Why? Ego!
carm
Talked to a friend of mine...
by ithinkisee 21 Replies latest jw experiences
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seattleniceguy
If the Society is so deceptive and inaccurate, what is their motivation? Why would they put this elaborate scheme together to deceive people
Never underestimate the human desire to believe one is right and have others believe it too. Have you ever found yourself arguing a point that you secretly had doubts about? Now imagine that you've argued that point for decades and stood to lose everything you had if it were not true.
The Society's motivation is to keep the machine going. If they make everybody - including themselves - believe in it, the machine will come to a grinding halt, and their world will fall apart.
SNG
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TheEdge
?So if the JWs don?t have the truth, then what is the answer??
This is also the response I have heard - JW belief (as far as I understand) is that God has ALWAYS had a ''people'' on Earth, and if it isn't JW now (who bear HIS name) then who is it ?
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AlanF
ithinkisee quoted:
?So if the JWs don?t have the truth, then what is the answer??
This question contains the implicit assumption that there must be an "answer" -- whatever that is -- and that some one or some group is the keeper of that "answer".
The truth is that there are no answers to a great many questions in life, and there probably never will be. Living life by the fairy tales you read in the Bible or Koran or whatever religious book you please won't change that fact. It might make you believe in the fairy tales for awhile, but it won't change the truth.
JWs are trained to ask only the questions permitted and propounded by the Watchtower Society. These questions are always intended to steer people towards believing that the Watchtower Society leads "God's earthly organization". Questions that don't abide by this belief are viewed as illegitimate, and labeled "apostate", with all the negative connotations that word brings up in the JW mind. After years of steeping in the JW culture, most people lose the ability to formulate their own questions, and begin to think that the questions the Society has posed for them are their own. They're trained to believe that the Watchtower thinking they engage in daily is actually a product of their own minds rather than what it is -- pure propaganda designed to put Watchtower leaders on the pedestal of being "God's spokesmen".
Coming to realize that there really aren't any answers to the supposedly "great questions of life" formulated by the Society is hard. But plenty of people have done it, with no ill effects, and in fact, have found great peace in this realization. There is great peace of mind in realizing that one is no longer fooling oneself.
AlanF
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MonkeyPrincess
ithinkisee,
You have provided your friend with some great thought provoking questions,
in fact i beleive its probably enough that will keep him up tonight thinking about
it all. Once there is that little seed of doubt, it is pretty hard to ignore.
My best friend left the JW's before i did, and if i didnt have her in my life,
i dont know what i would. She has been closer to me than family.
Good luck and i cant wait to hear what your friend has to say at your
next conversation.
MonkeyPrincess -
Scully
Can anyone provide examples? If not, no biggie, just thought I'd ask.
The nation of Israel. They apparently started out with God's favour and blessing. Then after centuries of vacillating back and forth between true and false worship, God abandoned them... or so the story goes....
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poppers
Hey AlanF,
I loved your answer to ithinksee's question - there is profound wisdom in your words. Seeking 'answers' to life's questions (which may or may not include one's relationship with 'god') is the very thing preventing one from discovering what is actually true, for what is true can only be here now. Seeking implies that you don't already have truth and must, therefore, get it from some place, person, authority, religion, philosophy or whatever the mind can conjure up that is 'out there' somewhere.
All the while the mind is doing this truth is being overlooked - it is here now, closer than one's very breath, but it cannot be grasped by the mind, though mind insists on doing so, and so the seeking continues. It is the nature of the mind to want 'answers' but mind cannot grasp that the only 'answer' which brings unconditional happiness and peace is nonconceptual. It seldom occurs to the mind to look for 'truth' within oneself, to look for that which is always here, for that which never changes. That 'something' that is being sought is what is aware at all times, though overlooked - it is the 'core' of oneself, one's very 'beingness.' -
moanzy
hi ithinkisee!
To get my mom to think about how ridiculous this "human organization" being God's channel of communication is, I asked her if they (FDS) planned on standing before God to explain my actions when my judgement time is here. If not then I would rather trust my own judgement in my life than to just do whatever I was told by a dozen men in Brooklyn who don't even know me personally. How can they possibly know what is best for me and my children when, if they ever raised children it was in say 1912 or something like that. Obviously a sane person could just look at how I was raised (which by the way, was apparently following Gods way) and just know that it was bad advice!!!!
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rebel8
Of course, at the end he asked, ?So if the JWs don?t have the truth, then what is the answer??
I didn?t handle that so smoothly. I basically said that I am still looking for that, and admittedly, what keeps many people in the Organization is that the JWs ?seem? to have the answer for everything.
Call him back and tell him you've found The Truth now, and it is this: There is no way to prove any religion or belief about the supernatural/the universe/God. All of it is based mainly upon faith. Therefore, no set of faith-based beliefs can be thought of to be superior to another. (ie, "There is good in all religions.")
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LongHairGal
To Ithinkisee: I have long pondered over similar questions about why they do what they have done with their teachings. I think initially they "did the wrong thing for the right reason". The "right reason" in their minds being keeping the flock together. Never mind if the teaching is false or not - unity and obedience is more important to them. They don't want any lowly man at the bottom telling them something is wrong. Then as time goes on add all the egos and they start acting god-like and you have what you have now. LHG