Andi, thank you so much for your welcome and your kind remark about my writing. I have to say there are people here who have demonstrated far more fluency and command of the English language than me - I know I tend to be a bit wordy at times! Nevertheless, I'm pleased and flattered that you and others have enjoyed reading my posts, as that brings me much pleasure knowing that my efforts in sharing my experiences have been worthwhile.
Kind regards.
NewWay
JoinedPosts by NewWay
-
47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
-
-
NewWay
-
47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
-
-
NewWay
WHY I STOPPED APOLOGISING FOR THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY - PART 5
Back in the eighties, when I was a single man in my early twenties, I decided to set up my own home. Since I was outside the territory of my existing congregation I started associating with a new one. One of the elders in this particular congregation was extremely well-known and regarded by many as a spiritual 'pillar' (Galatians 2:9). Although not brought up as a JW, he had by that time been in 'the Truth' for many years. Before the 'elder arrangement' came into force, he had held the post of 'congregation servant', which effectively put him in charge of the congregation. This man's confidence, ability to organise and persuasive manner helped to secure him not only the admiration of the other congregation members, but various responsibilities and speaking assignments connected with circuit assemblies. Many of the 'brothers' were endeared to him because of his understanding nature and willingness to be 'on call' to the flock. Nevertheless, he also acted in a way that could only be described as a 'spiritual policeman'. I had no doubt that he was sincerely trying to protect the congregation from bad influences, but at times it felt like he was the principle and the 'sheep' were the children at his school. On one occasion I had spoken with a 'sister' about my interest in learning Biblical Hebrew or Greek. Not long afterwards, this elder gave a talk in which he remarked that it really was not necessary for brothers to learn Biblical languages. I wondered what was so bad about getting aquainted with the original languages in which the 'Word of God' was written. Koine GreekEarly on in my online activities, I had made an effort to get to know a few things about New Testament (NT) Greek. The reason for this was that from time to time posters would argue about the meaning of words and phrases found in the NT. I figured that the only way to settle matters for sure, in my own mind, was to get to grips with the underlying language known as Koine (or 'common') Greek - that which was spoken by the people of the time. Like many JWs I had a copy of the society's 'Kingdom Interlinear', which gave the original Greek and a word-for-word translation for all of the NT. I was, though, well aware of the accusations of JW opposers that this publication was flawed. So I decided that the only way to counteract their arguments was to play on their own 'turf'. In order to do this, I invested quite a bit of money in relevant publications produced by non-JWs, such as the fourth revised edition of 'The Greek New Testament' (produced by the United Bible Societies), and used online resources that were obviously provided by members of 'Christendom'. Since there were no places locally for me to learn Koine Greek (KG), I bought some beginners books and started teaching myself.
As I was determined to get a good working knowledge of KG in a short time, I made sure that I studied daily. To aid me further I developed a computer program that displayed and formatted a freely-available non-JW interlinear version of the NT. Within six months or so I knew enough about the language and had enough tools (including a hefty large print version of 'The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible') to be confident in making some informed online comments on a few NT verses. It was also useful to have a copy of the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament (OT), to compare with OT scriptures quoted in the NT. I found the whole thing fascinating. It was also exciting to be in a position to question how a particular scripture had been rendered into English in various Bibles, including of course the New World Translation (NWT) used by JWs.
During this period of time I also spent a good many hours setting up my own web site. The intention was to provide those with little or no knowledge of the Bible with a series of articles that would act as stepping stones through the scriptures. The result was what could be called a resume of the Bible. I had no intention of 'going ahead of the society', but felt that it could be beneficial to some people who would otherwise not take notice of the Bible from literature that had 'JW' stamped on it. It was while preparing one of these articles that Hebrews 13:17 came to my attention. Since the article was discussing Christlike 'leadership', I wondered how being 'obedient' and 'submissive' fitted in with being led by example.
So, 'tools' at hand, I examined the KG text for that scripture. I looked up the word translated as 'obedient' (KG = 'peith-esthe' - root 'peitho') in my various lexicons and found that it actually meant to be 'persuaded'! Interestingly, in the very next verse (18) where it says 'For we trust we have an honest conscience' (NWT), the word translated as 'trust' (KG = 'peith-ometha' - root 'peitho') is identical to the word rendered 'obedient' in the previous verse, only with a different ending due to KG grammatical rules. I went through the same procedure with the word translated as 'submissive' (KG = 'hupeikete'), and found that it meant to be 'yielding'. Thus, there would be no contradiction with the 'leadership' Jesus spoke of. It was obvious to me that congregation members were being encouraged to put trust in those 'leading' them, 'yielding' through cooperation if they would prefer a different way of doing things. I also found out that the word rendered 'taking the lead' (KG = 'hegoumenois'), meant one who acted as a guide.
So, instead of elders being authoritarian figures who told the sheep what to do, they were to act like guides who knew the terrain well and would not only be able to help point to the right pathways but would also warn of known pitfalls. If people decided not to follow the advice of the guide, he would have no authority over them to force them to take his advice, nor to punish them in some way for disagreeing. It struck me that not just the WTS, but also 'Christendom' in general had purposefully used words in translation that would help maintain authority over the 'sheep'. (To Be Continued...) -
95
Top STUPID criticisms of the WTS
by JanH inthere are certainly enough valid criticisms of the wts and the jw religion, but a significant number of often-repeated criticisms of the religion are, imnsho, just ludicruous and serves to take attention away from the real issues.
significant problems with the wts includes, but are not limited to, the shunning policy, the blood issue and of course the corporate policy of hiding child molestors.. here is a list of criticisms of the wts that i find particularly annoying to see:.
russell was a freemason (or, even worse, the wts is part of some other large-scale conspiracy like the illuminati).
-
-
NewWay
julien:
I accept that the GB could be classed as a 'thing' for worship and I understand your point of view. As many folk here are from the U.S.A. I thought they might be interested, for the reason of comparison, to see what a well-known British dictionary gave as a definition. Unfortunately, people don't necessarily understand a word to have the 'official' definition. Language in everyday use of course is ever-changing, and even from county to county (state to state) words can have a different shade of meaning. So I think it is good to be aware that words can mean different things to different people, so there will be disagreements on the 'correct' definition.
More important to me than 'correct' definition is the motivation in using the word, and if it is fair to use it based on one's audience's the current understanding of the word. Some people don't really care what others think about what they say and the way they say it, so any amount of pleading in this way will fall on deaf ears. But, it is obvious from many of the comments here that more than a few members here do care, and they feel that the use of certain words (apt though they may appear to be) will not win hearts and minds. Kicking a man when he is down then expecting him to cheerfully get up is not very reasonable, methinks!
Farkel: You don't happen to be a friend of David Icke do you?(!!!) If so, you forgot to mention the V-style lizard connection. -
47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
-
-
NewWay
Thanks Hillary_Step - if that is your real name ;0) I got your email and will definitely keep in touch. BTW, thanks for explaining the name; another piece of information to file away so that I can look good in a conversation!
-
95
Top STUPID criticisms of the WTS
by JanH inthere are certainly enough valid criticisms of the wts and the jw religion, but a significant number of often-repeated criticisms of the religion are, imnsho, just ludicruous and serves to take attention away from the real issues.
significant problems with the wts includes, but are not limited to, the shunning policy, the blood issue and of course the corporate policy of hiding child molestors.. here is a list of criticisms of the wts that i find particularly annoying to see:.
russell was a freemason (or, even worse, the wts is part of some other large-scale conspiracy like the illuminati).
-
-
NewWay
Oxford English Reference Dictionary Definition Of 'Cult':
1. a system of religious worship esp. as expressed in ritual.
2. (a) devotion or homage to a person or thing (the cult of aestheticism). (b) a popular fashion esp. followed by a specific section of society.
3. (attrib.) denoting a person or thing popularized in this way (cult film; cult figure).
[F culte or L cultus worship f. colere cult- inhabit, till, worship]
It seems to me that the word 'cult' when used in connection with a religious group should properly refer to a group that adores (i.e. worships) an individual leader. I find it irritating when emotionally-charged words such as 'cult' are used to label religious groups that we disapprove of. Its impact value may be great, but it is seen by many as a poor and dishonest way of trying to influence a person's opinion. Of course, I don't infer that everyone using the term does so purposely to influence! I can think of another word used in another context that is used to coerce agreement with a minority group, but I won't say what it is in case anyone takes offence - suffice to say that many are currently using this word although it is not a fair description. On the use of 'brainwashing', perhaps we are victims of the trend to use superlatives and impact words without discretion. Unfortunately, this makes any comparison of degree impossible. If this is not bad enough, words have even been forced to mean something completely different. We all know for instance that the word 'wicked' has been rendered virtually impotent as to its original meaning - very soon anyone new to the Bible will think Jezebel was a wonderful woman!
Jan, I have noticed that you talk a lot of sense, and that your reasonings are well presented. Thank you for creating this thread as anyone who wishes to argue against the WTS will do themselves no favours by using arguments that rest on shaky foundations. I do agree with some others here who have mentioned the Freemason connection. Not so long ago I spent some time reading and researching about the Freemasons to find out about their origins, beliefs and manner of operation. Although it cannot be proved Russell was a Freemason, there are many strong indications that convince me that he at least had some connection with them. I was interested to learn that the name 'Jehovah' is (or at least was) very important to them. -
47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
-
-
NewWay
WHY I STOPPED APOLOGISING FOR THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY - PART 4
Very soon after joining my first Internet 'JW' community, I was asked to help out at another one that had a much larger number of members. I decided that this would be a better place to 'witness' as the one I had started at was starting to reveal itself as an 'apostate' forum. It turned out that the manager was what I saw as a disgruntled JW member who just wanted to stir up trouble. So I moved on to the other site and started to contribute many posts dealing with various aspects of JW belief. My hope was that even though my view of the leaders of the society was different from many JWs, I might help to defend our religion from the negative comments made by opposers, and at the same time help counteract their efforts to put off genuinely interested non-JWs. Without letting others know how I personally felt about the 'slave' (the governing body supposedly representing all 'anointed' JWs), I made excuses for these men pointing out that they were imperfect but were nevertheless running an organisation that had God's blessing. It was during this time that I took an excursion into the land of 'apostates' and 'Christendom'. Making Contact With Different WorldsDespite withdrawing membership from my first 'JW' community, my curiosity was aroused by a particular Internet link being publicised there. So, nervous though I was at the thought of 'playing with spiritual fire', I took a look.
The feeling I had was akin to that experienced by me as a young child when on a rare occasion of bad behaviour I sneaked into the garden of a local house knowing that the owners were on holiday. The door to the conservatory attached to the side of the house was actually unlocked and so I - with trepidation - opened it and looked inside. As I was a child my attention was drawn to the toys lying around. I plucked up the courage to examine some of them, my eyes regularly keeping watch in case the family should suddenly return. I knew I had done wrong in trespassing, but I had this strong sense of wanting to know what other people's property looked like inside. I definitely was not there to steal anything. Yet the whole experience was disturbing, and as soon as I left the place a huge sense of relief prevailed. Nevertheless, I was bothered by the thought that maybe someone would find out I'd been there and I would be in serious trouble.
What disturbed me about this site was that the owner had actually become involved with 'Christendom' and that there were pages that ridiculed the organisation - I felt that the methods used were both disrespectful and childish. I thought to myself, 'Is there no one who disagrees with the society who does not end up being a part of 'Christendom' or adopting the aggressive ill-mannered spirit of the world?' Although I didn't agree with the society's view of itself as God's channel of communication and was indignant its arrogance and treatment of the sheep, I still had no wish to give up beliefs which I felt had been satisfactorily argued for in the society's publications. I also wanted nothing to do with the me-ism, coarseness, lack of affection, and loose morality so prevalent in the world. So my first experience of 'apostate' web sites only helped me to consider that JWs were the only people on my wavelength. Yet, there were two things that this particular site included that made me sit up and take notice.
There was an article stating that subliminal images could be found in various publications of the society. I remembered what a JW friend of mine had said back in the eighties, that some recent Watchtowers featured illustrations with hidden 'faces'. This worried me, and I looked through my own copies. I was shocked to find that this was so, that these 'faces' were not combinations of shading that could properly be interpreted as flukes. At the time I felt like throwing them out as if they were demonised (you have to be a fully 'paid up' member of the organisation to understand that type of reaction)! I remember thinking later, why has the society not said anything about this. Not too long afterwards the society wrote an article on rumours. It said that some brothers were spreading a rumour that a JW illustrator had introduced hidden pictures into publications and had been disfellowshipped as a result. It was obvious that this article was designed to stamp out this rumour. I was disappointed because no explanation as to why these hidden pictures had appeared was given. I felt that the society had a responsibility to the flock to give more information, even if it the society was not at fault - e.g. they had been the victim of sabotage. The fact that there were more hidden images still appearing in publications provoked more alarm. When I checked out the reference to page 159 of the 'Revelation' book and looked at the outstretched hand of the angel, it was obvious to me that the 'face' in the hand was deliberate since there is no way that the folds of skin on the palm of a hand could come anywhere near to looking like that! I thought that the silence on this subject only helped to strengthen the view that the governing body were purposefully introducing strange images into their publications. Despite the evidence of such hidden images, JWs were obviously expected to adopt an 'emporer's clothes' position to this.
The site also featured a chapter from the book 'Crisis of Conscience' by Ray Franz. I was aware of the 1979 incident via an announcement in a Kingdom Ministry, but I did not know the details. My impression is that JWs in the UK know very little of what happens among their USA counterparts, apart from what is of a positive nature. I have found in my online activities that most information about the society comes from USA sources, and many online dissenters are from that country. It does seem that the British culture - certainly that which exists among those of my generation and before - makes it more difficult to question authority, and I think we tend to accept things more often with no more than a grumble. Reading the chapter from Ray's book, reinforced my view that this organisation could not be anything more than man-made.
I visited some more 'apostate' sites but had such an uncomfortable feeling inside that I determined to stop this line of enquiry for good. Back at the second 'JW' site things started to get so confrontational that I decided to look for other places I could 'witness'. So, I searched for other 'Christian' oriented forums that I might join and found a UK community that seemed to project a reasonably restrained atmosphere. I felt that the cultural differences between Britain and America were probably a contributing factor to my feelings of discomfort in the 'JW' site I was leaving - most posters appeared to be from the USA. I mean no disrespect to the American people, but to understand this cultural difference you only have to compare the USA and UK versions of the 'Jerry Springer' show. The difference being that in the UK version the bodyguards have nothing much to do, and there are very few bleeps!
Before I started posting at the UK site, I determined that I would not reveal my religious affiliation. I didn't want prejudice to get in the way of serious Bible discussion. I wanted people to consider my views on the basis of the arguments I put forward, not on the basis of what they thought of my religion. I had some very good discussions at that site and was surprised by the civil manner in which discussion generally took place, and was pleased that people were not afraid to apologise or give others the benefit of the doubt. Anyone who proved to be a trouble-maker was given due warning and very quickly removed from membership if they did not change their attitude. Although association with this group did not change my core beliefs, I learned quite a few things about what made people believe a certain way and why. Nevertheless there came a time when I felt I had to say more and that would inevitably lead to someone working out that I was a JW. So I moved over to another site that was a general forum for religious debate, so it did not matter whether you were JW, Mormon, Catholic, Atheist, or 'Pagan', all were welcome to participate. (To Be Continued...) -
27
Is there life AFTER leaving?!!??!
by Perfection Seeker inmy name is melissa.
i am 33 years old.
my parents started studying when i was 5. i am trying to leave the orgainization, but keep getting pulled back in.
-
-
NewWay
Hi Melissa. What makes it so difficult to simply discard family is that they are our 'own flesh and blood', we share a physical (and through life together as a family) an emotional connection that cannot easily be denied, even after we set up our own household. We can spend a long, long time apart from our parents, but that does not necessarily erradicate our affections for them. Your husband, of course, is not bonded by blood to your family, so it is much easier for him to live without them. I, like Lisa, am currently as to how God actually fits into the scheme of things. I have not abandoned my belief in Him, nor in my admiration for the person of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible.
I still think that the revolutionary teachings of Christ are as relevant today as ever. I am not drawn to organised religion for obvious reasons and certainly not 'Christendom' as I have engaged in much independent study of the origins, growth and actions of the Church, that I would trust it no more than the WTS. My current stance is that I am happy to experience a God-aware life where He deals with me directly, and not through association with some religious group. Simplifying my spiritual outlook makes it easier to demonstrate patience and love; something that was difficult to do with the 'letter of the law' JW approach.
As far as the robbed years of my life are concerned (most of my childhood and adult life), I do not worry about what little of life is left, as I don't believe that a physical death is the end of a person's existence (whether by some future resurrection, or otherwise), and I certainly don't believe that God has any use for a place of literal eternal torment! This view has helped me to find some peace of mind and helps to counteract the residue of bitterness still left when contemplating how association with the WTS has damaged one's life. I finally can live for TODAY. Oh, and I place a very high value on humour because of its emotional benefits. I make sure I get a regular dose - BTW my favourite U.S. sitcom is 'Becker'.
((((((((((Melissa)))))))))) -
18
Deprogramming
by Perfection Seeker ini am new on here- already posted one thing about life after leaving- got great responses.
as you can see by my name "perfection seeker" i was a witness.
i am now leaving, and not a perfection seeker :-) does anyone have information on exit counseling or deprogramming?
-
-
NewWay
Hi, PerfectionSeeker. I've only recently joined this group. The last time I took part in any internet discussion/communication was back about four months ago, as I got to the point where I just did not want to be reminded of the organisation any more. I felt, why waste time dredging up the past, move on. It one thing if it is only you who is a JW and the rest of your family is not, but when you have family that are still involved with the organisation it is a different matter. At the moment all of the adults in my immediate family are involved with the organisation, and I have to be careful what I do (for more information about my experiences, please see the thread entitled: 'Why I Stopped Apologising For The Watchtower Society').
I have no friends outside of the organisation and virtually nil inside (because of my 'inactivity'). This web site is giving me opportunity to release some of the feelings I have kept inside for so long. Some here may think that based on the little time I've been here I've been over the top in the number and length of posts I've made. I do apologise, but it is so good to be able to share thoughts with people who know where I'm coming from. Why people keep coming to places like this, rather than simply just 'moving on' is I think because we are looking for like-minded people to share our feelings with. For many of us just jumping straight into the world and making new friends is virtually impossible, because even if we find a truly kind individual in 'the world' to confide in, they can never truly understand what we have been through. There are many support groups for different people: bereavement, victims of crime, the terminally ill, etc. People like to seek out those who have been in a similar situation as themselves for support.
Jan gave some very good advice, and I agree that some folk may need professional help. But for others, just having a regular dose of reasurance via places like this can have a very therapeutic and upbuilding effect. Being in a minority of several thousand is a lot better than being in the minority of one (which is what it sometimes feels like)!
((((((((((PerfectionSeeker)))))))))) -
47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
-
-
NewWay
WHY I STOPPED APOLOGISING FOR THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY - PART 3
Over ten years ago, I started a fulltime computer studies course with the intention of becoming a computer programmer - which I did for some time. This has proved extremely useful because when I was at the end of my school years microcomputers (in fact computers in general) where a specialist subject that was only just making its way into the classroom; so many of my age were not computer literate. It gave me a head start before personal computing really hit the UK scene. Often I would be asked to help friends who had just bought their first computer, and I felt a real sense of pleasure being able to be of practical use in this way. I have always been interested in 'logics' and how things work, so when computers and information about them started to become more generally available I felt the urge to find out more. Programming appealed to me because it appealed to both my creative nature and my interest in problem solving. I also taught myself the basics of hardware and how to upgrade the various computers I had - this was much more satisfying to me than letting someone else do it. So as Britain came to use micro-computers in earnest, I was well prepared. A Doorway OpensWhen my native country started to take the Internet seriously (as ever lagging behind America by a number of years) and the telecommunications companies finally made connection and use economically acceptable for the majority of Britons, the door to a huge store of human knowledge and experience opened up. People found that the privacy afforded by this new mode of communication meant that they could read all sorts of things without having anyone police them. Of course this freedom is a double-edged sword that can be used for 'right' or 'wrong' (depending on one's point of view). It seemed to me that the organisation was caught off guard by the Internet and was slow to react to the obvious dangers (whichever way you view it) that this could pose to JWs. Looking back, I get the impression that the organisation was reluctant to even acknowledge it or comment on what dangers might be out there for fear that this might pique the interest of some curious JWs. In my many years of association with the organisation I got the impression that they felt a good tactic to use to avoid confrontation and having to answer questions was to encourage silence. Indeed if an individual JW had a major concern about the society, s/he was told that Jehovah would deal with it in His own due time - there was never any way in which the organisation could be taken to task over anything, or felt that they owed other people (particularly 'the sheep') an explanation.
After taking my first few tentative steps into the world of online discussion as a member of a music forum, I had the idea that there might be opportunities to 'witness' via the internet. So, after doing a search at the MSN communities homepage, I found a forum for discussion that seemed to be specifically for discussion of JW beliefs. I thought, 'Great, a ready audience, and I no doubt will get to meet other JWs.' When I came to the site for the first time I just assumed that the manager of the community was a 'loyal' JW - why s/he even had a link to the official WTS website! I didn't notice, until a little while later, that other links included were actually to 'apostate' websites.
One of my first posts involved making a rebuttal concerning the accusation that the WTS was a false prophet. Although by then, as pointed out earlier, I had come to the conclusion that the society was not God's personal channel of communication in the sense of being told directly from Him how to understand the Bible, I still felt that He could be using them to congregate all 'the desirable things (NWT) of the nations' (Haggai 2:7) since they had shown the initiative as a body to announce the coming end of the system of things and the establishment of 'Jehovah's Kingdom', something that no other religious body - that I knew of - was doing. At the time, the use of God's personal name was paramount, and it was something that the organisation often drew to the attention of JWs.
My first involvement with online 'witnessing' was not the pleasant experience I expected it to be. Yes, over the years I had from time to time met with argumentative, rude people in my door-to-door preaching - what JW hadn't? But opposers in the forum seemed to be of a different breed. They always appeared to be aggressive (and in some cases what one can only describe as 'rabid') and cunning, had no qualms about resorting to name-calling - despite their obvious belief that they were 'Christians', and had from what I could see nothing upbuilding to say. Although it was difficult to take at first, it only made me more sure that I had the right religion, since had Jesus said that 'if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you' (John 15:20)? It also helped that some community members who identified themselves as JWs gave me some enthusiastic responses. One thing did bother me however. Many of the 'JW' posts were brash in their treatment of 'opposers' and were not devoid of name-calling, nor what I considered to be rude. When I decided to address this observation I was pleased when some of these 'JWs' apologized. Nevertheless, there were others who made excuses saying that they had been provoked. I did'nt accept that as an excuse, because I felt that when out 'in the field' representing Jehovah and Jesus Christ we should never give the 'opposition' any legitimate cause for complaint. Our concern for protecting our good name as JWs should prevent us from retaliating. I guess I was wrong!
(To Be Continued...) -
47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
-
-
NewWay
Joe:
Actually, the date 607 BCE itself has not really been an issue with me. We know for sure (or as sure as archealogical/historical evidence convinces us) that the end of the Jewish captivity in Babylon effectively ended in 539 BCE and, being generous, I can accept that it could well have taken until 537 BCE before the first group of Jew returned to their homeland. So regardless of the actual length of the captivity of the Jews, as long as the Jews actually returned in 537 BCE, we still arrive at 1914 CE (i.e. 2520 years - Wow, its like riding a bicycle: you never forget!). However, as you pointed out its just not on to say 'there is plenty of evidence' if there isn't. But, of course to imagine that the Bible (God forbid) could actually be in error, that 'seventy years' should read 'fifty years' (which, by the way, we know was of special significance to the Jews, i.e. jubilees - when all land was returned to its original owners) would never be countenanced. Also, it would never be given consideration that perhaps the line-up to 1914 CE could actually be a coincidence, despite the fact that incredible coincidences do happen (ever seen that show 'Million To One'?). I'm of the opinion that because 1914 CE was indeed a very significant year in world history, many JWs feel bound to the organisation in awe because it was the first (and as far as I know the last) religious organisation to have found the end of the 'gentile times' via an actual Biblical formula. To them its too amazing to be discounted as mere coincidence.
Talking about coincidences, an unusual thing happened to me today - albeit not of earth-shattering proportions. Yesterday my wife ordered me a pair of new casual shoes via mail order, and was told that they would arrive within two days. Earlier today I had been chatting with my wife when I suddenly made mention of the shoes. Now I'm telling the absolute truth, it could not have been more that 5 seconds after uttering the word 'shoes' than there was a ring on the door bell and, yes you've guessed it, a courier was waiting outside with the order! Well 'it has been said' that 'truth is stranger than fiction'.
Joseph: Thank you for taking the time to read my posts. In line with what you said, Jesus words are rather apt, 'You will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free' (John 8:32). Its interesting that if I were to say that I feel as if a great burden has been lifted from my shoulders, a typical line of reasoning from a 'loyal' JW would be: 'Of course he feels that way, he couldn't stand being obedient to Jehovah. He may be happy now but it will be a shortlived happiness.' I pay no attention to such reasoning now, nor any of the other emotional blackmail techniques used to 'encourage' one back into the fold. Whether gentle or not, the organisation's 'encouragement' actually amounts to threats of divine punishment. No wonder a lot of JWs don't come across across as particularly happy people, at least not the ones that I know of.