i'm reading an excellent book about defectors from the mormon church called differing visions: dissenters in mormon history.
through a collection of essays from many academic authors it looks at the life stories of dissenters and reasons for departure, as well as analysing the impact of their dissent on the church itself.
fascinating stuff and makes me wish there was a similar volume looking at the key dissenters from jws/watchtower and the impact they had.
LOL SBF - Lloyd Evans... and some even took the bait...
"Fascinating stuff and makes me wish there was a similar volume looking at the key dissenters from JWs/Watchtower and the impact they had."
Could I nominate the eminently qualified TerryWalstrom for compiling such a compendium?
Hasn't Terry got a book out on Watchtower history?
from an article in the catholic weekly:.
watchtower intolerance.
watchtower law states: “most firmly hold and in no way doubt that every apostate or dissenter is to be destroyed at armageddon, unless before the end of his life he repents, and restored to the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses.” .
No actually not from "The Catholic Weekly" - paraphrased/edited from the Watchtower's Awake publication:
*** g83 11/8 pp. 4-5 Intolerance—From Past to Present ***
Catholic Intolerance
Catholic canon law states: “Most firmly hold and in no way doubt that every heretic or schismatic is to have part with the Devil and his angels in the flames of eternal fire, unless before the end of his life he be incorporated with, and restored to the Catholic Church.”
And up to this day the oath of allegiance of Roman Catholic bishops states: “With all my power I will persecute and make war upon heretics.”
Thus intolerance was built into Catholic thinking.
But justifying this attitude, the authoritative French Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique states: “Being the guardian of revealed truth, faith and morals, the church cannot tolerate the spreading of any teaching that is harmful to the faith of the faithful.”
from an article in the catholic weekly:.
watchtower intolerance.
watchtower law states: “most firmly hold and in no way doubt that every apostate or dissenter is to be destroyed at armageddon, unless before the end of his life he repents, and restored to the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses.” .
From an article in The Catholic Weekly:
Watchtower Intolerance
Watchtower law states: “Most firmly hold, and in no way doubt, that every apostate or dissenter is to be destroyed at Armageddon, unless before the end of his life he repents, and restored to the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.”
And up to this day the elders' oath of allegiance of to the Governing Body states: “With all our power we will persecute and make war upon apostates and dissenters.”
Thus militant intolerance is built into Watchtower thinking.
But justifying this attitude, the authoritarian Governing Body states: “Being the guardian of revealed truth, faith and morals, we cannot tolerate the spreading of any teaching that is harmful to the faith of the faithful.”
(See citation below...)
among those making cleveland extra gay this week are male prostitutes who are in high demand among older, allegedly heterosexual male republican delegates.. the new york post reports: .
i’ve seen 10 clients so far,” one male escort said.. “most of them were first-timers.
you could tell they were nervous, but once they became more comfortable, they seemed to be having a good time.”.
Maybe the fundamentalist, conservative religious right have come to conclude that male-female sex is adultery and male-male sex is not??
free download.
https://jwvictims.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-child-sex-abuse-a-brief-handbook-for-attorneys/ .
Thank you, it looks like a lot of effort went into this document, great tool and idea.
hi, i just signed up.
i'm 35, i've been baptized 20 years, married 15 years.
it seems like the wife and i are going in opposite directions spiritually.
Hello and welcome samj.
Please stay and take the time to get to know the locals who are all keen to share and support, and who come in a range of flavours and colours.
Greetings
Fernando
the mystery of the locked cabinet.
when i was about 10 years old, there was a tall, white handmade cabinet back in one of our storage sheds (a converted chicken house from back in the 30's, when my grandparents raised chickens in the great depression).
affixed to its door, there was a big padlock on the cabinet.
"My grandfather came from Old School discipline tempered by Old Testament injunctions."
What a grand and true turn of phrase Terry, you sure are a gifted master of language and story telling.
we really went at it this weekend.
pretty ugly!
well at least now the air is cleared.
"There is no higher power than the truth."
Wonderfully said Finkelstein.
having watched many jc youtube videos one question that gets asked is "where else would you go?".
in other words if not jehovah's witnesses then what other religion or organisation would you go to?.
it's one that i have trouble answering, what would you say?.
*** yb75 p. 225 Part 3—United States of America ***
In 1951, advocates of true worship learned something significant about the term “religion.” Some of them could well recall 1938 when, at times, they carried the thought-provoking sign “Religion Is a Snare and a Racket.” From their standpoint then, all “religion” was unchristian, from the Devil. But The Watchtower of March 15, 1951, approved of using the adjectives “true” and “false” respecting religion.
*** yb75 p. 161 Part 2—United States of America ***
Ursula Serenco observes: “This was the time when we did not designate ‘true religion’ and ‘false religion’; all religion in totality was bad. The true we referred to as ‘worship,’ while the false was ‘religion.’”
having watched many jc youtube videos one question that gets asked is "where else would you go?".
in other words if not jehovah's witnesses then what other religion or organisation would you go to?.
it's one that i have trouble answering, what would you say?.
Did you know that until 1950 the Watchtower (correctly) taught that all "religion is a snare and a racket"?
See the books "Enemies" (1937) and "Religion" (1940).
You will not find the phrases "true religion" or "false religion" in these books - the concept was foreign to Rutherford.
https://archive.org/details/EnemiesByJudgeRutherford1937
http://ia601406.us.archive.org/23/items/WatchtowerLibrary/books/1940_rel_E.pdf
