Yet again the WTBTS piles on the bull s#it. How sick and small they are.
Latest "Shun Your Family" Statement - Jan 2013 Study WT
by LostGeneration 98 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Vidiot
High-Control groups just looove them double standards, huh?
Or should they be called "dub-le standards"?
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Vidiot
rory-ks - "Watchtower trumps Awake! every time. Awake!...is the Reader's Digest of Society literature..."
On the nose, man; well said (actually, come to think of it, RD is considerably better...).
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Xanthippe
After we DA'd ourselves, I phoned my mother and told her my husband and I were trying to start a family, something we had put on hold for years when we were pioneering. She said she would not have anything to do with any child of mine because it had no future. I asked did she mean it would die at Armageddon and she said yes. When my baby was born I did take her over to see my parents but my mother acted as if she was just putting up with our visit on sufferance and we were merely visiting my father (never a JW).
She kept her word and never showed any interest in my child and never phoned to inquire how she was doing.
The day came when my mother was in hospital and my father phoned to say she was dying and the family should go in. As we arrived at her bedside she asked to see her grandaughter for the first and last time.
My daughted was eight years old and had been left with her other grandparents because my mother was a virtual stranger to her. This was my mother's choice not mine. I thought, why ask for her now, Mum? It's too late, you're dying. It just seemed that in her last hours the programming was wearing off and she realised what mattered. Too late. If you are reading this and you are a JW shunning a family member don't leave it too late like my mother did. You will regret it.
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Sauerkraut
^That's really sad Xanthippe. It's hard not to become bitter with people who treat others like that.
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King Solomon
Xanthippe said:
My daughted was eight years old and had been left with her other grandparents because my mother was a virtual stranger to her. This was my mother's choice not mine. I thought, why ask for her now, Mum? It's too late, you're dying. It just seemed that in her last hours the programming was wearing off and she realised what mattered. Too late. If you are reading this and you are a JW shunning a family member don't leave it too late like my mother did. You will regret it.
Wow....
You'd think after being loyal to YHWH all that time, she'd at least be faithful at the end to be "remembered" at the time of resurrection (which is exactly the justification the WT uses for faithful JWs to leave their Earthly assets to WTBTS vs DFed children).
Your example demonstrates a good point about the forked-tongue statement made in the Awake 2009 quote:
"No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable, or to choose between his beliefs and his family".
That was written in the context of an article about those who left their family religion (eg the kid walking out the door with his suitcase in the pix) to join another. On casual reading, it actually appears very liberal and accommodating, hiding the reality of the ultra-orthodox conservative beliefs of the JWs and their cruel practice of shunning.
Of course, the JW response to the statement would be, "if that son finds being a JW unacceptable worship, then he is free to leave; he is NOT forced to choose between being a JW and his family, since HE doesn't have to shun THEM".
Of course, as your example shows, the unstated bit is that does NOT mean that the JW family will NOT shun him for exercising his choice! As your example shows, YOU and your daughter didn't shun your Mom, but SHE shunned you and your daughter.
Which raises another point about that quote, if it's examined from the perspective of the JW MOTHER (in the photo above, or your Mom).
Is SHE being forced to worship in a way that SHE finds unacceptable, or forces HER to choose between HER beliefs and HER family?
THAT'S the question to ask to an active JW, not pointing out the affect of the policy on the shunned individual, but the effect of the policy on the ACTIVE MEMBERS.
Of course, the JW response would likely be exactly the same: if the Mother finds it so unacceptable, then she's ALSO free to leave with her son. And if she feels she's being forced to choose, then the elders can make the choice for her and put her out of her misery (eg if she's caught ignoring the shunning mandate). But again, that does NOT mean the OTHER JWs would not be required to shun HER, too.
So there's the real duplicity and sheer ulginess in that statement, with a subtle and concealed horror that many readers are likely to overlook on a superficial reading.
And while it literally IS TRUTH and non-contradictory (they're not "double standards", or hypocrisy, etc: both are true and completely harmonious expressions of the cruel current JW theology), sometimes the TRUTH is even more damning and uglier than whatever fiction and writer's embellishment that can be fabricated.
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mamochan13
That's really sad, Xanthippe. What a loss for your mom, and your daughter, too.
My mom was very distressed thinking that I and my daughters were going to die, but she never cut off contact. She just never stopped trying to get us back into the religion. That included trying to indoctrinate the kids and grandkids anytime they were at her place. It never worked, so it didn't bother me. But I did try to understand her point of view.
You would think, though, that it would work the other way. If you thought a family member was doomed to die, wouldn't you want to spend as much time as possible with them before that happened?
looking at the Awake picture a thought just occurred to me. The parents are not JWs. The son is going to join JWs, and the parents are trying to force him to remain in their church.
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ballistic
Oh I can'r believe it. As I read every line, I did a Knida Blondies Watchtower comments, and it's just mind bending, cult, brainwashing.
How can they say they don't break up families after printing that?
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00DAD
OK guys, the picture that Cedars posted above the quote from the July 2009 Awake! is NOT from the same article. It's not even from an Awake! It is from the Watchtower of July 15th, 2011, page 31.
I'm not sure why he did this, probably for dramatic affect, I don't know. I have written to him earlier today to find out why and am still waiting for his answer. I'm sure his intentions were good, but the pairing of the two together seems to be causing some confusion.
Several posters here have drawn erroneous conclusions thinking that the picture and the quote went together. They don't!
The Awake! article is talking about non-JWs leaving their religion to become a JW. The article specifically starts with the experience of a woman that is a Sikh:
When Avtar began studying the Bible, her Sikh family was upset. “In my homeland,” she says, “changing your religion cuts you off from the community. Even our names have religious meaning. To change your religion is viewed as rejecting your identity and disrespecting your family. AVTAR eventually became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. ” - g 7/09 pp. 28-29 - [Emphasis added]
The controversial quote comes a mere eight paragraphs later in the same article.
No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family. Does study of the Bible lead to family breakup? No. In fact, the Bible encourages a husband and wife who practice different religions to remain together as a family.
The WT article, on contrast, is specifically talking about JW kids that leave "Jehovah." In fact, the picture in question is positioned in the article under the subheading, "When Someone We Love Leaves Jehovah."
Here is an excerpt from that section which reads, in part:
12 ... There may be occasions, though,when our loyalty to this aspect of God’s purpose is sorely tested. Suppose, for example, that the only son of an exemplary Christian couple leaves the truth. Preferring “the temporary enjoyment of sin” to a personal relationship with Jehovah and with his godly parents, the young man is disfellowshipped.— Heb.11:25.
13 The parents are devastated! On the subject of disfellowshipping, they know, of course, that the Bible says “to quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man.” (1 Cor. 5:11,13) They also realize that the word “anyone” in this verse includes family members not living under their roof. ... - w2011 7/15, p. 30-31 [Emphasis added]
This is a clear example of WTBTS doublespeak. They have one set of standards for the public and and completely different set of standards and practices for themselves and/or ex-Witnesses. The reason anyone "leaves the truth" is irrelevant to them. There is no honorable way to walk away from being a Witness.
Notice the WT article talks of of son that "leaves" but doesn't say why. But in the next paragraph he is demonized by implication when they trot out the infamous list of Paul's for expelling someone. The average R&F congregation member un-critically reading this would not realize they are carefully being led to assume that this young man is "a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner" when in fact he may be none of those things. He may simply have had enough and not want anything to do with it anymore.
Their shunning policy forces JWs and ex-JWs to make choices they simply would not have to make if that policy did not exist. As the experience of many of us shows, it is unlikely in this hypothetical situation that the young man walking out the door would shun his parents. It is the JW parents that remain "in the truth" that will shun their son at the bidding of the anonymous writers of this WT article.
All three people in this made up, but sadly all too realistic, scenario are forced to make choices that no one should have to make:
- The Young Man - leave the truth (according to the WT) and have your parents shun you
- The Devastated Parents - shun your son or face sanctions from the local Body of Elders
And they are forced to make these choices by the leadership of the WTBTS, the same people that published this:
"No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family. "
Let's review: It's a cult!
