by kilroy2 18 Replies latest jw experiences
Kittie: How much do elders know about the books they teach from?
Well, remember when you were in school and you thought the teacher was so smart and then you found out that the teacher had the same workbook you did EXCEPT the teacher's version had all the answers in the back?
Elder's don't have that.
Check (b) - could I ever relate to that.
I did not push the envelope way back then, but had some simmering questions and concerns, many of which were said were 'better left with Jehovah'
Willyloman; Kitties & Horses: you made some great comments.
I, did of course, take K&H's post (b) example to further express what myself, K&H and countless others frustrations in regards to questioning the WTBTS and their publications/interpretations.
JW insect of choice: crickets
i have to agree with the other posters, you blew them OUT OF THE WATER-
while it is true you may have planted some seeds, in my view you could have made a bigger immpression by giving them something to think about as to turning to off
just my thought
Much of my miserable childhood was spent in studying "in-depth" publications. In fact, where I came from, this was highly encouraged, and the teenagers, especially, were encouraged NOT to rush headlong into baptism. Maybe it was the water or something. We were just different, it seemed. I have respect for many of these elders, even today. As they say, they just don't make 'em like that anymore.
Among what we studied were the OM book, Life Everlasting, the Truth book, etc. of the older 192-page books. Much time was spent with our study with my parents and I and various elders in the Aid concordance. Guess who helped write that?
It was with tremendous amounts of careful reading over a few summers on the beach that my father decided for HIMSELF that the JWs had it wrong. My mother and I only got baptized out of an emotional frenzy one summer because of separation then divorce. We both learned, much more, as time went on and came to our senses, too.
Today's drivel of pablum doesn't even come close to even pretend to be scholarly, IMHO. However, if those girls would spend some time on the Internet, or on this board, and cull through some of the history, there's enough here for them to rise above the pablum.
I occupy myself by critiquing the WT articles every week. I don't bother with the Isaiah books. Willyloman, your review of these books is dead-on.
The second half of each chapter goes to great pains to show that, somehow, the more real and significant application is to world events involved faithful and discreet slave class since 1919.
How could I provide insightful weekly comments on a book that can be summed up in a single paragraph? I would like to see WTBTS literature on Amazon, where reviews could be posted and readers could rate the material before they bought in to it.
Starry-eyed tourists continue to arrive at Bethel and marvel at the manicured lawns, the well-oiled machinery, the orderly spewing forth of written materials. There is no striving for excellence when one is "near perfect" already. A pitfall of being Jehovah's exclusive mouthpiece.
Nobody has the guts to tell them their robe is filthy.
So wonderful kids have the internet now. they will look and learn.m We could not do that. I wanted to know what the "apostates" believed and why they were so mad , but had no safe way of finding out. Now i do.
When I was a kid I met up with a guy in service who had some "apostate literature" and he wanted to "read yours if you'll read mine". I got creeped out and ran away, stuttering something about how JW's don't read any books but their own.
What might be a good tactic is to give them a question to ask their elders, like, what happened in 1975?
If they are cute girls, a good tactic might be to invite them in, have them kick their shoes off, serve a little (just a little) good wine from Ozzie's wine of the month list, put on some music, ask if they know how to dance, offer to teach them, drift ever so slowly towards the bedroom - sweep them off their feet! Ahh, saving souls, one booty call at a time...
CZAR
You're Czar of Mischief!
But asking them some question to ask their older ones, like the 1975 question might be a positive way to get them to do some asking and thinking. But it's bad tactic to tel lthem you were once a Dub upfront. Everything else that's said won't be taken seriously, as you're just an Apostate trying to sell Death to them. I've found that asking questions about the 1919, and the handing over of all God's belongings to JW leaders to be an interesting question, goes to the heart of their belief.
I doubt you blew them out of the water. (A recent Awake magazine had an article called: "Young People Ask: Chronology, Who Gives a Shit?")
Why doesn't anyone talk to Witnesses about the Organization's doctrine of genocide, the mass murder of the world that is doctrine for all Witnesses? Instead, posters here chose as topics Russell, pyramids, the fall of Jerusalem, chronology ... the easiest stuff for a Witness to shrug off. It's more difficult for people to shrug off the arbitrary death of babies and puppies, as depicted and described in the Society's literature. I'd try to get them on that.
Dedalus
