They're cowards. They go knocking on peoples doors on a daily basis expecting people to listen to them and their beliefs but if you challenge theirs...they are told to run away as fast as you can.
Why are JWs so afraid of apostates?
by Magnum 112 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Ucantnome
Emeth's post that i repost here
'Magnum in my opinion apostates are ex-jw's that actively turn against their former faith. ex-jw's that just fade away and build up a life without anti-witness activism are not 'despised' by me.'
made me think about when i left the witnesses.
The date that i stopped attending was a day that two elders finally came to visit me after i had repeated requested the visit. At the conclusion of our discussion of the things the various things that were bothering me i asked them if they wanted to disfellowship me. They said no. They didn't feel it was apostasy as long as i didn't talk to others about it. So I said okay.
My family left as well at the same time. I had no reason to discuss anything with others. In the months that preceded the visit our friends had nothing to do with us and in the couple of years since the Watchtower that had started my problem with my beliefs I had talked to my friends and family about it and made clear how I felt which had resulted in an elder visit with in weeks. That one didn't go so well.
Had the situation been different and my family had stayed (although originally for the children's sake as i thought i maybe wrong i would have preferred in some ways that they had) and then a division had been caused in my family my attitude may have been very different. I may have been more of an activist.
Some years after leaving one of my children expressed a desire to return and go to the hall. I returned with them and became a regular meeting attender. At one of the meetings an elder, one who had been to see me on the first visit approached us and introduced himself to my daughter and chatted. He talked about coming to know God's name and what it meant to him. Near the end of his chat he told my daughter 'you don't need to listen to him' motioning toward me standing there and encouraged her to make a choice herself. On another occasion talking to an elder who didn't know me another elder came up who did know me butted into our conversation put his arm around the elder i was talking with and literally pulled him away from me without a word to me.
Over the years i have had elders visit one came regularly and i have met witnesses i know. I am happy to not talk about my views and beliefs however they always bring it up. After all they are witnesses and want to talk about their faith. I will always defend my position I think it is only christian. Usually they leave, one in the street after asking me a question regarding how i feel now not being a witness and the world conditions held up their hand and turned away and ignored me and started a conversation with someone else when i gave my answer.
So going back to when i left and not talking to people about my decision to leave and the two types of ex witness that emeth mentions i feel that i'm in a grey area and as i say if my family had been divided as some have i would want unity in my family and my situation may have been very different.
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KateWild
As many posters have said JWs are indoctrinated to fear apostates. The WT definition is not correct and most JWs don't even know what the correct definition is. Personally I don't use the label. I hate WT labels and want to be rid of them in daily life.
However if I can help anyone understand WT better, I prepared to tell them my full story.
Kate xx
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DuvanMuvan
One of the problems I have is that some people don't even know what an apostate is.
After the last meeting I went to, I told an elder that I didn't want to be on the tms anymore because I don't think the jws have the truth because I didn't think the bible was god's word. Apparently my mum had a talk with him because one day after a meeting she told me "brother T said that you don't think the bible is gods word and you don't believe he exists. Is this true?" I said yes then she said "wow I knew you had doubts those are some pretty extreme views" then she jokingly said that she hopes I don't become an extremist. (She left the room before I could say anything).
Then on the way to the memorial she told me (paraphrasing) : "Now duvan if someone asks why you haven't been in a while don't say that you don't believe in god just say you're having doubts" when I asked her why should I she said: "well when you say things like that you sound like an apostate. I haven't given birth to an apostate have I?"
So according to her an apostate is quite simply an atheist. Probably why she doesn't like watching David Attenborough on TV.
To emeth, what do you have to say to what Laika said? I noticed you ignored the post where it shows that you're behaving unchristian-like but still had time to respond to what everyone else was saying. Would you still say you "despise" apostates even when Jesus says to love your enemy because going against what Jesus commanded sounds like what an apostate would do.
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DuvanMuvan
one example of how paranoid some jws can get
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emeth
@DuvanMuvan the scriptures that were quoted by Laika do not apply to apostates. Jesus does not Love Satan nor does he love the demons..... as a matter a fact he despises them
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KateWild
The scriptures don't apply to apostates hey? Who judges what an apostate is? The WT definition is different to the dictionary definition, how do you know when to apply scripture or not emeth? Isn't it up to God to judge a persons heart? Are all atheists apostates? Are all Jews apostates? Are all former JWs apostates? How do you judge emeth?
Kate xx
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DuvanMuvan
so someone who decides to leave the wt and become an atheist is just as bad as Satan? but an atheist you meet on the ministry is fine to talk to? How does that work?
Say you were talking to someone who didnt believe in god. After about 20 minutes of talking they tell you that they used to be a jw but the beliefs didnt make any sense to them. After you find out do you just instantly "despise" them for not staying a jw?
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Heaven
They think apostates have been taken over by the demunz.
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Viviane
Rank and file JWs are afraid of apostates because the GB tells them to be. The GB is afraid of them because if the JWs DO talk to them, they will start losing members faster than Denver lost the Superbowl.