Change from within the ORG..suggestions?

by breeze 17 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  ozziepost

  Change from within? Simply change the shunning rules?

  No, that's not enough, not by a long way!

  I respect that there are some (many?) who believe that's all that's needed, but it overlooks the basic theology which is flawed. Whilst ever the heirarchy believe that they speak for God himself (Jehovah?) and that only through them can "Truth" be learned i.e. standing in the place of Jesus, there will always be problems.

  As our colleague Farks put it : "stay the hell out of the religion business. They are terrible at it."

  Cheers, Ozzie
• 

  kelpie

  I say stop dreaming cause it aint never going to happen!!!!!!!
• 

  SPAZnik

  Anyway, should we have to spell it out to them?
  
  Not if they are the TRUE religion. (If such a thing even exists).
  
  They claim to be a theocracy, not a democracy, so really, "GOD" should spell it out to them, no?
• 

  WildTurkey

  Any changes they may make I will never respect, because it would be for self-preservation not cause of Godly devotion.
• 

  fjtoth

  Some First Steps Required to Implement Changes from within the Jehovah's Witnesses Organization -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jehovah's Witnesses would need to abandon: - Teaching that true Christianity is an organization instead of a way of life - Centralizing authority in an organization instead of letting Christ be the head of each Christian - Claiming salvation is dependent upon belonging to the JW denomination - Teaching that the early Christians were led by a governing body - Interpreting Jewish restoration prophecies as fulfilled in "the anointed remnant" - Teaching that Jesus appointed the "anointed remnant" as his true church in 1919 - Viewing the "anointed" class (actually, the governing body of the WT Society) as God's channel and prophet - Placing WT literature above the Bible - Claiming that the "faithful and discreet slave" is the "anointed" class rather than each Christian who is responsible and obedient to Christ - Having class distinctions such as "governing body," "anointed" and "great crowd" - Teaching that the Scriptures are directly addressed only to "the remnant of anointed ones" - Creating a climate of fear by authoritarianism - Keeping meeting attendance and field service records as a gauge of an individual's spirituality - Controlling what individual JWs may read of Bible-related publications that are not produced by the WT Society - Claiming that spiritual food comes from the "anointed" class whereas nearly all the writers of WT publications are members of the "other sheep" class - Teaching that Jesus is not the mediator between God and the "great crowd" of Revelation 7 - Teaching that only the "anointed" must be born again - Teaching that the "great crowd" are not begotten or anointed by the Holy Spirit - Teaching that the "great crowd" are not members of the bride of Christ - Teaching that the "great crowd" are God's grandchildren and not his sons and daughters - Inviting only the "anointed" to partake at the memorial - Teaching that only "anointed" JWs will receive immortality in the resurrection - Teaching that the resurrection of the "anointed" precedes the resurrection of the "other sheep" and has already begun - Teaching that Abraham and the faithful men and women of old are not among the holy ones who will rule with Christ in his Kingdom - Class distinctions such as publishers, auxiliary pioneers, regular pioneers, special pioneers, circuit overseers, district overseers, Bethelites, Governing Body, etc. - Falsifying the fact that Charles Russell predicted for 1914 the end of the world, not Christ's return - Lying about a so-called "increase" in earthquakes, warfare, famines, persecution, etc., since 1914 - Teaching that Jesus returned in 1914 and is "invisibly present" since then - Organizationally requiring no blood transfusions instead of letting it be a matter of conscience - Teaching that it's wrong to celebrate birthdays and all holidays - Forbidding attendance and participation at other churches - Defining apostasy as against an organization instead of against God - Being quick to disfellowship instead of making efforts to restore persons who have done something wrong - Teaching that the "congregation" of Matthew 18:17 is the body of elders - Holding heresy trials and disciplinary hearings in secrecy from the rest of the congregation - Conducting heresy trials of members who have doubts or who think differently upon the Scriptures - Withholding information from persons who have been accused of wrongdoing - Prohibiting fellowship with disassociated persons - Covering over and hiding damaging facts about the JW organization - Denying that the JW organization is part of Babylon the Great - Etc., etc
• 

  AGuest

  Change from within the ORG..suggestions?

  Dearest Breeze, peace to you!

  I have no suggestions... but may I ask you, truly, can you put NEW wine... into an OLD wineskin? Will not the OLD wineskin burst? Or can you sew a NEW patch (of unshrunk cloth) onto an OLD outer garment? Would not the full strength of the NEW patch pull from the OLD garment... and the tear become worse? Can you truly rebuild such a damaged "house"... without first tearing it down... to the "foundation"?

  Just some things to consider.

  A slave of Christ,

  SJ
• 

  czarofmischief

  I think a positive step would be to remove the governing Body as having authority over the individual congregations. Rather, each congregation should be subject to Christ directly. The only things that should be centralized are a kind of charitable organization for the relief and development of the brotherhood - not a central governance, but a unit supported by donations.

  The only things that should be asserted without fear of contradiction are the basic Bible truths that all agree on. The congregation should become a central place for the interchange of ideas regarding the faith, not a stifling conformity mill in the interests of "unity." These truths can be periodically reviewed in light of new research or philosophy. Most of all, once a basic framework of belief has been agreed upon, differences of opinion can be held without threatening security.

  Remvoe the shrouds and layers of secrecy. Open books on everything, from accounting to judicial treatment to the sins of the fathers.

  Judicial sessions should be open to any baptized member, with members freely confessing their sins in front of one another as the good book says. All can attend and sit quietly to observe, or make arrangments to testify if such is relevant.

  The brotherhood should distance itself from other religions by paying taxes on their property.

  Abandon the idea that participating in the surrounding culture is evil, but rather rejoice inthe good things that god has given us.

  CZAR
• 

  ozziepost

  Why bother with all that, Czar?

  You've described many churches that I know of, so why not just go there and leave the Borg to rot?

  Cheers, Ozzie