Comments You Will Not Hear at the 4-25-04 WT Study (3-15-04)

by blondie 27 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  natalienu

  And people you won't see giving a shit about the study.........................ahhh that would be me.
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  blondie

  Wow, pistoff, I can see attending the meetings has not rendered you brain-dead. You remind me of myself about 4 years ago when I started trying to pinpoint why the study articles created cognitive dissonance, unnerved me, made me uncomfortable.

  Snippets, snippets, snippets. The WTS is very good at excising the parts that don?t support their point. And they string snippets together as if creating a new scripture.

  This is reinforced in paragraph 17, where it states "how rewarding it is when our evangelizing work helps lovers of truth and righteousness (how can they love truth before they come to know it, I wonder?) to become praisers of Jehovah! (ooo that phrase again, grrrr) "You young men and also you virgins, you old men together with boys," sang the psalmist. "Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for his name alone is unreachably high. His dignity is above the earth and heaven." Do you notice what is happening here? The work goes from proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and the king Jesus, presumably, back to the mission of the OT: praise Jehovah. Again the detraction from what the NT emphasizes: the ascendance and importance of Jesus, both as human and as King. ]

  Good example how the WTS segues back to the OT, as if the NT isn?t sufficient to support the Christian view. It conditions JWs to think they are under the Law.

  The following is outstanding. Does this come to you before and during the WT study?

  NEWS FLASH TO BETHEL: The entire stinking country knows who Jesus is!!! He is not news anymore in the sense that he was in the first century. MOST PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ARE CHRISTIAN!!

  In fact, lots of people have a much more sophisticated understanding of Jesus than we ever will. If there were truth in lending laws that applied to religious publishing, they would be forced to admit that their message is: YOUR Jesus is no good; in fact, don't talk about Jesus so much, instead talk about Jehovah (not really his name, but we say use it; we are his channel on earth ya know) you know nothing but false religious practice, you are wrong wrong wrong. You will be burned to a crisp at the big A if you do not become a witness, put in at least 10 hours a month and be very careful of ever saying anything bad about an elder or the "slave".

  As witnesses, if we were to challenge corruption by the elders as Jesus did, we would never again be allowed in the congregation

  Amen

  to that.

  BTW, next has several sections that are accolades to the elders. An early vomit alert.

  Bebu,

  Thanks. Yes, pistoff and I must be kindred spirits. It grows out of a common experience of having to sit through this stuff and having to protect your heart and mind from the wrong thinking and, frankly, spiritual abuse until you can escape.

  Heathen,

  But anyway I'm surprised they changed their policy on counciling women and think it a step in the right direction even tho a very small one

  It is the official one, and adhered to for the most part in my area. JW husbands would view it as an attack on their position as the family head. And it creates more problems for the elders than it solves.

  Natalienu,

  I?m glad your situation no longer requires attendance at the WT study. Most of my readers/viewers are either JWs still trapped or those who are interested in what the current WT spin is in order to talk with family members/friends. I feel this is my small way in combating their propaganda and teaching others how to look at their material. I try to hang them with their own words.

  Blondie
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  Flash

  The WTS's constant plea to 'do more' makes me wonder how strong their army of preachers really is? I'd like to know what the numbers are for those entering and leaving the pioneer service. I'll bet there is a regular turnover.

  ...............................

  Zondervan NIV - Acts 20:20

  "You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly AND from house to house."

  I always thought it curious that 'house to house' was listed as a secondary form of preaching, not the primary.

  ..............................

  I feel this is my small way in combating their propaganda and teaching others how to look at their material.

  Not a 'small way.' I suspect your audience of WTS/Witnesses lurkers is larger than you might think. Thank you for your efforts Blondie.
• 

  Pistoff

  The following is outstanding. Does this come to you before and during the WT study?

  I don't know, Blondie; I try to avoid going to any meeting but the book study; I go to that one 50% of the time, only an hour long ya know and the harangue is not quite as damaging as the TS, SM, PT or WT.

  I don't know why I still half expect to feel good when I go; conditioning I guess. It just gets harder and harder to sit through that poisonous meal and not say a word; so many good people being hoodwinked and settling for what is passed off there as "spiritual food from the slave". It is all just so mean spirited, controlling and insulting.

  I have become violently allergic to that phrase, "faithful and discreet slave."

  (Why did I ever allow someone else to decide for me what the meaning of Jesus' life and death meant to me? The more I question his life and death, the more I appreciate it. And this continuing discussion of El, El Shadday, and Jah by Leolaia; so very interesting to see the progression of belief in God, how he was seen and named by believers, and finally the arrival of Jesus to challenge again what the thoughts of God were. The most liberating scripture in the last five years for me is when he said if you have seen me you have seen the father; what his thoughts are, my thoughts are. And of course Jesus' thoughts were so dramatically different from accepted belief at the time. THAT is the message I want to hear discussed by the "slave": how should the questioning and challenging nature of Jesus be reflected in Christians today?)

  I now realize that the "slave" has more import than the word of Jesus or God himself in the mind of most witnesses; if "the slave" gave them info tomorrow that completely contradicts what they were told last week, most would swallow hard and go along. I have a brother who still follows their every word, he finds a reason it can all be true. He rationalizes that they must have a good reason for everything they do, and just will not ask any hard questions.

  *Sigh*

  Thanks again blondie for this feature; what a great place to talk about beliefs.
• 

  Flash

  ...what is passed off there as "spiritual food from the slave". It is all just so mean spirited, controlling and insulting.

  The most liberating scripture in the last five years for me is when he said if you have seen me you have seen the father; what his thoughts are, my thoughts are. And of course Jesus' thoughts were so dramatically different from accepted belief at the time . THAT is the message I want to hear discussed by the "slave": how should the questioning and challenging nature of Jesus be reflected in Christians today?)

  I now realize that the "slave" has more import than the word of Jesus or God himself in the mind of most witnesses; if "the slave" gave them info tomorrow that completely contradicts what they were told last week, most would swallow hard and go along. I have a brother who still follows their every word , he finds a reason it can all be true. He rationalizes that they must have a good reason for everything they do, and just will not ask any hard questions.

  As much as I'd like to add to this, I can't, your right on the mark!
• 

  jgnat

  I can't get over how much more lively, ALIVE, these comments are,

  compared to

  the Kingdom Hall.
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  wheres caleb?

  I am very familiar with the haven of deceit that JW's have created for themselves. There were many times when sisters were dispatched to carry on the work while we brothers carried out the 'direction'. I have always been more impressed with the women of Jehovah's flock because they have always accepted or pretended to accept their lot without complaint.

  FS during their ministerial campaigns were a therapy session for elder's wives. My wife would complain that nothing was done except to cater to the needs of those women that held a prominent status among other women (elder's wives). There is a pecking order among Jehovah's humble servants after all.

  Their were some exceptional women among the JW ranks that were sincere and I remember them fondly. The PO's wife of the last congo I attended was a fine and sincere woman that I respected very much. I could tell that she was troubled and yet, compliant. Right or wrong is not for me to decide. There are those that act upon their heart's understanding and those that live a pattern of deceit. Deceit is determined by actions. There is no judging involved, just actions.

  Preaching is a measure of 'spirituality' among Jw's. That's the way it has been, and I suspect, that is the way things will always be.

  JW's are deluded. That is what I have said to one of their elders. They are not Jehovah's Witnesses, they are just witnesses. They are just witnesses of themselves. They should go back to calling themselves 'Bible Students'. That is all they qualify to be at this time. Perhaps things will change when 'new light' comes their way. The rest of us can ponder the significance of Jesus self-sacrificing love on our behalf. When I talk to my daughter and look into her eyes, I can't imagine or understand the sacrifice that was made in the behalf of others. That sentiment isn't going to make a hell of a difference to someone that I disturb on a Saturday morning.
• 

  heathen

  jgnat--- that's right on . Here we can pick the articles apart while looking for tactics that the WTBTS uses in their mind control techniques . It's really interesting looking at it like this with other people instead of being coerced and expected to give answers that are provided . You can't be shunned around here .