A Mormon becomes a JW in the Feb 2013 Watchtower...

by cedars 56 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Qcmbr
    Qcmbr

    If you wanted to be purely mercenary and compare the life effects of being LDS to JW you might be tempted to be LDS based upon the wider family support ( normally excellent youth support ) , women's organisation , singles efforts and the more hopeful nature of LDS theology ( almost zero Armageddon and end times discussion , low focus on bible memorisation for debate purposes and a more confident place in the world - less of a persecution complex.) The modern LDS church has become a desirable place for faith and family based believers but it was not always so. Just as JWs have sacrificed many of the community based life of the members ( good food at conventions, birthdays, Christmas, large gatherings etc.) and replaced these with more 'purity' based concepts so the LDS church is swinging the other way. During the 70s the LDS church got caught up in a wave of end time talk and became much stricter ( my mum wouldn't drink coke or buy sweets called wine gums in case she became addicted to caffeine or got a taste for alcohol by taste association ) especially regarding sex and music ( reaction as well to the era!) but it's gradually winding back those elements to a more 'do what you want in the bedroom' approach rather than 'sex only for kids and force yourself to find it icky while doing it' default.

    Tithing is a big put off but again , for the services provided, it's not too bad and some people , once they've given up tea, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes might even come out on top. With the LDS welfare net thrown in ( you can get your bills paid and shopping bought while you struggle - humiliating though ) and the free labour you get ( meals when you are sick , missionaries to help dig your garden and someone normally has a van to help you move house) it's possibly a net gain.

    People are of course unique and different and just like lovers that which attracts and the straws that break the camel's back are different. I knew one old guy join the JWs from our congregation due to loneliness (neglect and cliques are still rampant in LDS world despite best efforts to avoid them ) and a deaf guy found the JW deaf program more useful to our naive efforts ( though he thought JW teaching was bonkers) , but I baptised one exJW myself and had another join our church. The latter mentioned how difficult it was to leave the JWs because she would be shunned. Her family have indeed cut her out of their lives. It seems the barriers to JW to LDS conversion are much higher.

    There is a tsunami of intellectual disaffection within the LDS church right now that is breaking it from within. It is so blatantly untrue ( historically) that increasingly the core members admit they stay because even if wrong its still a very safe and fulfilling lifestyle and to be fair the people, when they aren't being dogmatic preachers , are pretty awesome.

    I suspect the JWs are going to suffer the same problem offset by the level of intellectual maturity they have coupled with Internet access ( so the Westernised portion will die off followed in a few decades by developing world stagnation and then shrinkage.)

    Intellectual deconversion raises obvious barriers to future conversion in other faiths.

  • Gorbatchov
    Gorbatchov

    The DO told us at the recent CA that he and his wife got started to be pioneers after they discussed "If the mormons spent 2 years of their live preaching, why can't we, having the truth, not starting to be a pioneer?"

  • Vanderhoven7
    Vanderhoven7

    marked

  • Vanderhoven7
    Vanderhoven7

    Cold Steel: How do Mormons respond to the accusation that LDS religion is not historicaly supported?

  • NewYork44M
    NewYork44M

    I suspect that switching from one cult to another is quite common. Cults can be quite addictive.

    I see this as being no different than switching from Amway to Herbalife.

  • DesirousOfChange
    DesirousOfChange

    I was surprised that I wasn’t familiar with many of the Mormon teachings.

    Doubtful that this person is really famliar with all the JW teachings either. Most JWs DO NOT know what the religion teaches. Why do you think they had to publish a Reasoning Book? JWs DO NOT read the Bible, thus they DO NOT KNOW the Bible. Most cannot explain their most central of teachings. (Think The Gentile Times, Christ's Ransom, etc).

    Doc

  • free @ last
    free @ last

    Excellent summary! Thank you for sharing your perspective Qcmbr.

    Having read the posts from some present and former LDS members it's clear many feel damaged by their experience with Mormonism.

    http://exmormon.org/phorum/list.php?2

    Free

  • Cold Steel
    Cold Steel

    Cold Steel: How do Mormons respond to the accusation that LDS religion is not historicaly supported?

    Not sure what you mean by this. Are you speaking of some aspect of Mormon history or the Book of Mormon?

    ....some present and former LDS members it's clear many feel damaged by their experience with Mormonism.

    Yes, any time one feels they've been deceived, or who have put a great deal of time, effort and money into something for nothing, of course they're going to feel damaged. If someone were to convince me that the church was not what it purported to be, I would feel the same way. I've been LDS since 1971 and I've read countless anti-Mormon books and anti-Christian books. Sometimes I've been stumped on things I couldn't know, such as the Book of Mormon's geographic claims in Saudi Arabia and Oman (which people waved under my nose for years). All I could do was shrug. Then in the 1990s, some of our people got access to that land by special permission, and, using only a Book of Mormon, a compass and a land rover, they traced Lehi's route down by the Red Sea through a steep mountain gorge, found what appears to be the elusive "river of water" and the campsite Lehi and his family lived at for months. They also found an altar of stones and, according to the Saudi Department of Antiquities, the entire campsite dated back to circa 600 B.C., the right time for the Lehites to have been there. The entire route was consistent with The Book of Mormon's account, all the way to the harbor where they built their ship. Neither Joseph Smith, nor anyone else who lived in the Western Hemisphere in 1830, could have possibly been as consistent in their account unless they had actually been there. Back in 1972, no one was able to gain access to that area, so, like I said, we could only shrug and wait. Now extensive work is being done in Mexico, where the Book of Mormon events in the Western Hemisphere are thought by many to have taken place. And as the years go by, it looks more likely, not less likely, that Mexico is the spot. If the BoM were fiction, that should not be the case. So if people find themselves swamped by stuff they read in anti-Mormon books, they will leave and feel embittered, thinking they've been deceived. Apostasy also was common in the early Christian church, so much so that Paul marveled that they were so soon removed unto another gospel.

    See YouTube Video

  • ÁrbolesdeArabia
    ÁrbolesdeArabia

    Dr. James White, "I think it was him" who was spreading rumors that Mormons were attempting to infiltrate different churches.

    I posted a double again, elaborate on Dr. White's worries that Mormons were offering other Churches how to get along, create more family closeness and "Opperations Management" as some kind of Ecumenical Movement, to the detriment of the Church the Mormons were helping.

    The goal was to "get in the door" and pilfer the sheep by demonstrating how awesome the LDS Church really is!

  • ÁrbolesdeArabia
    ÁrbolesdeArabia

    Dr. James White, "I think it was him" who was spreading rumors that Mormons were attempting to infiltrate different churches.

    When our Mormon friend figures out JWs don't have "Dance Night" "Don't include everyone in church gatherings" "No Boy Scouts" "No Basket Ball and Volley Ball Night" or admonish education, what will he do?

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