Slaves and Sheeps

by Sorry 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Sorry

  DISCLAIMER: while this may be a sensitive topic to some, I don't wish to offend anyone. Please don't turn this into a political discussion with name calling and yelling. Thank you.

  I can see why the Borg hates higher education. Since attending college, many things I have never thought about or previously ignored made me question things. One such thing is the Bible and slavery. If you've taken a history class, you'll know that, at least in the US, Christianity was used as a tool to keep the oppressed in line (slavery and imperialism as main examples). Scriptures such as Ephesians 6:5 "slaves, obey your Earthly masters with respect" were used as a way to prevent uprisings. The Bible was pretty much used as a tool to justify their inhumane treatment of other human beings.

  Given the unsavory history of slavery and the near universal negative connotations associated with slaves, it makes me question the WT as to why they keep comparing JW's to slaves. The talk on the Broadcast about "Being a Slave to Jehovah" made me squirm. Common excuses I've heard is that "the Bible wasn't written back then, so it's not talking about that" or "Jehovah is a loving master, who wouldn't be a slave for him?" Still, given the stigma and the fact the Bible was used as a tool of manipulation, you'd think they'd avoid it and simply use words just as "followers" to describe JW's.

  Another one is sheep. In any other place, sheep are used to describe a brainless person who unquestionably follows orders. Yet the WT is quick to praise people who are "sheep-like". How can we possess "free will" like they claim, but we are encouraged to act like sheep and follow orders, even "if they don't make sense from a human standpoint".

  If they view being "slaves" to them and "sheep" as a good thing, that's kinda cult-ish, don't you think?
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  Crazyguy

  Religions and governments from the beginning of time have used the idea of a God to lord over the people. God gives them and them alone The authority to rule and if your not a slave to them you'll die and be sent to hell or not go to and kind of decent after life.

  This is nothing new and the cult likes it. The cult of Jehovahs witnesses is much closer in the way they act to the old chatholic church then most would realize. They even wrote in a WT in the 1950's that if it wasn't for the laws of the land they would like nothing more then to kill apostates.
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  DATA-DOG

  Even in the ancient Sumerian accounts, slavery is a key element. Enki gave humans the ability to be free, and was branded a traitor by his father.

  Today, Enki is called Lucifer/Satan by Xians. He's the only guy that ever told the truth in the Genesis account.

  DD
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  Vidiot

  Slaves are at the mercy of their masters' (or handlers') every whim.

  And a sheep's ultimate fate is to be sheared, butchered, and eaten.

  Neither are prospects that anyone with half a brain should find appealing.
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  LongHairGal

  SORRY:

  Very good topic. Oppressing and exploiting people seems to be an evil as old as time itself.

  Of course religionists would jump on the bandwagon. The people at the top have an easy life at the expense of their "slaves" or followers. That goes for ALL religions.

  The Witness religion tries to make slavery (oppression) look like a desirable state, if the person doing it can convince you they're doing it for "your" own good. Anybody who wants to be free is bad somehow.

  I have no desire to be either a sheep or a slave. I also realize that so many died for the sake of freedom. Why on earth, in our modern world, would I choose slavery?? I wouldn't. Which is why I walked away from the JW religion when I saw that was basically what it was underneath all the BS.
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  prologos

  sheep are dumb? remember, the anointed are sheep too, just not OTHER sheep, , dumb enough though, to take the talking snake tale seriously, but smart enough to use it to lord it over.
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  schnell

  No no no, it's just employment. Slavery in the Bible is loving and the most stable form of employment.

  Gimme the awl, boss, I'm stickin around.
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  stuckinarut2

  If one has ever seen sheep in a paddock, they often wear down the grass in a set path as they all follow each other perfectly.

  If one strays out of line...he is punished....

  Yet, that same line can also lead directly to the truck that takes them off to the butchery.....
  
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  prologos

  slaves in the South were allowed to marry, but that benevolent gesture served to keep them in line, for fear of one of them be sold off, so, wt uses the same technique, removal. But: wt hates goats, they are good climbers (climb every mountain), and I remember being painfully horn - butted by billy the bully. besides, the bible god also prefers sheep, well done - by Abel.