That's a good point JT. It seems sad in a way that the leaders don't seem to mind that their unnecessary practice of predicting specific dates has caused their followers to become more concerned with escaping death than they are of living life. The governing body seems to have handled the idea of "faithfulness" the same way. Instead of faithfulness being something that fills you with joy, it is actually measured on a time card and scrutinized under threat of discipline or appearing to be spiritually weak.
I really don't know if the members of this religion have realized that they take great pride in the fact that they do not preach about hell, while at the same time focusing so intently on exactly what year a type of hell on earth will occur. I have compared some protestant religions with the JW, and the JW seem to have an even greater focus on a coming destruction than the protestants have about hell.
Should either of those be the priority? The part about "I came to bring you life" seems to be an after thought. It starts at the top, and in this particular religion it starts and also stops at the top. The reason why this is a fact is because this religion is not designed at all in a way that leaves the individual congregations with any type of autonomy whatsoever.
Pickled
JoinedPosts by Pickled
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75
Why Guess About Dates At All?
by Pickled ini posted this on another thread and realized that it was really off topic, so i made it a separate topic because i would really like to read your thoughts about this... .
does anyone know if any reasons are given by the wtbts about why they feel it is such an important part of their teachings to keep guessing about dates and the years things are going to happen?
it seems that it adds nothing to whatever they believe about the bible, and it has only served to create such confusion among their members over the years.
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Pickled
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75
Why Guess About Dates At All?
by Pickled ini posted this on another thread and realized that it was really off topic, so i made it a separate topic because i would really like to read your thoughts about this... .
does anyone know if any reasons are given by the wtbts about why they feel it is such an important part of their teachings to keep guessing about dates and the years things are going to happen?
it seems that it adds nothing to whatever they believe about the bible, and it has only served to create such confusion among their members over the years.
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Pickled
I posted this on another thread and realized that it was really off topic, so I made it a separate topic because I would really like to read your thoughts about this...
Does anyone know if any reasons are given by the WTBTS about why they feel it is such an important part of their teachings to keep guessing about dates and the years things are going to happen?
It seems that it adds nothing to whatever they believe about the bible, and it has only served to create such confusion among their members over the years. They have been doing this since the 1800's, over and over getting it wrong and having to retract or change a previous date. So why do it? There must be a motive behind it, otherwise they would not continue such a practice or exercise in numerology that has provided such a bounty of inaccurate information.
Why not just focus on the key teachings of the bible and leave out all the guess work? Even if they continue to believe, remarkably, that it is NOT guess work at all, but dates given by the direction of the holy spirit, and even if they understand that the holy spirit is just confused....why not keep those dates to themselves as that "faithful and discrete slave" who is the holder and un-folder of all bible secrets?
That would be entirely acceptable and in keeping with their standard practice of dropping "hints" given by traveling members of the governing body or other leaders, "hints" and "clues" that cause the members to speculate on their own, and gives the clear message that there is in fact a lot of information that they have up their sleeve from God that they just haven't shared yet because the members aren't ripe enough to hear it. So why not do the same thing with the dates and just "hint" that there are times and seasons that things are going to happen, and God himself provided the governing body with a stone doomsday calendar, only they are not going to share it because it might cause people to stop focusing on the importance of the ransom sacrifice and get completely caught up in when to expect the world to end?
It seems amazingly foolish to purposely include an unnecessary practice in a religion that also claims to have the only truth in existence, a practice that continues decade after decade to subtract in a great way from any other truths they may be preaching that actually ARE in the bible.
So why do they do it? Is it a tool to motivate, like a threat of sorts to keep the members too afraid to quit when Armageddon is always right around the corner? Or do they really have the same mind set as Russell only without the Pyramids?
I would really like to hear your thoughts about this. -
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what is the generation change that happened in 1995 ?
by looloo ini left in 1995 , ive heard ypu talk of it but what actually was said and what was the reation to the change by the rank and file , i do remember the millions now living will never die saying .
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Pickled
Does anyone know if any reasons are given by the WTBTS about why they feel it is such an important part of their teachings to keep guessing about dates and the years things are going to happen?
It seems that it adds nothing to whatever they believe about the bible, and it has only served to create such confusion among their members over the years. They have been doing this since the 1800's, over and over getting it wrong and having to retract or change a previous date. So why do it? There must be a motive behind it, otherwise they would not continue such a practice or exercise in numerology that has provided such a bounty of inaccurate information.
Why not just focus on the key teachings of the bible and leave out all the guess work? Even if they continue to believe, remarkably, that it is NOT guess work at all, but dates given by the direction of the holy spirit, and even if they understand that the holy spirit is just confused....why not keep those dates to themselves as that "faithful and discrete slave" who is the holder and un-folder of all bible secrets?
That would be entirely acceptable and in keeping with their standard practice of dropping "hints" given by traveling members of the governing body or other leaders, "hints" and "clues" that cause the members to speculate on their own, and gives the clear message that there is in fact a lot of information that they have up their sleeve from God that they just haven't shared yet because the members aren't ripe enough to hear it. So why not do the same thing with the dates and just "hint" that there are times and seasons that things are going to happen, and God himself provided the governing body with a stone doomsday calendar, only they are not going to share it because it might cause people to stop focusing on the importance of the ransom sacrifice and get completely caught up in when to expect the world to end?
It seems amazingly foolish to purposely include an unnecessary practice in a religion that also claims to have the only truth in existence, a practice that continues decade after decade to subtract in a great way from any other truths they may be preaching that actually ARE in the bible.
So why do they do it? Is it a tool to motivate, like a threat of sorts to keep the members too afraid to quit when Armageddon is always right around the corner? Or do they really have the same mind set as Russell only without the Pyramids?
I would really like to hear your thoughts about this. -
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alternative medicine/healing...tried any? is it nuts?
by oompa ini have gone to chiropractors for years...and some are pathetic quacks....some really help me.
i had severe tendonitis in my elbow and tried reg.
doctors for six months...was helped more in one visit to a acupuncturist!
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Pickled
I don't know about energy fields, but I do know a great home remedy for a bad cough.
Take a big handful of laxatives, and you will be too afraid to cough. -
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Minding your own business (JW mind control)
by MsMcDucket inhere i am an apostate that just found out that an elder's 18-year-old daughter is dating an unbeliever.
i don't know why this is bothering me!?
is it because i want to call them and cause trouble?
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Pickled
MsMcDucket.....You have to let them sit out in the sun for a few days first......;-)
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Minding your own business (JW mind control)
by MsMcDucket inhere i am an apostate that just found out that an elder's 18-year-old daughter is dating an unbeliever.
i don't know why this is bothering me!?
is it because i want to call them and cause trouble?
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Pickled
OTWO, I like your little flame Icon. It makes me laugh every time I see it.
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Minding your own business (JW mind control)
by MsMcDucket inhere i am an apostate that just found out that an elder's 18-year-old daughter is dating an unbeliever.
i don't know why this is bothering me!?
is it because i want to call them and cause trouble?
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Pickled
I don't know your situation but what you're saying doesn't sound strange.
It sounds like when the Principal sends you to detention for running in the hall, and then later you find out he is having an affair with the Librarian. Makes you want to egg his house. -
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Stuck in the "Truth"
by IMustBreakAway ini notice from comments posted that many here who post (and untold scores who lurk) are still "in".
perhaps their social / family circles are too constricted for freedom of mind, and or, they are too afraid to rock the boat.
or too young to strike out on their own and are dependent on jw parents for support.
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Pickled
The most difficult thing about a cult is that the cult member has been stripped of all options except the one to which they find themselves tethered. It is actually not the post they are tethered to that causes all the despair, it is the picture that has been painted for them describing what they will have to look forward to if they ever take the tether off and leave.
In an effort to avoid that painful scenario their lives become a daily walk in the circle created by their restraints. The camaraderie they experience among their peers offers hope and reinforces the idea that their predicament is so much better than what would be waiting for them on the outside. Examples are generally offered that have to do with birds leaving their cages only to want back in after they discover in a frightening way just how bad it is outside of the cage.
But the most devastating of all of these things is when the one tethered becomes entirely convinced that even God Himself, their creator of the universe and of their very person, even He can only be found within the safety of that same gilded cage. The turmoil is in the believing that to leave the cage is to abandon God.
If all of humanity were to experience a sudden extinction, this planet, the stars, the entire universe has already been designed to continue its’ course even without our presence, even without our coming and going. Our presence adds nothing to this cycle and our absence would subtract nothing from the seasons and the tides. We are also part of that design, a member of those things created. If it has been said that if we remain silent the rocks themselves would cry out, or if there was a time when all the stars sang together, or if there is a source of light that exceeds the light of the Sun, then who is it that has caused you to believe that this same designer can only inhabit the cage of their limited knowledge? This certainly has to be the biggest lie of all. If truth was designed to set you free, then the question must be asked about why so many representations of the truth are designed in the form of a cage.
It may be a lifelong journey of mine to find the true nature and identity of this designer, and that lifetime is all I have of true value to offer in exchange for the knowing. If I spend my life disregarding the beauty of the design in search of a cage that fits me best, then haven’t I missed the only chance to actually see the nature of this designer?
The despair does not come when we look for God, the despair comes when we climb inside the cage and shut him out. -
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Stuck in the "Truth"
by IMustBreakAway ini notice from comments posted that many here who post (and untold scores who lurk) are still "in".
perhaps their social / family circles are too constricted for freedom of mind, and or, they are too afraid to rock the boat.
or too young to strike out on their own and are dependent on jw parents for support.
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Pickled
IMBA, then stay if you have truly exhausted all other avenues of direction. Just make sure you are not sitting in a chair starving to death just because no one has delivered to you a map to the grocery store. The religion you are in is all about being fed. Being fed a constant and unending supply of food that is delivered right to your hands along with the instructions about how to eat it. You have been eating from that vending machine for a long time without ever having to participate in a hunting party. Stay and resolve to work hard to figure out whether or not the food you are eating is healthy, or junk. But work at it.
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Stuck in the "Truth"
by IMustBreakAway ini notice from comments posted that many here who post (and untold scores who lurk) are still "in".
perhaps their social / family circles are too constricted for freedom of mind, and or, they are too afraid to rock the boat.
or too young to strike out on their own and are dependent on jw parents for support.
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Pickled
Yes, but "keeping" one from leaving is very different from "causing" someone to want to stay. Even in the worst relationships people stay because they believe they love the one they are with.
So what's up with the 61% mass exodus?