Posts by FrankWTower

12

WT's idea of Disaster Relief

by Juan Viejo2 in

http://www.jw-media.org/jpn/20110316.htm.

"in cooperation with local authorities and other relief agencies, the witnesses arranged to help meet the immediate needs of their fellow worshippers and other victims in japan, establishing three teams to help organize disaster relief.

these teams are working diligently to contact congregations of jehovahs witnesses in the devastated areas and care for the spiritual, physical, and material needs of their fellow believers.

FrankWTower

Their idea of helping disaster victims is preaching, preaching and more preaching.

17

Jehovah's Witnesses and their hypocritical entertainment choices.

by Scooby-Doo in

the couple that i studied with were major hypocrites when it came to their entertainment choices.

i remember the first time i was invited to their house for dinner, this was the first time that we just hung out socially, and they were playing music.

a song came on sung by a girl group that liked to pretend they were bisexuals (or lesbians, whatever) and i thought 'hey, maybe these witnesses are pretty relaxed and cool after all'.. boy was i wrong.

FrankWTower

Most JW's are hipocritical about something. I wish I could say something out loud about it.

11

No Independent Thinking?

by FrankWTower in

jw
friends

correct me if i'm wrong, but i think i just realized another wt contradiction.

i read a critical analysis of the origin of life and was life created brochures called "weighed and found wanting" (which is exellent by the way and recommend it, it's here somewhere).

as i read along on the brochures i finally noticed how the society makes constant appeals to your own common sense and intuition.

FrankWTower

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I just realized another WT contradiction. I read a critical analysis of The Origin of Life and Was Life Created brochures called "Weighed and Found Wanting" (which is exellent by the way and recommend it, it's here somewhere). As I read along on the brochures I finally noticed how the society makes constant appeals to your own common sense and intuition. It does this by asking questions like:

"What do you think? Can life have appeared on its own by chance? What seems more likely?"

Those questions, you know? You've seen them. They're all over the place.

Why does the WT ask you to think for yourself when it comes trying to refute science but when it comes to its own beliefs, don't think, don't question; just believe. Appealing to one's own uncritical thinking is most likely to lead one to erroneous reasoning. Common sense is not realiable at all. Five hundred years ago, common sense led people to believe that it was the sun, moon and stars that revolved around the earth, not the other way around.

Today, the society makes frequent appeals to one's emotions and preconceived ideas to reinforce their point of view. But it also tells it's members not to rely on one's knowledge (at least when it's convenient) because it can mislead us. Wheather you're a creationist or science oriented, you can see the contradiction.

What say you?

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

Nickolas,

Thanks for that post. I would love to get my hands on that book but I wouldn't know where to hide it.

23

Social Networks are a threat to the Watchtower Society

by FrankWTower in

in recent months there have been massive protests and demonstrations against autocratic rulers in the middle east and north africa.

many of these were possible in part because the protesters used social media services like facebook, youtube and twitter to get the word out and let the world know what was going on.

these services are so threatening to many governments that they're blocked in order to control their people.

FrankWTower

Thanks guys.

I too heard the same talk at the KM school. It seems to be going around nationally. When I heard the brother give it, I thought it was a bit extreme. Most of us JW's on Facebook are pretty tamed. It's not like we're constantly looking for ways to get laid. Although it's not a bad idea ;-).

23

Social Networks are a threat to the Watchtower Society

by FrankWTower in

in recent months there have been massive protests and demonstrations against autocratic rulers in the middle east and north africa.

many of these were possible in part because the protesters used social media services like facebook, youtube and twitter to get the word out and let the world know what was going on.

these services are so threatening to many governments that they're blocked in order to control their people.

FrankWTower

In recent months there have been massive protests and demonstrations against autocratic rulers in the middle east and north africa. Many of these were possible in part because the protesters used social media services like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter to get the word out and let the world know what was going on. These services are so threatening to many governments that they're blocked in order to control their people. In Libya and Egypt's case, the entire internet was blocked.

Jehovah's Witnesses face a similar situation, although nowhere near as obvious or violent. The Watchtower for years has discouraged the use of the internet and social networking sites which are inherently a threat to its control. I remember older Watchtower studies that argued that we should always know what we're logging in for, then as soon as we're done (like checking email), log off from the internet. And now there's talks that warn us of the "dangers" of social networks. There are real dangers on the internet, which we should all watch out for. But, there are also dangers that are only dangerous to the WT. Be sure you know the difference.

Facebook is an unbelievably useful communitation tool. With over 600 million users and counting, it is the largest social network in the world. It is changing the world, like it has in the aforementioned places. I urge any active JW who wants to help others out of the WT organization to encourage them to join the zeitgeist. Who knows? Maybe we might have a rebellion of our own and leve en masse.

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.

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?