What would you change?

ExBethelitenowPIMA

I’m agnostic so maybe the universe started by chance or by design.

If it was by design (hypothetically) and the Bible is the designers word, and JWs seem to be the closest to it, then what would be the largest things you would change?

here are a few ideas

-Do away with the Governing body thinking they are Gods only channel. Have a few different committees handling different areas as is done now but do away with these several older men having celebrity status thinking they will be kings and priests with Jesus.

-which brings me to - do away with the claiming to be anointed thing. Just leave it to Jehovah will choose and we all don’t know.

-Medical decisions are a personal choice “each one must carry his own load” don’t try to persuade anyone when it comes to private medical decisions. If someone doesn’t want to take the vaccines then don’t force them to it to go on any theocratic schools.

- Education should be a matter of personal choice. Nobody should poke their nose in.

- Do away with shunning. If someone leaves that’s fine they left. If they want to come back they can if they choose. Just treat them like unbelievers

ExBethelitenowPIMA

It could be boiled down to-

Everything apart from gross sin is a conscience matter (personal choice) absolutely everything.

If something is a sin or goes against the Bible then have a judicial committee and if no repentance then announce the person is no longer a JW. But treat the person as you would any other unbeliever. Don’t shun them.

More important than that is to get rid of the governing body and just have all the different committees that currently exist. Then there wouldn’t be all the problems with ToMo3 and the three other disgraced GB members.

cofty

Do away with the risible idea that the bible is literally the inspired word of God.

It has some interesting content, some wisdom, some beauty and a whole lot of repugnant narrative.

Stop insulting the intelligence of people by insisting that Adam and Eve were actual characters and that life hasn't existed on earth for millions of years.

You shouldn't have to pretend to be scientifically illiterate in order to belong to a community.

And also - stop calling it 'The Truth '. That moniker hasn't aged well.

TonusOH

ExB: If it was by design (hypothetically) and the Bible is the designers word, and JWs seem to be the closest to it,

Seem? So, no one would know for sure, but we could be confident that JWs had the best take? We would need to determine how it is that we can consider them the closest to that true understanding.

If it was by design, and the designer wanted something specific for/from us, I would expect that designer to make it obvious. By showing up and explaining it all, and perhaps by writing the holy book himself, thus providing us with a clear guide that isn't subject to constant interpretation and reinterpretation for centuries on end without any hope of a resolution.

If the JWs were the closest to the truth of the designer, then I would hesitate to change anything unless I understood what it was that made them more accurate than anyone else. Otherwise, we might be moving away from god, not towards him.

ExBethelitenowPIMA

Tonus which other organisations have love amongst themselves as Jesus said would be his true disciples?

It seems to many that JWs seem to be the closest to this, but if you have another organisation that I’ve missed please tell me.

Im open to the possibility that JWs are the closest to the Bible (if indeed intelligent design was behind the universe and the Bible is the designers word)

but as we have seen over the last 140+ years JWs have had some enormous changes and I think they need to keep changing.

I have no doubt they are wrong about many many things. There is a lot of room for improvement

cofty

It seems to many that JWs seem to be the closest to this

That is delusional.

ExBethelitenowPIMA

Cofty which organisation do you think is closer to the truth about the Bible than JWs?

bearing in mind jesus said those that have love among themselves this is what I based on the claim that JWs are the closest

slimboyfat

I agree with the suggested changes personally, if I was in charge, in terms of stopping shunning, making health and education choices freely and so on. But on the other hand, if God exists, and if JWs are the closest to the truth then it seems to be a necessary part of that setup that Jehovah is in charge and it’s not for me or others to make changes we would like to see. The Bible is full of examples of people who thought they could do it their own way, such as Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and Ananias and Sapphira picking and choosing what they would obey and it didn’t turn out well for them.

On a more mundane level, just in terms of management, not doctrine, if I was in charge a few things I would definitely do: reinstitute the congregation book studies in people’s homes, reintroduce Yearbooks, reintroduce book releases at the conventions, encourage people to use physical Bibles rather than tablets, reintroduce food at the conventions, organise large international assemblies again, reintroduce the “written review”, focus back on door to door ministry rather than carts, encourage more informal gatherings in congregations, reintroduce full length Watchtower and Awake! magazines with topical, properly researched articles, focus more on deep study at the meetings, allow longer comments at the meetings, allow more time for comments at the meetings, slow down the pace of the meetings so not every speaking is rushing to finish his part, get elders to do proper shepherding visits regularly, restore local control of finances to congregations, stop all the consolidation and build more Kingdom Halls closer to people, allow more smaller congregations in smaller areas. That’s all I can think off the top of my head. If the GB want more ideas they know where to reach me.

TonusOH

ExB: Tonus which other organisations have love amongst themselves as Jesus said would be his true disciples?

I don't know. That is an interesting claim to try to measure. But this is a first step- does this give you confidence to consider them to have it right? You mention the changes in doctrine over the past 140 years. How does it affect your confidence in them?

JWs are not alone in ascribing changes to new insight provided by god, so they're not unique in making doctrinal changes over time. And if the changes they make do not align with that of other Christian denominations, perhaps it means they have it right. It still leads me to wonder if we should feel comfortable with a god who claims he is not a god of confusion, yet allows such confusion and misunderstanding to affect those who seek to serve him faithfully.

XBEHERE

bearing in mind jesus said those that have love among themselves this is what I based on the claim that JWs are the closest

If you mean "conditional" love among yourselves then I agree with you. Lets face it, as soon as you start questioning or even give a hint that something is amiss you are under the microscope. Not so with many other religines I think.

What would you change?

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