by Blueblades 18 Replies latest jw friends
aren't you keeping up with Jehovah's fast moving chariot-like organization"?
LOL Perry!! It's a long time since I heard that oft-repeated expression! I'd quite forgotten it.
Ahhh, the memories!! Jehu and his chariot.....and then there was Ezekiel's chariot..........so many chariots!
Hi Ozzie,
Remember that convention with the stage cornered by four of Ezekiels' "wheel within a wheel" ? It made the whole set up look like the stage (read Society) was God's chariot.
Brilliant how they portrayed their constant doctrinal and policy flip-flops as actually coming from God. After all, the program brought out how the "chariot" could move in any direction without even slowing down.
Simply genius deception.
Its sad these people have spent all they lives believing in a lie. Now they are old and need help.The only help they recieve is welfare, healthcare from the Govt and living in cheap rental accomodation. The witnesses do not help , but will come along for a study to get the hours up. To top it all off armagedonn hasn't come, the faith that has kept them going all these years has slowly being going, I see it in their eyes. Old, sick and no one cares. Their life has been a waste.
aren't you keeping up with Jehovah's fast moving chariot-like organization"?
Unfortunately, Jehovah can't even keep up with his Organization. They've predicted Armageddon a few times, but Jehovah is taking his damn time delivering it when his Organization wants it.
I've come to realize, this after talking more extensively with my witness mother in law, that these people are witnesses simply because the religion fills a hole in their life.
Its not as if she has a hard life, but she, like all of the other witnesses look forward to this paradise which is just as much her own mind's creation as it is of the watchtower society. None of them are too specific on what exactly to expect from paradise, just that life will be better. The one thing they do like to focus on is never dying, but its sad to see how this woman who has been a witness since her early teens and was promised this paradise so long ago, is now much older and will undoubtedly some day die, just like all of us. The "real" life that she has and had, in hand, has been sacrificed for a bunch of broken promises.
The one thing that they just can't get over is that if the "truth" is wrong, then what hope is there? They feel there is no hope. I tried to explain to her my hope that humanity will one day be able to solve its own problems, but that didn't satisfy her. So then, no matter what gets thrown at them logically about their religion: This docrine is wrong, this person is a liar, these "gods chosen people" are morally corrupt, etc... she has to hold on even tighter. Believing in this religion isn't a logical choice, its an emotional one.
Its like a battered wife who won't leave her abusive husband, no matter what reasoning you use to try to break her away. In the witness religion logic is an unknown language. People who have major emotional needs look to the religion to fill those needs. The similariies between being in the "truth" and an abusive relationship are striking. You are constantly put down, breaking your self esteem. Nothing you ever do is enough. Intense pressure is put upon you to be 'loyal' over rather than doing what may be the right thing in some cases. Those who are not loyal are further broken. Double standards are the norm, you are held to a different standard than they are.
In fact, I did a Google search on just "Signs of an abusive relationship". These are obviously geared towards personal relationships between two people, but notice how many times you could actually substitute the Watchtower Organization for many of these entries, I have highlighted ones I thought were especially relevant:
And then notice, Does the person you love...
Again, obviously this was not a site, which can be found here http://www.recovery-man.com/abusive/abusive_signs.htm , which is talking about religious abuse, but abusive interpersonal relationships. In my opinion this makes it all the more clear how these people are really being treated. And I think it explains why it is so hard for people to listen to reason when it comes to their religion, they are co-dependent to it, they need it for emotional reasons. Its not exactly the same as someone who hangs on with an abuser, but its close. Many witnesses, like my mother in law, are fearful of facing daily life, they are fearful of reality and they have an unhealthy fear of death. The witnesses give them an answer, even though it is flawed, it is one that offers a complete answer to all of their fears.
I used to be dumbfounded when some people would just refuse to listen to logical reasoning about the witnesses, but now I understand that reasoning has nothing to do with it. They are paralyzed by fear and the religion is their security blanket, taking it away would make them have to face their fears, something that they would rather hide behind. Its not that they are bad people for doing so, just human, and this unfortunately is an affliction of many people, not just witnesses.
I used to be dumbfounded when some people would just refuse to listen to logical reasoning about the witnesses, but now I understand that reasoning has nothing to do with it. They are paralyzed by fear and the religion is their security blanket, taking it away would make them have to face their fears, something that they would rather hide behind. Its not that they are bad people for doing so, just human, and this unfortunately is an affliction of many people, not just witnesses.
excellent points, and this is why when i see posters ask HOW CAN I PROVE OR CONVINCE MY WIFE, HUSBAND, ELDERS that the society is wrong, is truly for the most part a waste of time
here are 2 sites where we discussed this isse:
repost
For those of you interested in why your rational arguments and reasoning, in addition to well documented information do little to sway the beliefs of true believers (family, friends, and loved ones), the reason as offered in the following article is survival.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/7798/1.ashx
http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-11/beliefs.html
Another Watch Tower teaching that could shorty cause the Society a serious problem is The Great Multitude of 1932 / 1935.If the Great Tribulation fails to occur reasonably soon,this too could bring about a major change, i.e Generation teaching,while the two teachings may appear to be linked,the dates are almost twenty years apart in application,i.e. 1914 --1932 / 35.
I don't think that the "great multitude" doctrine is a major problem for the WT. What is a major problem is the teaching that "annointed ones" who were identified as being a separate class in 1935 would still be alive at the time of "great tribulation".
Is this what you meant?
Observador.
Millions once living are now dead!!
To Perry,
How about this one liner "Great' Scott.......The WTBTS Are A Bunch Of False Prophets.
Next thing you know the WTS will be struck with a bolt of lightening
