Posts by FrankWTower

15

Evolution vs. Watchtower Society

by FrankWTower in

a few months ago i had a part in the service meeting about evolution.

it was based on the reasoning book's entire section on the topic.

my conscience bothered me because it was the scientific method and science in general that led me to doubt my beliefs in the first place.

FrankWTower

A few months ago I had a part in the service meeting about evolution. It was based on the reasoning book's entire section on the topic. My conscience bothered me because it was the scientific method and science in general that led me to doubt my beliefs in the first place. The reasoning book was published sometime in the 80's so the references it made were from 1980-1982. It made several quotes (quote mining) and references to research done around and prior to this time period. One of the things that was on my mind constantly was how the WTS is able to argue against science using thirty year-old references and no one notices, but if I tried to do the same agains the Watchtower, everyone would be against me in an instant. Any critical thinking would be squashed by the elders.

Thirty years is a long time scientifically. There has been so much knowledge gained in the last thirty years, much of which has been beneficial to humanity. The WT on the other hand, has done little to nothing in that time to improve the world.

4

Watchtower study for week of Feb. 7, 2011

by FrankWTower in

this past weekend a quote from the wt study caught my eye.

it can be found on paragraph 14 of the article.. "however, worsening world conditions have caused many to respond when shown that alienation fromgod is at the root of human evil and suffering.".

i'm just focusing on the first par that says the world is getting worse.

FrankWTower

This past weekend a quote from the WT study caught my eye. It can be found on paragraph 14 of the article.

"However, worsening world conditions have caused many to respond when shown that alienation fromGod is at the root of human evil and suffering."

I'm just focusing on the first par that says the world is getting worse. I've heard that over and over again from the brothers and the society.

"the world is going from bad to worse"

They have no idea what they're talking about. The evidence proves that the world is slowly getting better for more and more people. Humanity is better off now than we were 50, 100, 500 or 1000 years ago. It is a myth to think that life has ben better for people in the past. One good place to start about learning about all this is on TED.com. Specifically, from professor Hans Rosling. I have included a link to one of his videos below.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_at_state.html

I don't know where the Watchtower gets their sources, but they're often wrong because they have to support their point of view of an imminent Armageddon.

39

Is it normal to quote without naming the source like WT does?

by InterestedOne in

i am noticing here and there that the wt literature will say things like "one bible dictionary says ..." or "one scholar says ..." and then proceed with a quotation.

my immediate reaction is to ask myself why they didn't provide the specific source of the quote - author, publication, page #, etc.

so i am wondering, do other magazines do this?

FrankWTower

No, it is not normal. At least not in respected scientific journals. But it seems to be common in Watchtower publications.

Another thing the WT society is known for is "quote mining." That means, taking a quote out of context, to support another view that was not intended by the person who said/wrote it.

The watchtower does this a lot. I read the recent works about life and creation (The Origin of Life - Five Questions Worth Asking and
Was Life Created?) and compared them to a critical analysis some one wrote about them and saw that there were all kinds of errors in them. The writers at the WT have a very distorted view of science. It's pathetic.

3

Watchtower Study (1/16/2010)

by FrankWTower in

i was just going over this week's wt study and i found this paragraph (p. 6) that i found so mind boggling, that i want to share:.

as mentioned in the preceding article, a fundamental goal that you can set is to prove to yourself that what is said in the bible is true.

(rom.

FrankWTower

I was just going over this week's WT study and I found this paragraph (p. 6) that I found so mind boggling, that I want to share:

As mentioned in the preceding article, a fundamental goal that you can set is to prove to yourself that what is said in the Bible is true. (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 13:5) Your peers may believe in evolution or in various false religious doctrines because others have told them that this is what they should believe. However, you can rise above such thinking when it comes to your own beliefs. Remember, Jehovah wants you to serve him with your whole mind. (Read Matthew 22:36, 37.) Our heavenly Father wants you to build your faith on evidence.—Heb.11:1.

Prove to yourself that what is said in the bible is true? Do they mean their bible (NWT)? Or their interpretation of the bible?

Our peers believe stuff because that's what we've been taught? Or because we accept their teachings if they're reasonable and based on evidence?

Build faith on evidence? What? That makes no sense. Belief in the bible requires faith because evidence is scarce. What evidence?

OK. Let me get back to the study :-P

5

Watchtower Study (1/16/2010)

by FrankWTower in

i was just going over this week's wt study and i found this paragraph (p. 6) that i found so mind boggling, that i want to share:.

as mentioned in the preceding article, a fundamental goal that you can set is to prove to yourself that what is said in the bible is true.

(rom.

FrankWTower

I was just going over this week's WT study and I found this paragraph (p. 6) that I found so mind boggling, that I want to share:

As mentioned in the preceding article, a fundamental goal that you can set is to prove to yourself that what is said in the Bible is true. (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 13:5) Your peers may believe in evolution or in various false religious doctrines because others have told them that this is what they should believe. However, you can rise above such thinking when it comes to your own beliefs. Remember, Jehovah wants you to serve him with your whole mind. (Read Matthew 22:36, 37.) Our heavenly Father wants you to build your faith on evidence.—Heb.11:1.

Prove to yourself that what is said in the bible is true? Do they mean their bible (NWT)? Or their interpretation of the bible?

Our peers believe stuff because that's what we've been taught? Or because we accept their teachings if they're reasonable and based on evidence?

Build faith on evidence? What? That makes no sense. Belief in the bible requires faith because evidence is scarce. What evidence?

Watchtower Study (1/16/2010)

by FrankWTower in

i was just going over this week's wt study and i found this paragraph (p. 6) that i found so mind boggling, that i want to share:.

as mentioned in the preceding article, a fundamental goal that you can set is to prove to yourself that what is said in the bible is true.

(rom.

FrankWTower

I was just going over this week's WT study and I found this paragraph (p. 6) that I found so mind boggling, that I want to share:

As mentioned in the preceding article, a fundamental goal that you can set is to prove to yourself that what is said in the Bible is true. (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 13:5) Your peers may believe in evolution or in various false religious doctrines because others have told them that this is what they should believe. However, you can rise above such thinking when it comes to your own beliefs. Remember, Jehovah wants you to serve him with your whole mind. (Read Matthew 22:36, 37.) Our heavenly Father wants you to build your faith on evidence.—Heb.11:1.

Prove to yourself that what is said in the bible is true? Do they mean their bible (NWT)? Or their interpretation of the bible?

Our peers believe stuff because that's what we've been taught? Or because we accept their teachings if they're reasonable and based on evidence?

Build faith on evidence? What? That makes no sense. Belief in the bible requires faith because evidence is scarce. What evidence?

3

Wikileaks vs. The Watchtower

by FrankWTower in

any word or chance of a wikileaks watchtower leak?.

i would absolutely looooooooooooooveeee that!.

FrankWTower

Any word or chance of a Wikileaks Watchtower leak?

I would absolutely looooooooooooooveeee that!

20

Matthew 24:14

by FrankWTower in

jw
friends

i don't know if you've read anything like this before, but i'd like to share anyway.

as you know, we hear time and time again how we've preached pretty much in every country on earth (with a few exceptions for safety reasons).

well, maybe we have, but that doesn't mean we've reached even half of the people on earth.

FrankWTower

Sorry about the formatting. I just fixed it.

20

Matthew 24:14

by FrankWTower in

jw
friends

i don't know if you've read anything like this before, but i'd like to share anyway.

as you know, we hear time and time again how we've preached pretty much in every country on earth (with a few exceptions for safety reasons).

well, maybe we have, but that doesn't mean we've reached even half of the people on earth.

FrankWTower

I don't know if you've read anything like this before, but I'd like to share anyway. As you know, we hear time and time again how we've preached pretty much in every country on Earth (with a few exceptions for safety reasons). Well, maybe we have, but that doesn't mean we've reached even half of the people on Earth. I'd like to explain looking at just 5 countries: China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These countries are some of the biggest demographically. Together, they contain around 45% (3,084,214,968) of the worlds inhabitants.

Yet put together, they have 74,635 publishers according to a recent yearbook. That's an insanely large territory for such a small number of witnesses; that's one for every 41,323 people. And these aren't western countries so most of them don't even believe in Jesus or Jehovah or the bible, so they'd be a tough crowd. I doubt that most of these 3 billion people have heard "the good news".

These are just 5 of the world's countries. If you were to add up some more of the bigger ones or even the rest of them, we could conclude that the JW have not preached to anywhere near the whole "inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come."

Country Population Publishers

China 1,338,612,968 20,768*

India 1,183,416,000 30,717

Indonesia 229,965,000 22,023

Pakistan 170,000,000 1,000

Bangladesh 162,221,000 127

totals 3,084,214,968 74,635

*extremely optimistic guesstimate

19

This Week's # 2

by FrankWTower in

i've been noticing for a while now how the watchtower sometimes seems to change the meanings of words in the english language in order to not label jw's as anything that has anything to do with the rest of the world.. for example, this week's number 2 part in the theocratic ministry school dealt with: are jehovah's witnesses a sect?.

when i look to dictionaries for the definition of this word they all have similar meanings, albeit with different wording.

a group of people forming a distinct unit within a larger group by virtue of certain refinements or distinctions of belief or practice.

FrankWTower

I've been noticing for a while now how the Watchtower sometimes seems to change the meanings of words in the English language in order to not label JW's as anything that has anything to do with the rest of the world.

For example, this week's number 2 part in the theocratic ministry school dealt with: Are Jehovah's Witnesses a sect?

When I look to dictionaries for the definition of this word they all have similar meanings, albeit with different wording. Here's an example:

A group of people forming a distinct unit within a larger group by virtue of certain refinements or distinctions of belief or practice.
A religious body, especially one that has separated from a larger denomination.
A faction united by common interests or beliefs.

These are reasonable definitions and have no negative connotations whatsoever. If JW's are considered a sect, I see no reason to say otherwise, as it doesn't characterize us in a negative light. Moreover, the definitions apply to JW's, it would be unreasonable to say that we don't. But the society insists that we are not a sect. Why must they do this? I've also noticed this same issue when they write about, creationism, fundamentalism and other terms that don't come to mind or that I'm simply not aware of.

I'm an active JW, but still "in the closet" about my actual views. Think Critically people.