Posts by jwfacts

I had never heard of this before. It is amazing that they woukd rather not pay a few dollars, but then boast about their followers being prepared to die to uphold righteous standards. It is only $2 per publisher in an average congregation.

60

Accuracy of the Revised NWT

by dabster in

i was speaking with a jw yesterday.

i'd previously mentioned the removal of the brackets around 'other' in colossians 1 making the mistranslation complete.

during our chat he said that the previous edition of the nwt was the more correct one, that the revised version was simply more readable and that it shouldn't be considered the best translation.

jwfacts

He was saying in effect that the translators had sacrificed accuracy for readability.

They always prided themselves on being the most accurate version. If they really cared, they could have kept printing two editions, an accurate study edition and one for readability.

16

My Wife Now Questions God

by Jon Preston in

well my wife and i have been through a roller coaster of life since i convinced her the dibs werent the truth.

the hardest tests have been lived but we are closer than ever now.

now recently shes read "the shack" nd watched some movies about god and just cant seem to inderstand why god would allow all of this suffering just to prove to satan that hes "the man" (or woman).

jwfacts

Across religious groups and cultures, the moral standards are all very similar, because it is not God but humans that define morals. This is because morals are in the best interest of humans.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is a common theme, as is karma, because the way you treat others affects how you will be treated. A person does not need a religion to tell them not to smoke, it is a sensible choice if you value you health and looks. Each common moral standard usually has reasoning behind it.

Interestingly, premarital sex is no longer considered immoral by many people, whereas once it was. That is because the consequences are no longer as great. Contraception and medicine means that you can have premarital sex without the high risk of illegitimate pregnancy and disease. That is why it is silly to follow the morals of ancient holy books that were written for a different set of circumstances.

68

Spanking VS. Reasoning

by SpeedRacer in

jw
friends

i am having a discussion at work with the jw's.

should you spank a child to make them understand or do you reason with them.

they both agree with spanking.

jwfacts

The idea behind spanking is that it serves as an adjustment/punishment for someone who you cannot reason with - redvip2000

Children of every age can be reasoned with. The issue is parents that cannot make the effort to work out how.

ECAN6 - Today, I don't think the same and comparing a kid to an adult is a false analogy. As a kid, I destroyed properties, played endless pranks, transpassed every where I could, lied, cheeted and beat up other kids. In the end, I was conciously doing these things as I knew all would be forgotten by law as long as I was under 16.

You say your dad saved you by beating you, yet go on to say that your behaviour continued anyway, so the beatings did not stop you. All kids will misbehave, some moreso than others, whether they are beaten or not. But beatings are not a more effective way to raise children in the short or long term.

Speedracer - This is one of the statements and arguments my JW coworker came up with. Look how the children of the world are growing up and how much trouble they get into because of lack of discipline and spanking. The bible says........

You will have trouble reasoning with this person, as the arguments show a very narrow and uneducated viewpoint and reasoning ability. "Look how the children of the world are growing up" is one of those comments that is hard to come back to, as the person provides no evidence to support such a claim. Since it is not quantifiable they will dismiss anything you say, and turn it into a he-said-she-said battle. The reality is that children are not growing up bad because of a lack of spankings, but because of a lack of quality time, love and guidance. JW children are no better. Remember that 2/3 JW children leave the religion, despite their Bible based upbringing. Of the JW children I grew up with, several have commited suicide. Several are very severely addicted to drugs. 50% are now divorced. Some have been in prison. Several fell pregnant out of wedlock. It is not that they grow up better, just that whilst they are having problems they are abandoned by the religion.

"The Bible says ..." is a nonsense statement, as they cherry pick which parts to apply. The Bible also said to stone a stubborn child to death.

Deut 21:18 “If a man has a son who is stubborn and rebellious and he does not obey his father or his mother,+ and they have tried to correct him but he refuses to listen to them,+ 19 his father and his mother should take hold of him and bring him out to the elders at the gate of his city 20 and say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, and he refuses to obey us. He is a glutton+ and a drunkard.’+ 21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. So you must remove what is bad from your midst, and all Israel will hear and become afraid.

68

Spanking VS. Reasoning

by SpeedRacer in

jw
friends

i am having a discussion at work with the jw's.

should you spank a child to make them understand or do you reason with them.

they both agree with spanking.

jwfacts

Very young children cannot be reasoned with like an older child."don't play on the road" means nothing- they only think other children get hurt on the road.

"play in the road and you'll get a spanking" is more likely to instil caution and keep them alive.

I disagree. By 18 months, my son knew not to go on to the road. I taught him that if a car hit him the pain would be like when he burnt himself, or he could be dead like the mouse he found in our kitchen. My friend on the other hand has a son who at 5 still could not be trusted not to run onto the road, despite her spankings. He thought it was a game.

Id like to see the difference in 20 years between the kids brought up in either camp.

The move against spanking has been going on for over 50 years and there is plenty of research to show violence against children is less effective than parents that lead by education and example.

68

Spanking VS. Reasoning

by SpeedRacer in

jw
friends

i am having a discussion at work with the jw's.

should you spank a child to make them understand or do you reason with them.

they both agree with spanking.

jwfacts

Spanking is the lazy parents option.

If your boss spanked you whenever you did not do as he said you would call the police. So why is it considered acceptable to hit a small defenseless child? (Funny how parents stop spanking their children once they get large enough to defend themselves and hit back.)

People are concerned about domestic violence, yet train that behavior into their children by showing that hitting someone is the way to get them to do what you want.

32

What is the wackiest or strangest teaching that Witnesses adhere to?

by stuckinarut2 in

i guess there are many, but what would be the strangest teaching, or "wackiest" ?.

.

jwfacts

To never die. Not only is it an insane concept, but it dramatically affects the choices a person makes in how they live their life, mostly in a negative way.