What is the alternative to JW?

by Formerbrother 475 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  OnTheWayOut

  If Jws have not got the truth, then -What is the alternative?

  You've had great answers here. A life has the purpose you give it. If you want to enrich a publishing company and give false hope to people, that's a pretty poor purpose just so you can die "very happy and contented."

  Plus, I deny that most JW's are truly happy. They have this feeling that they are wasting their time, they are made to feel that they never measure up and need to do more. They feel paranoid about accidentally enjoying something "worldly." They miss out on many family joys with their non-JW family.

  They indeed miss "the real life." But you don't see that.

  Your JW life is alot like living in the Matrix. You can't believe you are living in a made-up fantasy and you cannot see the real world. Wake up, man. You won't wake up because you are afraid you will never get to go back to the Matrix, and the real world with developing your own thoughts/opinions/politics is very scary to you.

  Ex-JW's may not know the absolute truth. Neither do you. But I would rather be willing to explore and question than just accept that those guys in NY with a proven track record of delaying and changing the doctrine might actually have anything right.

  What other options?

  If God and Jesus have a purpose for me, they have my cell number. I don't have to go off and live a life of debauchery, but I can go live my life without a set of imposed rules about blood, beards, birthday cakes, toasting at a celebration, voting, where I should be on Sunday morning and all day Saturday.
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  jhine

  Former Brother , you have not addressed the issues of JWs changing the Bible to suit doctrine or the points made by Lieu or I about going door to door .

  You make no mention of the myriad of failed prophecies . I would remind of what the Bible has to say about false prophets , I do read my Bible !

  Cofty has written an excellent article on why the WT is wrong about the blood issue .

  Orphan Crow has shown that the WT does not hold the record for Bible translations , thanks Orphan Crow .

  You keep repeating all the propaganda that the WT comes up with about Christendom , without checking any of it out . You are simply believing everything you are told by the WT .

  No one is having a go at you , just trying to make you check stuff out for yourself , not just lap up every word from the GB .

  Jan
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  FayeDunaway

  Jesus mentions helping the poor way, way more than preaching. How do Jehovah's Witnesses do with that, FB? Not so well. You are very concerned with following all parts of (their) bible, and this part is not masked by their bible, yet they ignore it. Why? It brings no benefit to their corporation.
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  Heaven

  formerbrother said: Sounds like an excuse to me, I still say either believe all the Bible or non of it.

  At least the JWs are the only ones who believe all of it.

  If JWs believe all of the Bible to be true, then it is very sad just how uneducated JWs truly are.

  There are clear factual errors starting right in the book of Genesis where God creates the Earth, day, atmosphere, soil, water, and plants all prior to creating the Sun. This is 100% false.
  
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  Mephis

  Sounds like an excuse to me, I still say either believe all the Bible or non of it.
  At least the JWs are the only ones who believe all of it.
  Others say they do, but when it comes to men laying with men, or the blood issue, then that is what sorts the true religion from the false.

  All the bible. Ok. Here's Jehovah (Yahweh) in action. This is the true religion, right?

  The morality of the divine patron can seem very foreign to modern sensibilities. For example, since ancient Near Eastern society was patriarchal, treating women as subordinate to men, it follows logically that the divine patron also treated women this way. A biblical example illustrates the point. In 2 Samuel 11–12, King David covets another man’s wife, takes her, and later kills the husband when the woman becomes pregnant. According to the story, the patron god, Yahweh, is angry, but not because David has raped and murdered. Yahweh expresses disgust that David has taken the wrong man’s wife, for he, Yahweh, is eager to give David the wives of other men if David desires them (12:7b–8). As punishment for David’s sin, the woman’s child shall die and another man shall rape several of David’s other wives (12:9–14). The moral values of Canaanite culture are clearly on display in this tale: the divine patron punishes a man by killing a child and orchestrating the rape of other women. The divine patron protects the property of males by violating or destroying the property of other males. Religious morality is a by-product of social prejudices.

  Kurt Noll. http://people.brandonu.ca/nollk/canaanite-religion/

  Don't give blood to save someone's life, because that makes him sad and he'll kill you. Only rape the right women (!!!), or he'll be sad and have your wives raped and kill children. That's the god JWs want to worship. Forgive me for not giving a damn what he says about consensual sex between adults.
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  Hadriel

  Although I concur with @Heaven as to the order of creation I just as vehemently believe it is as much out of sorts to think a single cell organism (Universal Ancestor) is our beginning by happenstance.

  That said there are many perplexing things in both. As far as the bible the flood alone is a field day for any evolutionist. If you think rationally there's serious concerns in this story. How were animals that are strictly indigenous to an area able to make it to the ark and then back. Just doesn't make sense. How in a short period of time was it possible for all these kingdoms of earth and the building of the tower of babel to have existed after only 8 people left the ark?

  We could go on and on. As to the other side of the coin, the complexity in life is quite significant. If evolution is true, if this happenstance is accurate why can't we solve the complexity of life and disease?

  If we can calculate the proteins involved in DNA and much more why is it not possible to cure disease and for that matter create life itself?

  If you're honest there are questions on all sides that are terribly difficult to answer.
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  Giordano

  If evolution is true, if this happenstance is accurate why can't we solve the complexity of life and disease?

  In large part science has only significantly grown in the last four or so centuries. Science was not encouraged by most religions...obedience was. Medical science was practiced by few. The lack of a printing press made it difficult to produce material that could be provided to anyone who could read.

  Buckminster Fuller created the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II knowledge was doubling every 25 years. Today things are not as simple as different types of knowledge have different rates of growth. For example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours.

  http://www.industrytap.com/knowledge-doubling-every-12-months-soon-to-be-every-12-hours/3950

  If we can calculate the proteins involved in DNA and much more why is it not possible to cure disease and for that matter create life itself?

  Here is an example of doubling knowledge, it's actually a quick read and if their conclusion holds up this could be significant to curing disease and explaining how life started.
  
  

  Random mutation, protein changes, tied to start of multicellular life
  

  University of Oregon-led group proposes that an evolutionary change of protein interactions in cells some 600 million years ago changed life on Earth

  http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uoo-rmp010716.php

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
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  OutsiderLookingIn

  Hi, first time posting here! I've never been a JW but I learned about this site about 6 months ago. This and another post finally pushed me to get in on the action :) To answer your question, YES, there are other alternatives! I definitely agree with Jan and Ding and many of the other responses. I believe in God and have received Jesus as my Savior and rely on His strength to get through this life. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God--all of it. I read all of it, and in its context. I have never been a JW. There are other alternatives still. Your life can have purpose without spending your waking hours pushing demonstrably false doctrines for a publishing and real estate conglomerate.
  Galatians 1 is an important chapter to establish (1) that JWs can't be chosen of God because they're preaching a different gospel, one not known by Paul and the apostles (Galatians 1:6-9) and (2) that the "preaching work" as practiced by the JWs isn't the only sanctioned model. Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament didn't abide by it; he preached three years on his own (Galatians 1:15-19). And like Faye said, although correct teaching/preaching is important, much more is spoken about helping (not targeting) the vulnerable and leading a quiet, decent life than about preaching.
  Then the idea that only JWs are trying to do the will of God...really? How can you reconcile that with shunning, unfulfilled (false) prophecies, sexual and other abuses, the list goes on? (I, for one, have been shocked by most of the things I've read). I attend a church that teaches the Bible as its only authority, not seven mighty men that want you to defer enjoyment and advancement in life here and now and teaches you to judge others harshly and leave the excuses for members of your small group. But I won't lie; it will require research. When I've moved to new areas, I've spent months searching for the right place.
  I can only imagine it must be hard to decide what's next, but don't let that keep you in a religion that misleads and manipulates on a regular basis. Take your time. Start with prayer and the Bible (no Watchtower filler) then see where you end up. Wishing you all the best.
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  paul from cleveland

  Dear Formerbrother, I truly hear you. I'm continually in the process of letting go. Accepting that it's okay not to know. As long as we're trying to be the best that we can be that's all that we can do.
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  Formerbrother

  Thanks all for the very thoughtful replies. But this thread is strictly about what is the closest alternative, or what is the truth about the creator if not the JWs interpretation of the bible?

  There are lots of other threads picking out points here and there, please keep posts of those threads or start a new one.

  So still seems Mormons are the next closest, if you are looking for the closest to the Bible. Or are there any other options we have missed who stick close to the bible in its entirety?

  Or the other option is evolution, OK that answers the question.