by stephenw20 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
1983 "Avoid Independent Thinking .. How is such independent thinking manifested? A common way is by questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization." {WT Jan 15 1983 22}
1Jo 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
think I 'll stay with John on this one!
Good topic!
Would the WTS have condemned the Bereans? The Bible writer didn't at Acts 17:11, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
The difference was,Paul and Silas stuck to the basic good news. So their message could hold up to such scrutiny.
Any "counsel that is provided" should be questioned and reviewed, unless-we-are-robots.
Gopher
Maybe you should call it "AFRAID of independant thinking".
An example: I decided to share what I had read/learned about WT-chronology with two of my best friends. (I talked to to them pesonally - they had nothing to fear from each other, as they did not know I had been telling both of them. And it was me, who brought up the issue...). Both long time JW, long-time elders and in any sense the kind of brothers you would expect to be able to do independant / reasonable thinking and to be mature enough to discuss the consequences...
Well - i was shocked that they seemed to be unable or at least completely unwilling to discuss anything. Time and time again both of them told me, that if there should be any change in the WT-chronology, the WT itself (the FDS) would tell us about it. When I tried to explain them, that this was, where I had my problem ... they warned me of such thinking and it became clear to me that each of them was too afraid of even thinking about the consequences of what we were talking about.
It is not that they did not know enough about the topic. They simply chose to ignore any of my arguments and told that they would not read anything - even if I personally had written it down, after having done research for nearly 9 years... no 'apostate-stuff'...
On many other topics - of course nothing that questioned the WT - we have had some interesting arguments. But at these occasions it was impossible to get through to them - if you understand what I mean.
And that's why I think it is the case, that many, many JW are AFRAID of independant thinking. But of course: Maybe that's the result of so many years of learning: AVOID independant thinking...
cecil
Cecil,
Its amazing , you are encouraged to INVESTIGATE your own religion and think independently to BECOME on of the JWS..but once you are...........your suppose to have a lobotamy..........
yes ~this~ is why GOD made us higher than the animals!
I think not.
S
Unbelieveable. (sigh) Stay in line, shut your mouth, read only Theocratic Government approved material.
Prov 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.
open minded interchange. God WILL come in.
Cecil,
"And that's why I think it is the case that many, many JW are AFRAID of independent thinking."
Yes, yes, they are. My best friend, with whom I frustratingly tried to reason about several 'problems' with WT teaching, flat out TOLD me "I don't WANT to have any DOUBTS. I worked my whole life to get into this organization and I plan to STAY in." This is the mindset of many whose lives led them to "investigate" and "see" that this was "the truth." They are (and we were) VERY good at compartmentalizing -- and blocking out anything that might contradict the conclusions they've already reached (years, and years, and years, ago! usually during some time of emotional vulnerability). They simply choose NOT to see. Especially when, as you pointed out, the constant refrain from the platform is "Avoid independent thinking."
But there's hope! There really is! Because look at all of US! I'm thinking of the recent new ones -- truman, teraly and ... I'm forgetting someone else -- with 30 years in!!! But they made their way out (or are in the process). Why? Because they were awakened somehow -- their own minds finally realized the dissonance between life in the Organization and Bible truths and what they actually observed in the world at large.
This can happen to others, too! Maybe not all of the ones WE would like to see leave. But many others, especially as discussion boards such as these continue to be available (thank you, Simon!) and as those still "in" because of spouses or in-laws refuse to shackle their own children with the absurd MAN-MADE dictates of the WTS, and as those "out" demonstrate in their daily lives that they are not the wicked monsters that the WTS paints and that nothing terrible befalls them when they leave.
(I, for one, am not going to shun those who would shun me. When I meet former fellow Witnesses I plan to greet them pleasantly and make the insipid comment about "looking well" or "awful weather" that one would politely make to any acquaintance. I am not giving them the power to make me ashamed of disassociating myself, and I want them to see that it's really OK out here in 'Satan's world'!)
So, my suggestion is for each of us to spend some time, INDEPENDENTLY, THINKING [and PRAYING, for those who still do that]about how best we can aid the others we know and love and those we have just "met" here in cyberspace to break free of the subtle mind control they have been experiencing at the hands of the Society. It takes some time to become deprogrammed (not sure I am yet!), and gentle nurturing rather than cold logic is probably the best way to go. Why? Because they DON'T WANT to hear -- but they will respond to the LOVE!
outnfree
Broke free after 30 long hard years.
yes break free
READ the gosple of JOHN come into the light
STUDY the bible as you are encouraged to but leave the WT pubs on the floor
go with the BIBLE
The Master became a legend in his lifetime. It was said that God once
>sought his advice: "I want to play a game of hide-and-seek with
>humankind. I've asked my Angels what the best place is to hide in. Some
>say the depth of the ocean. Others say the top of the highest
>mountain. Others still the far side of the moon or a distant star. What
>do you suggest?"
>
>Said the Master, "Hide in the human heart. That is the last place they
>will look!"
>
>Anthony de Mello, SJ
>
>
> Looking for God is like seeking a path in a field of snow; if there is
> no path and you are looking for one, walk across it and there is your
> path. --Thomas Merton
>
> Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth
> know. --Shakespeare (1564-1616)
