A Text Message Exchange

by Emery 33 Replies latest jw friends

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    Friend: No other religion keeps their places of worship clean from a moral standpoint.

    Well that is simply not true. Your friend is either completely ignorant about the endemic pedophile problems in JW-land or he is lying. Either way, he is wrong.

    Friend: We have the largest circulating magazine in the world and the 3rd for that matter. I don’t think it has anything to do with numbers man. If you wanna go that route… look at the Catholics.

    Classic: pick the "factoids" that support what you already believe and dismiss all other information, especially the disconfirming sort.

    Friend: I don’t need any other facts.

    See above.

  • lriddle80
    lriddle80

    Wow! That sounded EXACTLY like my dad talking about the witnesses! They are taught to say that stuff! They are the true religion because they go door to door! What about the bible saying that true religion is looking out for orphans and widows?

  • leaving_quietly
    leaving_quietly

    The preaching work is the single most important sign and thing that sets us apart and is there to show you the organization is from Jehovah. That is the whole key to everything as far as being able to determine the true religion.

    The tactful response:

    Yes, that's what I thought, too. So, I looked in the Bible for where this is stated. The closest thing I could find is Jesus' words at Luke 6:46: "Why, then, do you call me ‘Lord! Lord!’ but do not do the things I say?" Preaching is definitely one of the things Jesus said to do, but it's not the only thing. Actually, he reiterated the two greatest commandments to love God with your whole heart, mind and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. He also gave a new commandment, to love one another, and even said that THIS is what identifies ones as his disciples. In all my searching, though, I never found any place that says that preaching is what identifies people as true Christians. So, there's another question that I cannot find a satisfying answer to.

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    Name one person Jesus ever shunned?

  • redvip2000
    redvip2000

    You handled this very well.

    I've had dozens of debates with active witnesses and this is a common theme to all of them. They value what they DO and not what they TEACH. So the reason why they are the true religion is always what they DO : preaching, keeping the congregation clean, not participating in worldly things.

    No other religion works solely off of voluntary donations. No other religion goes door-to-door like Jesus commanded us to do. No other religion is doing the grand preaching work that Jesus said would be done before the end would come, Matthew 24:14.

    None of this is true of course. And when you started debunking these points, he switched to the magazines.

    We have the largest circulating magazine in the world and the 3rd for that matter.

    And exactly how is this evidence that they are the true religion? How many non-JW actually read the magazines? Nobody knows but the number is likely incredibly small, so how is that helping this preaching that seems to be so important? No wonder that there are only 7 million JWs in the world.

    Well here are a couple of things…Mormons participate in politics, warfare and holidays

    Yes, and since the bible doesn't say this is imcompatible with christianity, you have to use circular reasoning to use this argument.

  • Crazyguy
    Crazyguy

    Were does Jesus say go door to door , he doesn't and Paul does mention it but also mentions synogogs. And what about the message jws do not preach the good news like the apostles preached. Also of the 2300 bible translations out there only 96 are jws what about the other 2200+ ? Yes all those other Christians are so bad. You nailed it with the Luke account. Next time ask him why jws exalt themselves and judge other, Jesus said not to.

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    Wow. Thanks for sharing your conversation!

    I imagine having the same one with friends/family myself. Unreal.

    PS: I hope you have unlimited texting!

  • A.proclaimer
    A.proclaimer

    Very well handled in my opinion. You did a great job. I've noticed that witnesses always pull out the preaching card but you brought up some very good points against that, something I could use as well.

    as for the FDS, here's another discrepancy You can point out. It says that the slave was already appointed over the master's domestics in 1919 according to the Watchtower July 15, 2013 p. 22,23 Based off of Mathew 24:45 which says: “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?

    Notice it says "appointed" as in past tense, already done. Now compare it to Luke 12:42 which is the same parable: "And the Lord said: 'Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time?'"

    now it says "will appoint", in the future. Why does one use past tense and the other future tense? The Governing body says they were already appointed but Luke refutes that. I asked my parents and a friend of theirs this question and I couldn't find a good answer.

  • ABibleStudent
    ABibleStudent

    Friend: I don’t need any other facts. The preaching work is the single most important sign and thing that sets us apart and is there to show you the organization is from Jehovah. That is the whole key to everything as far as being able to determine the true religion.

    Hi Emery, Thank you for sharing. You did a great job of trying to explain your feelings to your friend, but your friend does not want to be confused with facts that will cause him cognitive dissonance.

    Writing to him about anything other than, "I love you unconditionally. I will always enjoy talking and spending time with you. I hope to chat with you soon." will probably adversely affect your fade. It sucks, but your friend is not ready to see TTATT.

    Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

    Robert

  • Ding
    Ding

    Be very careful what you say to this friend, especially what you put in text or writing.

    Sounds like he's very uncomfortable with anything remotely questioning the organization.

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