Posts by millie210

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

Shepherdless,

Blunt is fine. Many a truth lies in blunt.

I appreciate you bringing a totally new thought to this thread. That thought is the analysis of Christian Scientists as a comparison to the JWs.

I studied with a woman who was raised as a Christian Scientist. As a young adult while pursuing her PhD, she was called on by the Mormons. She studied and got almost to the point of joining and then moved to a different area. While she was still getting moved in and getting her bearings I met her. We studied together for 2 years.

She became and unbaptized pub and that was when I started to back off and so did she. We remain friends and we are both clear on what the religion known as Jehovahs Witnesses is all about.

I mention this friend because her perspective on these 3 religions (comparisons.contrasts) has been extremely interesting to hear,

I didnt realize until your post however, that ALL of my knowledge and my conversations with my friend have been doctrinal in nature. You are looking at Christian Scientists as an entity including their population stats and their business model.

I hadnt done that.

I was looking at the Catholic church in terms of their religious control over peoples lives and how powerfully they exerted themselves in the daily lives of those people and also how they took so much money into themselves while exerting all the endless rules over daily life.

My initial comparison of the Catholic church and JWs is just one slice of a pie. I am realizing that.

Now I want to look at Christian Science as a business and not doctrinally.

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

David_Jay,

You are not pontificating, you are educating. Thank you for helping me to look at this with more of a world view.

I had not bothered to take my comparison outside the realm of religion to look at other models of power based institutions such as governments.

So could one say that even staring out with the best of intentions to help or move things forward, ANY group (religious or otherwise) is going to be hijacked and corrupted?

As in power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely?

That explains the rise and fall of everything but it doesnt explain why no one has come up with a way around that pattern.

SInce there is such a compulsion in humans to have religion in the first place, it would seem the compulsion would be able to keep it on the road so to speak.

That is not how it ever goes though.

A long time ago while standing at a door "witnessing" a man told me

"sure, your religion is relatively new now and you all are excited to be part of it but just give you some time and you will end up like everyone else."

of course, in my young idealistic idiocy I just knew he was wrong.

Turns out he was right. A part of me deep inside must have wondered about what he said because decades later I still remember it exactly as it was said that day.

So if we are going to say that this is the way of things - religious institutions, governments, big businesses - then what is the "solution"?

No business? No government? No religion?

That cant and wont and clearly shouldnt happen. So why do so many think that removing religion will "fix" society if we leave the other two?

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

I want to thank each one of you for taking the time to give such thoughtful and intellectual replies.

I am learning from you.

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

Thank you cha ching!

Im glad you see it to. You know whats funny? I always had Catholic Bible studies when I was a JW.

I think now that it was because I "understood" the dogma and hierarchy because my own religion had it -although I didnt consciously see it at the time.

I am glad you mentioned no fish on Friday...I forgot all about that one!

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

LisaRose
I think they will soon be facing a drop in membership. This will be hard to stop given that they don't appear willing to compromise or drop unsustainable policies, instead focusing on fear and control.

I think you are correct and I am guessing we will see this drop a lot more after the summer assemblies, when people have a chance to really digest how those videos.

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

Shepherdless,

I agree with you that if there is any comparison, it would have to be the Catholic church of long ago.

The two today have no resemblance to one another. In my original post I was thinking of the Catholic churches actions and attitudes in centuries gone by not modern day Catholicism, I didnt make that clear.

When you mention the Church of Christ, Scientist - I am not sure who you mean. Is that the Christian Scientists?

I do see your point about pragmatism and reinvention though.

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

Coded Logic,

I was thinking today about that song "Listen, Obey and Be Blessed".

That title sounds so cult like and robotic once you have some time and space away from the Organization.

It saddens me to think of children standing at Regional assemblies this summer singing that song, unaware of the indoctrinating thoughts it conveys.

40

What Religious Trajectory Are The JWs Following?

by millie210 in

i was reading another thread and the comments got me thinking.... https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5656910430732288/pictures-tell-thousand-words.

comments such as oldskools: more like digital colonialism channeled through one of the weaker and less important institutions western society has to offer.. .

some have compared the orgs future path to the world wide church of gods.

millie210

David_Jay
Because it has no historical links or counterparts, and especially since it believes it has destiny ensured by the Almighty in opposition to the world around it, whatever similarities the Watchtower has to Roman Catholic Church parts at a critical junction: the Governing Body does not bend.

I appreciated every word of your post although I have to admit it took me two reads to feel I grasped it. Very deep and very informative. I never knew the close links to Judaism existed.

I agree that the Catholic church has adapted and changed (bending) whereas the Org shows little ability to do so.

Or perhaps not fast enough?

41

Non-JW music teacher talks about JW.org

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzgd8oa2re .

millie210

Millie-

I dont know if this became a mild vendetta at some point for this teacher or not but whether or not that is the case, if something he says is true, then it is true regardless.

slimboyfat
The tyranny of facts! What matters is not what's true because there's no such thing. What matters is what works and this is dependent on the context. There is no such thing as "true regardless", or at least there shouldn't be. If we must use the word true is should be true because

As a member of the SlimBoy fan club I appreciate your point. Thank you!

41

Non-JW music teacher talks about JW.org

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzgd8oa2re .

millie210

Good point Tech.

There is a big difference in an orchestra and a marching band.

I thought in the school brochure of years gone by the real frown was on marching bands.

I knew lots of people in orchestra that were JWs. just not marching band. Most of the people who play an instrument well started at a younger age. Most JW parents could not afford the private lessons that would require. Plus if you are playing an instrument used in an orchestra, dont you need to play WITH people?