Your "Things That Make You Go Hmmm?" List

by FlyingHighNow 63 Replies latest jw friends

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  OneEyedJoe

  The change to the study watchtower was a big one for me too, I can't believe I left that of my list.

  I remember thinking about a year prior to their fling the public vs private WT that the study articles often contained stuff that would be offensive to non-jws that we should probably not be giving that stuff to people the first time we meet them. I mean how should we expect people to react if we give then a magazine that contains specific condemnation of their religion? Then not long after that I read an article that analyzed the Catholic church through the lends of it being a religion of secrets, where theres layers of of doctrine that only get revealed as you get deeper in. A comparison was made to Scientology wherein people start out thinking it's just some sorta spiritual thing, but once they're sucked in they're told of aliens and furnished souls possessing humans etc. At first, I read the article as confirmation that Catholics didn't know anything about the Bible and it was all about tradition, but then I started to see the parallels. When they started the study/public WT thing, it became a lot stronger.
• 

  abbasgreta

  "Soon"

  "Very soon"

  "So close now"

  "Imminent"

  "At Hand!"

  And He said,"Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name saying..The time is at hand!

  Do not go out after them". Amp bible.
• 

  losingit

  My list:

  Their stance on higher education and after school activities for children

  The blatant sexism in the literature, in the talks, in every day conversation coming out of the brothers' mouths on a regular, consistent basis

  Jehovah as a murderer of billions. I could not mend that with knowing that he is supposed to be a God of love.

  The elitism in the congregation evident in the prayers for elders,MS, and pioneers. They were a cut above the r&f. I thought we were supposed to be equal.

  Associating ONLY with witnesses. I wanted to makefriends in different places but felt i had to ask for permission from my husband, who of course never gave it to me. :-(
• 

  Tater-T

  " Tate !" You have to HATE what Joheva HATES!"......................... hmmm what?. .... " Have To HATE.. !!"

  looking back that was the moment I knew .. but went ahead and joined on up anyway!
• 

  losingit

  I have more, but these are the ones that stood out from the beginning.
• 

  prologos

  silvief: I get it now. The dance of the men -in- and aspiring -to- authority is very well choreographed. a ballet with predictable move , culminating with the high jump and the twiddling feet.

  Apognophos : David Splane is quite fluent in french, off the cuff speaker, he went so far to get involved in creating a local dialect French sound track for a drama, because the one from France would have not been well understood by the locals. I believe Sanderson too got French immersion in Quebec.

  all the better to provide the Hmm? moments
• 

  Apognophos

  David Splane is quite fluent in french

  Interesting, I didn't know that. I think that helps explain why the audience at sylvief's Hall was adulating him. I worked at one company which was foreign-owned, and when we had a visit from one of the top executives, everyone was impressed with his command of English when he spoke fluently to the "low-level" workers at a meeting.
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  prologos

  Apognophos, The result of that effort to DUY a drama recording would be a very strong incentive for the GB to spend lavishly on STATE OF THE ART production facilities. because

  They are working hard to prevent any to have Hmmm moments by sticking to slick, emotionally loaded fiction.
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  sylvlef

  Apognophos, you are correct. Hearing a GB member speak in french was something That every JW présent This day kept talking about many months later...especially because the first Word he said were "le collège central vous aime beaucoup beaucoup", in English "the Gb loves you very very much", That provoked some people to cry...was so ridiculous That i would have laugh out loud if what they are teaching were not of any conséquences on people's life...

  and for the record, many things could be added to the list: Elitism regarding other religions (we are the best), nonsense teachings, etc...
• 

  Fernando

  From oldest to most recent (all own personal observations - not influenced by outside sources):

  1. The generation teaching
  2. Un-theocratic elders
  3. Self-willed elders
  4. Elder fiefdoms
  5. Older but still very immature elders
  6. Cover-ups (rape, incest, fraud, slander - all in my own extended family)
  7. Blood doctrine (OK to use parts of donated blood, but not OK to donate)
  8. Irrational fear of df'd persons
  9. Incompetence of elders, especially in dealing with real problems
  10. Blatant translation errors to support wt dogma
  11. Ruling religious clergy class and hierarchy in the wt org, plus the creation, exploitation and oppression of a "laity class" of "dumb sheeple"
  12. Incongruence - CO: "if it is not in harmony with divine teaching it is teaching of demons" versus elderette: "it is better to be wrong with the society than right on your own" (meaning that it is better to eat at the table of demons with the society than at God's table on your own)
  13. Inconsistencies and errors especially between the usage/application and definition of key terms: prophet, prophecy, apostasy, the gospel, faith
  14. Confusing and conflating "belief" with "faith"
  15. Organised theft of spirituality and faith
  16. Spurious and unbiblical terms: faithS and gospelS
  17. Spiritual blindness, confusion, inebriation, and insanity of elders
  18. Literal 144,000
  19. Jesus is not our mediator
  20. Never once in the NT does the term "the anointed" refer to humans, but is always correctly translated as "ho Kristos" or "the Christ" even in the badly mangled NWT.
  21. FDS = human clergy class = the anointed = represented by GB (but GB actually ignores them)
  22. WBTS Organisation, GB (Sanhedrin) and Elders (Pharisees) as pseudo-mediators or VISIBLE golden calf
  23. Wt "two hopes" versus Bible's "one hope" (spurious and unbiblical two class system of believers)
  24. The opposite trajectories of the gospel in print in the wt library, and the gospel as actually taught and believed as reflected by what is actually in the hearts and on the lips of wt followers
  25. The opposite trajectories of "religion" and the "gospel"
  26. Elder's ignorance of, fear of, and contempt for, the liberating gospel of grace - the tipping point and last straw (especially the denial of "imputed righteousness" and "imputed holiness")
  27. Wt revisionist cover-up of previous teaching that all religion is a snare and a racket