They are supporters and advocates of some extreme doctrines. I personally think that their God is the extremist and that they are just his brainless followers! At the very least, at least they don't advocate their members carrying out extreme acts themselves. Only to wait for God to carry them out for them.
I would be hesitant to lable them extremists when describing them to other people though, as that is such a loaded word and people generally have images of people with bombs straped to themselves and angry, hatred-inciting protestors. When I think of extremists in religion, I think of pure Islam and Sharia law and active Christian or Catholic fundies. Witnesses have a horrible and very distasteful mindset, but at least they aren't blowing up buildings or cutting peoples' heads off every Saturday. Yet.
pixiesticks
JoinedPosts by pixiesticks
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Are Jehovah's Witnesses "Extremists"?
by God_Delusion ini think this article, along with the video that comes with it, shows that they are.. .
are jehovah's witnesses "extremists"?.
and just think, many of us actually believed in that rubbish and laughed at those jokes...... .
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pixiesticks
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Who do you pray when you feel the need to pray if you dont believe in God?
by cyberjesus insometimes when we face difficult situations i feel the need to pray to god for help, and i know that plenty of times the sole act of praying makes you feel hope and have a better outcome of the situation.
you can call it suggestive or that you prepare a positive scenario by using faith.
the outcome is that regardless if there is someone who listens or not to your prayers oftentimes you feel better afterwards and have more positive attitude.. the problem is that i dont believe in god anymore.
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pixiesticks
Lance Armstrong writing about the night before he underwent brain surgery:
". . . I never prayed a lot. I hoped hard, I wished hard, but I didn't pray."
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The upside of atheism
by paul from cleveland ini realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.
however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.
i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).
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pixiesticks
It's impossible to prove for certain, without any doubt, that there isn't a being or force of supernatural power out there. We have no way of knowing for sure and lack of evidence isn't solid proof against an idea, so I think most Atheists would certainly be open to the possiblity of such a being if evidence were to emmerge. We would be prepared to re-evalutate our thinking based on new evidence.
What I find completely impossible is the idea of a personal, perfect, omnipotent God of any kind. One that created the entire universe in 6 days (or even 6000 years) and is more concerned with what we do with our private parts than the suffering of the humans he supposedly created. I find that there is sufficient evidence against the idea that I'm able to confidently reject it. -
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The upside of atheism
by paul from cleveland ini realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.
however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.
i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).
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pixiesticks
The further I go from believing in a God, particularly a personal God, the higher my self-esteme becomes. I find that I can look at the world with a much greater sense of wonder and I'm so much more open to learning new ideas and thinking about new possiblities!
I've found it so liberating to be free from the idea of God and divine reward and punishment. I'm not terrifed of Armageddon or hell anymore and I've been really motivated to get out there and actually start actively helping people by volunteering at various charities.
I'm not constantly scared and guilty because of my own thoughts and my own body. I don't judge people for their personal lives anywhere near as much either.That said, it's not up to Atheism to coddle and make comforting promises to people. That's what religion does. Lots of things that aren't true can be comforting to believe in over the actual truth and maybe some people would prefer a life of ignorate bliss. But for me, I'm sleeping a lot better at night without the idea of a tyranical God watching and judging my (and every other person in the world's) every move and every thought.
Atheism doesn't say what you can believe anyway, only that you don't believe in a God - It's an absence of belief. From there you are a blank sheet of paper and can go on to think and believe whatever you want. Humanism Philosophy, Buddism, Taoism... even Aliens and that weird New Age Spirituality jazz! -
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"ALL Have Sinned!"
by wannabe indoes it sound fair to say that, 'all have sinned?
' when adam first sinned in the garden of eden, was all mankind alive now, with him when he committed his sin?
or many billions of others who have ever lived since adam sinned?
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pixiesticks
According to scripture, yes, all are sinners. That is a pretty clear and undisputable bible-based teaching. I do dispute the logic of that statement however. The bible is very clear on what actions, behaviors and thoughts are considered 'sin' and since children have to develop the ability to think and do, I fail to see how a newborn baby is capable of being classed a 'sinner' by bible definitions.
Clearly the propensity to 'sin' is not exclusive to us 'imperfect' humans anyway. Both Adam and Eve found it pretty easy to 'sin' in their perfect conditions. So humans have the innate inclination to do wrong in their 'perfect' or 'imperfect' states. So what's the difference? -
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The Watchtower Speaks for Itself
by sd-7 inon the subject of infallibility.... .
***w52 3/15 pp.180-181 are the popes infallible?***.
coming now to the conclusion, we read: again i say, if you decree the infallibility of the present bishop of rome, you must establish the infallibility of all the preceding ones, without excluding any; but can you do that when history is there establishing with a clearness equal only to that of the sun, that the popes have erred in their teaching?
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pixiesticks
Oh, and it hardly needs pointing out, but that article itself is a manipulation. The irony! There is so much inaccurate, misleading information in there and it angers me to think that the Witnesses will just accept it, without reading any books on cults written by actual experts in the field to confirm the accuracy of what they're reading! Another irony is that the Org would disapprove of members reading any 'outside' material on cults!
If it looks like a duck, it quacks like a duck and it waddles like a duck -- It's a duck! -
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The Watchtower Speaks for Itself
by sd-7 inon the subject of infallibility.... .
***w52 3/15 pp.180-181 are the popes infallible?***.
coming now to the conclusion, we read: again i say, if you decree the infallibility of the present bishop of rome, you must establish the infallibility of all the preceding ones, without excluding any; but can you do that when history is there establishing with a clearness equal only to that of the sun, that the popes have erred in their teaching?
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pixiesticks
Sorry for all the typos in my post! >___<
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The Watchtower Speaks for Itself
by sd-7 inon the subject of infallibility.... .
***w52 3/15 pp.180-181 are the popes infallible?***.
coming now to the conclusion, we read: again i say, if you decree the infallibility of the present bishop of rome, you must establish the infallibility of all the preceding ones, without excluding any; but can you do that when history is there establishing with a clearness equal only to that of the sun, that the popes have erred in their teaching?
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pixiesticks
"This would hardly be the case if Jehovah’s Witnesses were known to use deceptive and unethical techniques to recruit members or if they used manipulative methods to control the minds of their followers."
Rubbish. Many destructive cults opperate freely and without challege from any authority, simply because so few people fully understand what a cult is and, even if they do, how to distinguish a destructive group from a non-destructive group. How the Org can say that they do not use manipulative methods to control their followers is beyond me. The evidence for that is undeniable and overwhelming.If one of America's leading expects in cults and mind control techniques, with over 30 years spent actively exposing destructive cults and exit counselling (hell, an ex-cult member himself), classifies the Jehovah's Witnesses as a destructive cult, then I think it's more than likely that they are, in fact, a destructive cult!
"Obviously, if these methods had been used, there would be an overwhelming number of victims in contradiction to any argument in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses. "There are hardly ever an overwhelming number of victims, particularlly vocal victims, of any cult. Mostly because cults are very good at holding onto their members through the use of extremely effective techniques of mind control!
So for the Witnesses to say, "Cults use manipulative methods to control the minds of their followers" and then, "Obviously, if these methods had been used, there would be an overwhelming number of victims in contradiction to any argument in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses. " is a clear contradiction in itself!
If Witnesses, or any cult, are using effective manipulative methods, then there should not be an overwhelming number of people leaving. There are very, very few destructive cults (if any) that lose a huge number of members without completely imploding or, in the extreme cases, committing mass suicide.
However, I think the sheer number of people on all the various ex-JW forums and websites can attest to the fact that the Witnesses are a group that uses destructive techniques. I've yet to meet and ex-JW that didn't think the Witnesses were a cult. If I didn't know that the Witnesses wrote that article, I would tell author that the clearly knew very little about cults and that the should go away and read 'Combatting Cult Mind Control" by Steven Hassan. -
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Another JW Report from Haiti - this is sick....
by Bonnie_Clyde inhttp://www.ultimatebiblereferencelibrary.com/haiti_disaster__17.1.10_.pdf .
two paragraphs were really bad:.
"we suspect not a few of our young brothers and sisters attending universities may have died when those buildings crashed to the grounds with everyone in them.
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pixiesticks
Left my own responce on their FB page too. That report made me so angry.
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A Nasty Thought
by God_Delusion inhttp://www.jehovahswitnessblog.com/2010/01/dealing-with-dead-baby-bodies-after.html.
sickening, isn't it?
and just think, we were taught to believe in such things!.
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pixiesticks
This is a topic I have had too many arguements with my still indoctrinated parents to count - I had a massive one with them on this subject just yesterday infact. And it's funny, those commonly used arguements listed on that blog ("only God knows what will happen on that day", "we have to trust in him and his judgement because he knows what's best for us as he has proved this in countless situations".) are almost word for word what my parents came back at me with, yet again. They simply employ those mental blocks that save them from having to really process the idea of the horredous things that their so-called "loving" God is supposedly going to bring down upon millions of innocent people, children babies included.
They choose to see it as God saving those he deems worthy, rather than him killing those he doesn't. They reason that humans are destroying the earth anyway, so God is simply providing a lifeboat for all those that want in. Every time I use the word "murder", I'm told "Stop saying murder! God isn't going to murder anyone, he's saving us! Don't think about the one's that will die, think about all those that are going to be saved!"
I try time and time again to show them the glaring flaws in this way of thinking with numerous illustrations and comparissions, but nothing ever seems to sink in. I've all but given up and accepted that they'd rather live a life of blissful ignorance than know the truth.But I hope if somehow this is all true and Armageddon does come, that the Witnesses will be forced to clear the charred and mangled corpses from the streets and have to look at the faces of all the humans that had to die for them to have their everlasting life. I don't know how I'd be able to live with myself and the guilt for the rest of eternity.