Study Watchtower confirms shunning spiritually weak. How nice!

by Isambard Crater 44 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Isambard Crater

  It really hurt to hear Brothers and Sisters commenting about this at the Meeting yesterday.

  "As in Solomon’s case, one of the greatest threats to spirituality is friendship with those who do not understand or respect Jehovah’s standards. Some may be associated with the congregation but may be spiritually weak. Others could be relatives, neighbors, coworkers, or schoolmates who are not worshippers of Jehovah. In any case, if our close associates do not show a high regard for Jehovah’s standards, they can in time destroy our good standing with God."
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  zeb

  ...........divide and conquer....
  
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  slimboyfat

  Like many Watchtower injunctions to shun, could this be open to interpretation? A hardline reading would be that all inactive people are bad associates. A liberal reading would be that inactive people can be bad associates if they break the rules or express dubious views.
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  smiddy3

  Some may be associated with the congregation but may be spiritually weak.

  In other words avoid them and have little if any association with them because they might destroy/weaken your own faith .

  O f course any new converts they may attract to the religion is of course going to be spiritually weak so you can love bomb him/her but at the same time keep your distance from them socially.

  No doubt inactive ones and new converts are to be "marked" until they prove themselves to be spiritually strong.
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  waton

  Solomon being love bombed by 1000 females. or vice versa. nice vice.
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  Half banana

  This is going to backfire. The GB are looking for scapegoats to blame their decline on. "Why? It is all those weak ones who just attend meetings and don't contribute anything who are the problem".

  The fact of the matter is that many JWs are held captive and stuck there by the cult's own threats of dividing the family.

  This directive will sadden more people than it encourages. I hope it will be the last straw for those whose family or marriage is under strain from the instructions of the cult leaders. The doctrines are looking less and less likely to ever come true anyway, so why not leave now!
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  slimboyfat

  It would be nice to think it will backfire but I’m not so sure.
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  stillin

  "Spiritually weak." That means "not as great as me." Right? So I just barely tolerate all of those "fringe people" and scurry across the hall to where the "inner circle of spiritually strong" people are having a superior conversation.

  How grateful I am that I'm not like them.
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  snugglebunny

  Just remembering WT studies from long ago ... there were similar articles to this back then. The audience would be clamouring to answer and make references to "these weak ones" in order to inflate their own egos. Yuk.
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  waton

  Imagine a meeting where a goodly number are treated as nothings, ignored, looked through. A caricature of what the writer of John 13:35 had in mind, when he tried to encourage healthy, sound- minded congregations.

  "By this you will know that you are my disciples: if-----"

  This directive is madness instead.