by jwleaks 32 Replies latest watchtower scandals
"There's no Moomba in the Bible either," he says. "And no football. Does that mean we shouldn't do those things either?"
Yet, the WTS has their intimidiating ways/comments to squash these times for sure also. Anything that is "fun" is cautioned by the WTS, well, because the word "fun" is not in the Bible either.
Shunning a myth, eh? Take that liar down a notch, Brother Unthank. Take him down!
It would be awesome if they lost their tax exemption both in Australia and the UK. For starters.
A spokesman for the church in Australia, Sydney solicitor Vincent Toole, dismissed the allegations and said shunning was a "myth."
JW shunning a myth?
The Watchtower cult's lying "Theocratic warfare" at it's best.
The Border Mail - 2 hours ago MORE to follow Aussies are slamming JW big time
ask the lawyer if he will say that shunning is a myth under oath in a courtroom
Some years ago, the WTS made blood transfusion a "matter of conscience" in Bulgaria, but only in Bulgaria because of government policy there. So, maybe they'll set up a fake charity ans minimize shunning only in Australia.
Paul Grundy gets a shout out in the "Slamming the Door" article. Awesome!
Objectively, the author has some facts wrong:
"They come to your door on a Sunday morning and you have a wonderful discussion about God but they never tell you that once entrenched in the religion you may never be able to say happy birthday to your children again."
Yes, they do, but it's later in the bible study out of the Bible Teach book. (BTW, I just noticed a very sly thing WTS did here). In a discussion on Christmas, they turn it around to say all birthdays are of pagan origin. Notice bt p. 157 par. 7,8 (again, note, this is a discussion about Christmas, not birthdays):
7 Even if Jesus’ disciples had known the exact date of his birth, they would not have celebrated it. Why? Because, as The World Book Encyclopedia says, the early Christians “considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.” The only birthday observances mentioned in the Bible are those of two rulers who did not worship Jehovah. (Genesis 40:20; Mark 6:21) Birthday celebrations were also held in honor of pagan deities. For example, on May 24 the Romans celebrated the birthday of the goddess Diana. On the following day, they observed the birthday of their sun-god, Apollo. Hence, birthday celebrations were associated with paganism, not with Christianity.
There is another reason why first-century Christians would not have celebrated Jesus’ birthday. His disciples likely knew that birthday celebrations were connected with superstition. For instance, many Greeks and Romans of ancient times believed that a spirit attended the birth of each human and protected that one throughout life. “This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays. Jehovah certainly would not be pleased with any observance that would link Jesus with superstition. (Isaiah 65:11, 12) So how did Christmas come to be celebrated by many people?
To drive home that WTS equates this with birthdays, the questions for paragraphs 6, 7 and are are:
6, 7. (a) Christmas supposedly commemorates what, and did Jesus’ first-century followers observe it? (b) What were birthday celebrations associated with during the time of Jesus’ early disciples?
8. Explain the connection between birthday celebrations and superstition.
Again, I believe this is all bunk, but to say JWs don't tell the a person before they are entrenched (I read that to mean baptized), is inaccurate.
They don't celebrate birthdays because they say there are no birthdays in the Bible, which Aron, an observant Jew, maintains is not true.
This isn't true. JWs don't celebrate birthdays because the two mentioned in the Bible ended up with murder. Thus, because of the negative light on it, birthdays are avoided. (I think this is bunk, but that's what JWs believe.)
Sorry, folks... just being objective.
leaving_quietly
Aron makes an important point that the quirkier facets of Witness beliefs are concealed from ordinary members of the public during the initial few calls, and only unveiled once the person has received a fair amount of "conditioning" to accept more palatable teachings - hence the reason books like Revelation Climax aren't normally offered on first call. The fact that a bible study needs to trawl through 157 pages of the Bible Teach book before the Witness views on holidays and celebrations is revealed illustrates this point perfectly.
Cedars
I agree with you, Cedars. What he meant by "entrenched" could certainly be viewed the way you described, and is reasonable. However, at that point in the bible study, the person could see that, make the connection, and then back out without any repercussions whatsoever. Of course, by this time in the study, the student has likely been to many meetings and has been indoctrinated beyond the point of no return, so I see your point.
The second point about JWs believing birthdays are not in the bible is still valid. JWs don't believe that at all.
