"the Society teaches"

somebody

*** w98 3/15 p. 19 Living Up to Christian Dedication in Freedom *** 4 In order to avoid misunderstandings, Jehovah?s Witnesses try to be careful about how they express themselves. Instead of saying, ?the Society teaches,? many Witnesses prefer to use such expressions as, ?the Bible says? or, ?I understand the Bible to teach.? In this way they emphasize the personal decision that each Witness has made in accepting Bible teachings and also avoid giving the false impression that Witnesses are somehow bound to the dictates of some religious sect. Do elders call "the Society" to see what their latest teachings are when a JW who does not carry the title of elder comes to them and confesses that they committed a "serious sin"? Or do they read the Holy Bible to see what it when that happens? Do Elders follow the SAME procedure when an elder or MS or any other JWs who carry prominent titles come to them confessing the SAME sin as when a JW who carries no title comes to them with the same confession? peace, somebody

asleif_dufansdottir

Instead of saying, ?the Society teaches,? many Witnesses prefer to hide the actual facts and act like they don't belong to a screwy cult. Because if people knew the truth about 'the truth'(tm) from the get-go, they'd have even less success recruiting new members!!

somebody

freedom96

I usually heard the phrase "The Society Says...."

I never heard anyone apologize for using those words, no matter how cultish it sounds.

somebody

Hi asleif,

I'm sorry about the blank post! That was a mistake on my part.

You said:

Instead of saying, ?the Society teaches,? many Witnesses prefer to hide the actual facts and act like they don't belong to a screwy cult. Because if people knew the truth about 'the truth'(tm) from the get-go, they'd have even less success recruiting new members!!

That is hindsight for all of us ex recruiters! Isn't it? I know many former JWs who actually succeeded in recruiting others, therefore, whole families.

Those people just like ourselves were not "preferring to hide the truth" but trutly thought we were spreading the "the truth" .

But once JWs come to know the real truth and still continue to direct others to "the Society", they are doing exactly what you said. Hiding the actual facts.

If i were a JW today, I'd do what I did when I was 17 in the mid 70s and forced to go door-to-door by my parents offering "the Society's" publications for MONEY,Throwing them into the trash can in the ladies room whenever we stopped counting our time seved in order to have coffee. I knew that "the society" did not care where their published garbage goes, as long as they RECIEVED THEIR MONEY.

And I know that they STILL what to recieve their money and beg JWs for it now. Since the "complete donation agreement" came into exsistance, they have been beating their own followers to PAY FOR the material studind in their own KHs. Even telling JWs that they can';t expect the "complete donation agreement" to cover what they study at their Kingdom Halls for their own personal use.

peace,

somebody

Freedom,

I usually heard the phrase "The Society Says...."
I never heard anyone apologize for using those words, no matter how cultish it sounds.

That means the same thing as "the Society teaches" in my mind. Because if you said to another person, " The Society teaches that celebrating holidays is exalting men", would you think of that as a teaching of the Society? Or just something " the Society" said? And then... would you look and search the Holy Bible to find out if that teaching was in the Bible or if it was just something said by the Society?

flower

When I was a witness no one was ever bashful about using terms like 'the society frowns upon..., the society encourages....., the society suggests..' ect ect. I guess the society is starting to wise up to how 'cultish' that sounds.

Instead of saying, ?the Society teaches,? many Witnesses prefer to hide the actual facts and act like they don't belong to a screwy cult. Because if people knew the truth about 'the truth'(tm) from the get-go, they'd have even less success recruiting new members!!

truth is..most witnesses dont know the truth about the 'truth' so they arent hiding anything. they are simply brainwashed and doing with the society says.

asleif_dufansdottir

4 In order to avoid misunderstandings, Jehovah?s Witnesses try to be careful about how they express themselves. Instead of saying, ?the Society teaches,? many Witnesses prefer to use such expressions as, ?the Bible says? or, ?I understand the Bible to teach.? In this way they emphasize the personal decision that each Witness has made in accepting Bible teachings and also avoid giving the false impression that Witnesses are somehow bound to the dictates of some religious sect.

I have to say, that even when I was a JW, stuff like the above made me kind of uneasy, because I knew the society was asking us to be, basically, dishonest. I knew that we were not giving our own understandings of Bible teachings, but the society's, and I knew that if we didn't give the society's we would get into trouble. I guess that's why I'm not a JW now,

somebody

truth is..most witnesses dont know the truth about the 'truth' so they arent hiding anything. they are simply brainwashed and doing with the society says.

Hi flower!

What you said is what I was trying to say.

I just didn't word it as well as you did. A person can only HIDE something if it's something that they don't want others to know about. Therefore, once any cult member know the truth about the cult, if they keep recruiting, then they do so while hiding.

somebody

hello again asleif,

I have to say, that even when I was a JW, stuff like the above made me kind of uneasy, because I knew the society was asking us to be, basically, dishonest. I knew that we were not giving our own understandings of Bible teachings, but the society's, and I knew that if we didn't give the society's we would get into trouble. I guess that's why I'm not a JW now,

Consider yourself very fortunate that you felt uneasy and saw what the motive was of "the Society" when you read such things! I too felt uneasy about things such as that when I was a JW but did not know what the uneasy feeling was. Back then, I told myself Satan had a hold of me because I felt the way i did.

"the Society teaches"

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