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if under jw doctrine, satan's accusation is that a human serves god for the purpose of what he can get out of it, does the disfellowshipping arrangement, exercised to the degree that the governing body deem to be appropriate, support this charge?.
taking for granted the jehovah’s witnesses are god’s chosen organization; on the assumption that the angels (who apparently cannot read heart conditions) looking upon humanity who are making a stand for the issue of sovereignty , are unable to discern those who are in the religion because of their family and friends.
"And wouldn't they all see through it? How do you fake it with an omniscient god?"
Precisely. That's one of many things which helped me to leave JW land. I could no longer go on to practice something I didn't believe. I reasoned that it would be pointless to excercise fake faith in God IF in fact he existed.
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if under jw doctrine, satan's accusation is that a human serves god for the purpose of what he can get out of it, does the disfellowshipping arrangement, exercised to the degree that the governing body deem to be appropriate, support this charge?.
taking for granted the jehovah’s witnesses are god’s chosen organization; on the assumption that the angels (who apparently cannot read heart conditions) looking upon humanity who are making a stand for the issue of sovereignty , are unable to discern those who are in the religion because of their family and friends.
@schnell:
The funny thing about pascal's wager is that there exists many gods and religious beliefs concerning said gods. Which one is correct? To choose one is also to gamble, isn't it? What if you pick the wrong one?
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if under jw doctrine, satan's accusation is that a human serves god for the purpose of what he can get out of it, does the disfellowshipping arrangement, exercised to the degree that the governing body deem to be appropriate, support this charge?.
taking for granted the jehovah’s witnesses are god’s chosen organization; on the assumption that the angels (who apparently cannot read heart conditions) looking upon humanity who are making a stand for the issue of sovereignty , are unable to discern those who are in the religion because of their family and friends.
I think I see what you mean. According to scripture, Satan states that people serve God because of what they can get out of him and not because they genuinely love him. Similarly, there are many who remain JWs just to remain in contact with friends and family and not because they genuinely want to be part of the organization.
Thing is, that logic can be applied to all Christians. Some serve to go to heaven (or avoid hell) while others serve to avoid eternal destruction at Armageddon and live on a paradise earth. Any how you slice it, it seems that Satan is right. lol
to me it seems that there are a growing number of jws who reject a few to most doctrines of jws and yet still believe that they are in "jehovah's organisation.
" i have come across quite a few who for example, reject the 1914 doctrine entirely and yet remain psuedo-jws.. take a look at this page: http://e-jw.org/index.php?threads/the-ultimate-generational-leap-rebuttal.2521/#post-21793.
those are jws who reject 1914 and even the gb.
I listened with interest to two Roman Catholic friends of mine speaking to each other about taking their doctrines seriously and they both agreed that they didn’t believe in a literal approach but were happy to remain churchgoers.
In JW land however, the cultural norm is to take everything rather more seriously. The slightest hint of disbelief is treated with horror! It would be symptomatic of disloyalty to the GB that you are becoming an unbeliever and that would mean being destined to become bird food at big A. It is the worst thing ever to express religious doubt in JW company. Doubt after all is far more contagious than belief!
Therefore, they have no valid reasons to remain (other than for fear of losing family and friends). In a normal church you have the freedom to believe (or not believe) whatever doctrines you want.
Also, please note that all the nonsense you see them explaining and defending should be place in the right perspective. They are not defending any teaching and doctrine. They are defending their choice of remaining JWs and they do that for fear of losing what the WT gives them to feel the comfort they need.
That's the thing. They are not really JWs if they reject JW doctrine. Many of them reject the GB as well. So... why not go to any regular church?
I think what they are trying to do is to redefine what being a JW means. The problem with that is that there can be no clear definition unless they all agree on what doctrines constitute JW doctrines. They might as well start a new denomination with a new name.
to me it seems that there are a growing number of jws who reject a few to most doctrines of jws and yet still believe that they are in "jehovah's organisation.
" i have come across quite a few who for example, reject the 1914 doctrine entirely and yet remain psuedo-jws.. take a look at this page: http://e-jw.org/index.php?threads/the-ultimate-generational-leap-rebuttal.2521/#post-21793.
those are jws who reject 1914 and even the gb.
Here is another link:
Above are people who learnt TTATT but remain "JWs". Cognitive Dissonance?
OP said it made him "spiritually stronger." lol
so i had my first appointment with a counsellor, of course i explained about being a born in jw, mentally leaving, the penalty of doing so and therefore the mental strain of pretending to be someone i'm not.
her response was that she couldn't help me with that because leaving a cult was a "lifestyle choice".
i tried to say to her that its a cult not a religion and how it brain washed me but no.
Many people aren't even aware that JWs exist much less for their practices and beliefs. Its probably something she just doesn't understand.
to me it seems that there are a growing number of jws who reject a few to most doctrines of jws and yet still believe that they are in "jehovah's organisation.
" i have come across quite a few who for example, reject the 1914 doctrine entirely and yet remain psuedo-jws.. take a look at this page: http://e-jw.org/index.php?threads/the-ultimate-generational-leap-rebuttal.2521/#post-21793.
those are jws who reject 1914 and even the gb.
To me it seems that there are a growing number of JWs who reject a few to most doctrines of JWs and yet still believe that they are in "Jehovah's Organisation." I have come across quite a few who for example, reject the 1914 doctrine entirely and yet remain psuedo-JWs.
Take a look at this page: http://e-jw.org/index.php?threads/the-ultimate-generational-leap-rebuttal.2521/#post-21793
Those are JWs who reject 1914 and even the GB. They claim that Jokehova will cleanse the organisation at the time of the end and only the true servants will survive.
The problem is that that logic can be applied to any church in existence. They might as well go to a Catholic church whilst rejecting some doctrines and keeping their own beliefs. Wouldn't Jokehova also cleanse the Catholic church (or any other church for that matter) at the time of the end and save his true worshippers? What makes JW land still so special?
when i was a believer, i endorsed this idea too.
i commented with things like "love jehovah more than your mate" or "love jehovah more than your friends".. it didn't occur to me as i was saying it that jehovah is an idea.
this god concept is an idea that should really pass scrutiny if you're supposed to love it more than anything else.. at best, this means that jehovah is real and you have to love jehovah more than the people in your life, no matter the despicable things he is said to have done, condoned and endorsed in his holy writ.
The idea that your family puts you second to a cult is very heartbreaking. My mom used to say that she "loves" me but as soon as I left "the truth" everything changed and all that "love" vanished into thin air. What kind of "love" is that? Whatever it is, I would rather to not be loved at all than to have fake love.
i saw this on reddit:.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/5mlgsm/2017_yearbook_of_jehovahs_witnesses/.
overall the numbers are better than last year (1.8% growth compared to 1.5% last year -- as i predicted ;-) ) with an increase in all major figures including 1300 more congregations (i assume this is not physical kingdom halls?).
The negative growth and zeros please me very much. I hope that 2018 is even more satisfying.
i wish i was kidding, but i have heard this idea suggested lately as a defense of the wts.
this is god's organization, even though it attracts crazy people, and because it attracts crazy people.
"unlettered and ordinary," et cetera.. i don't get it.
At this rate, in ten years (if they don't go bust by then) they will have about 50,000 anointed people. 😆
