That same question applies to Catholics, Jews, Islamists, Baptists and so on.
Just because you belong to a religion, does it mean you espouse every idea that they have ever presented?
Do You Think All JWs Believe Whatever Their Religion Teaches?
by minimus 30 Replies latest jw friends
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Phizzy
I would doubt that many JW's believe it all, or even a big percentage of it, a strongly convinced JW once told me he thought they had got 90% right, I replied that he was wrong, and so were they, 90% wrong.
Most JW's do not care about doctrine, and its accuracy, and are therefore prepared to go along with any changes, but you can't say they really believe, most are in for family reasons now.
I am not sure about other religions, I know the Church of England is filled with people who only believe partially, and that includes most of the Clergy.
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blondie
No, my family did not believe the interrupted GT teaching (1918) that was cleared up in 1970 (they patted themselves on the back)
Or the teaching that God and Jesus were the superior authorities at Romans 13 to readjusted in 1962 to mean the secular governments (something the WTS taught until 1929 and changed)
My family also did not believe the 1975 date, because the bible said it would come at a time you thought not.
The difference is they did not try to convert other jws to their ideas but resisted supporting them in quiet manner.
More is the case is that many jws cannot find the scriptures that support official WTS beliefs but support anyway...the blind leading the blind.
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OneEyedJoe
In my experience you'd be hard pressed to find a jw under 60 who even knows the official stance on 50% of the doctrine, so it's impossible that they all believe it everything. That's part of why it's so difficult to wake someone up - you can't argue doctrine because they don't know doctrine in the first place. If you prove a doctrine wrong, they just assume that you've misrepresented the doctrine (like all apostates do) and they're to lazy to look it up.
Even excepting that, of say a healthy percentage consciously disagree with doctrine, but know to keep their trap shut about it. I don't think they're afraid of a JC per se, I think it goes back to laziness. If you talk about doubts, you will at the very least get a back room talking to, and might end up having to re-study some particular bit of propaganda with one of the elders. That's a lot of trouble, and they don't want to do it.
Actually the very fact that 90% of jws are too lazy to ensure that they have "an accurate knowledge of truth" goes against core doctrine on is own.
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Rattigan350
I don't believe anything that any one teaches. especially doctors, lawyers and religionists.
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minimus
I believe that most religions have beliefs or doctrines that are not accepted by their adherents. People say, I'm of this church or religion or way of life but typically, they are not abide practices of their faith.
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Apognophos
In my experience you'd be hard pressed to find a jw under 60 who even knows the official stance on 50% of the doctrine, so it's impossible that they all believe everything.
Actually, OEJ... I could argue that their lack of knowledge of doctrine means by default that they do believe everything. They are letting the slave tell them what to think, based on the desire they have to place blind faith in these men. They could study an article next week that contradicts several of the "deeper" teachings and not notice that anything had changed, but they would believe the material wholeheartedly. They could study an article the week after that which contradicted the previous one, and even if some thought, "Hmm, I don't understand how this reconciles with last week's article", they would shrug and assume the slave knows what it's talking about.
I turned your expression around, not to play a game of semantics, but to make the serious point that when people are willing to 'follow any directions even if they don't seem logical', what you have on your hands is definitely a group of true believers.
That being said, there are no doubt some JWs who were put off by the statement that they must follow any and all directions. They regard the GB as a group of imperfect men and so they would not jump off a bridge just because the slave told them to. Others, however, would definitely jump.
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Oubliette
I know JWs that don't agree with everything the WT leadership teaches and yet they still attend all the meetings religiously. I also know that even most of the elders can't keep all of the confusing, incoherent and ever-shifting doctrines straight. So in that sense, not all JWs believe everything the religion teaches. Most JWs aren't even clear on what their religion teaches!
Nevertheless, they all profess that the GB/FDS are appointed by Holy Spirit, that they are the authorized leaders appointed by Jehovah God and that this IS the "one true religion."
Ultimately, that is all that matters. Doctrine is, as has been well proven, irrelevant.
It's kind of like the expression, "My country, right or wrong!" JWs live to the motto, "My religion, right or wrong!" Add to that the fact that no one is allowed to openly debate or disagree with anything the WT teaches, even if it makes no sense, and you have all the ingredients necessary for an authoritarian, high-control group.
Listen, Obey and Be Blessed: It's a cult!
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new hope and happiness
I think those that do are fanatical.
A positive aspect of authority is allowing a person to accept only what makes sence to his own reason. Of course if the watchtower were to do this then one persons being able to question would soon multipy in to an army and the watchtower would loose its hold. Fear and control not believe is what keeps things together.
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prologos
99% of the jws hope the New World would come soon, very few really BELIEVE that. Look at their investments , including the top 7 plus.