is simply a matter of following through on "urges". Perhaps that is true of him and some of his associates, but that certainly isn't the case with others.
Hardliners like him, whose lack of knowledge of the original languages and hermeneutics is obvious, are the kind of people the WTS counts on to uphold its inconsistent and wrong-headed interpretations of the Bible. That kind of willful and deliberate ignorance should not be embraced by anyone who claims to be Christian.
Quendi