I suppose the "dig deeper brothers " talks wont be to much on issue for the ex Mormon after the tithing he would have had to deal with previously.
A Mormon becomes a JW in the Feb 2013 Watchtower...
by cedars 56 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Kojack57
I refuse to feel sorry for stupid people.
Kojack
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tiki
omg - the very thing they fight so rabidly against - independent research - if it works the other way around it is just this magnificent blessed event..............such hypocrisy............
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00DAD
A moron became a JW, so what?
Oh, sorry I mis-read your OP!!!
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skeeter1
Well, JWs get to wear less underwear . . . . but don't get multiple wives in Heaven.
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jwfacts
My wife's cousin left the JWs to become a Mormon. I thought it was to because he wanted to marry a Mormon girl he was in love with, but when I spoke to him he actually believes it. I was floored. He was so happy that I had left the Watchtower, and eager for me to examine his religion. Shows how quickly the mind control sucks you in to any bizarre belief system.
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Cold Steel
As a true blue dedicated “Mormon” myself, I have never known of any knowledgeable member leaving the church to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Atheists, yes. Agnostics, more so. We have a very complicated theology and, while it clashes at times with the dogmas and the creeds of “traditional” Christianity, it is far more defensible than the, comparatively, superficial theology of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. So I’m always suspicious when I read articles like this. And despite what some of you think, the LDS church does not engage in “mind control” any more or less than any other religion.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses do. As some of you have pointed out, we LDS are free to visit other churches, read religious material from any other church, pursue higher education (which is encouraged) and exercise the priesthood by baptizing our children and our friends, anointing and blessing the sick, blessing the emblems of the Sacrament and so forth. In our Sunday classes, we have a wide latitude in what we say without fear of some “elder” or “overseer” reprimanding or reporting us and there is no snubbing by family members and friends. If it happens, it’s because people are people; the church discourages it. In one of the collected revelations to the church, the Lord discusses the duties of leaders, advising them to “[Reprove] betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy.” In 1963, church leader Hugh B. Brown stated: “Let us be very careful about this matter of reproving, and yet part of our duty is to see that there is no iniquity in the Church. Again I say, let us be careful how we trample on the feelings of our brothers and sisters. Let us lift them and bless them and benefit them...and never be guilty of humiliating them or causing them to think that we do not appreciate their work.”
We also do not publish articles criticizing other churches. Most LDS would read an article like that and become angry, and with good reason. Is that really what Bethel wants? Even when I went to BYU, one of my theology professors spent an entire lecture on the doctrine of soul sleeping. He spent considerable time explaining the doctrine as though he believed it. Then he spent about equal time explaining the other side and finished by explaining that both sides of the debate had merit, and that it was one reason that the Bible could not be interpreted except by the power of prophecy and revelation.
The bottom line is that people can read our doctrine and judge for themselves. We don’t tell our people not to associate with those outside the church or read or listen to the news. They advise against watching “R” movies, but if you do it, no one will reprimand you. In other words there’s a high level of trust. We’re not perfect, but we’re not what our critics say we are any more than what the critics of first century Christianity said they were.
If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to send me a message.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
So we're to conclude that Mormons are somehow experts at avoiding cults?
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Cold Steel
Depends on how you define "cults," mate.
The Romans considered the first century Christians to be members of a cult and used the term repeatedly in reference to them. They believed them to be secretive, cliquish and disloyal. Later, Nero used them to deflect anger over Rome's burning (and naturally the Romans believed him...we never learn). Cults originally said to be religions that broke off from other religions and added their own distinctive material to them. The Christians came from the Jews and added unusual and distinctive doctrines which now are taken for granted but then viewed as being strange and heretical. Three gods being one, God having a Son who also would be God, the Messiah not being a deliverer, the concept of hell, the virgin birth and so forth. Although the Christians pointed to various passages in the so-called "Old" testament, the Jews didn't buy off on the theology.
The Mormons are also considered to be secretive, cliquish and disloyal during its early days. It also added distinctive material and scripture, introduced newly "revealed" doctrines that many Christians find strange and heretical; and though we point to many Old and New Testament scripture we believe to support our cause (and who doesn't?), many prefer their own doctrines and traditions. And as Christians are discovering more about the Bible to prove its veracity, we Mormons are discovering more about the Book of Mormon that we feel is strong evidence of its veracity.
It's all point of view.
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simon17
"I dug deeper into the teachings
of my faith and also consulted with responsible
Mormon Church leaders. I was told that
the answers to my questions involved mysteries
that one day would be solved as the light became
brighter."What the hell? Why would they use that expression when that is the same shady explanation they themselves use.
If anything the Mormons are more attractive. At least they say they don't know until the light becomes brighter. JWs insist on the 'wrong' understanding until the light gets brighter and they change it to a new truth.
