@sparrowdown, I agree with your contribution. Of course the sentiment "I don't take blood because the WT says so" is 100% how JWs make their decisions by delegation. What you point out is they are being told how to frame their own thinking process, as a way to sound less fanatical to outsiders.
cognisonance
JoinedPosts by cognisonance
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Close, Critical Analysis of "Should Others Make Decisions for Us"
by cognisonance inshould others make decisions for us?.
) we should not give someone else the responsibility to make decisions for us.
rather, we should personally learn what is right in god’s eyes and choose to do it.. how might we give in to the danger of letting others choose for us?
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cognisonance
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Close, Critical Analysis of "Should Others Make Decisions for Us"
by cognisonance inshould others make decisions for us?.
) we should not give someone else the responsibility to make decisions for us.
rather, we should personally learn what is right in god’s eyes and choose to do it.. how might we give in to the danger of letting others choose for us?
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cognisonance
I came across the text below in a search inspired by my curiosity about the current drivel my parents, cousins, nephews, uncles, and aunts are subjected to by this cult. First I'd like you to read the passage without my comments (if you can manage to stomach doing so):
SHOULD OTHERS MAKE DECISIONS FOR US?
The above-mentioned examples [primarily about Israel's choice between Jehovah and Bali] convey to us a clear lesson. It is up to each of us to make decisions, and the wise, right choices are based on sound Scriptural knowledge. Galatians 6:5 reminds us: “Each one will carry his own load of responsibility.” (Ftn.) We should not give someone else the responsibility to make decisions for us. Rather, we should personally learn what is right in God’s eyes and choose to do it.
How might we give in to the danger of letting others choose for us? Peer pressure could sway us to make a bad decision. (Prov. 1:10, 15) Still, no matter how others try to pressure us, it is our responsibility to follow our Bible-trained conscience. In many respects, if we let others make our decisions, we are essentially deciding to “follow them.” It is still a choice, but a potentially disastrous one.
[Source: March 2017 Study Watchtower]Now for some analysis with the following conventions:
- Bold: good advice
- Underlined italics: ironically preventing the reader from heading the advice
It is up to each of us to make decisions, and the wise, right choices are based on sound Scriptural knowledge.
Gobsmacking doublethink! The reader is supposed to have the autonomy to make her own decisions (which by definition includes making decisions on what choices are considered to be wise and right). Yet, she is being told what type of choices should be made. Looking closer, they (
manipulative fucking assholes,the JW Governing Body) qualify the type of choices as based on "sound Scriptural knowledge." So they say decisions shouldn't be made based on just knowledge, or based on the bible, but only based on the intersection of the two and then the subset that is considered sound. While this appears nebulous, it is of course nothing more than newspeak for "what they say the bible says."We should not give someone else the responsibility to make decisions for us. Rather, we should personally learn what is right in God’s eyes and choose to do it.
Again the reader is advised to not let others make decisions for them. So why are the writers then telling them what they should do? Wouldn't doing what is right in some god's eyes delegate the reader's decision making process on to someone else? It matters not if that someone else is the god they claim to worship or collectively the JW leaders or the group as a whole. The irony in these statements is hard to ignore.
If we let others make our decisions, we are essentially deciding to “follow them.” It is still a choice, but a potentially disastrous one.
Jehovah's Witnesses pride themselves in following the bible, following their governing body, following Jehovah, following Jesus. Follow, follow, follow - Facepalm! All of this epitomizes letting others make decisions for the reader.
Disastrous indeed.
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Marx had it right - religion is a drug
by berrygerry inwatching the head-bobbers at a meeting, or as my ex would always say "wasn't that a great meeting?
" there simply must be a chemical, hormonal reason for someone to sincerely enjoy sitting through 2 hours of regurgitated, puréed bullshit.
mri's confirm what religious manipulators exploit.. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/sex-drugs-ancient-scrolls-scientists-9356777?service=responsive.
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cognisonance
Yep. Marx was also right in Wage Labor and Capital. I see a lot of parallels to religion and belief in free market capitalism.
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JW TV, this month about evolution
by bohm inthis month the last segment is about evolution.
one is with a sister with a university education in biochemistry who (presumably) teaches at a highschool or public school.
she says that left handedness of amino acids indicates life was created because "if it was a random process half would be right handed and half left handed" (paraphrased).
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cognisonance
based on the theory of evolution we would expect to see an abundance of transitional forms to be present in the fossil record. But when we do look at the fossil evidence we just don't see it. We see that the major species come into existence at specific times and their form and structure is still exactly the same as their form and structure today.
While evolutionary theory does make such predictions (and as Cofty showed Tiktaalik is one such example). The problem with this statement is that it fails to acknowledge that fossilization is extremely rare, is most likely to happen to species that were abundant and around for a long time, and we have only discovered a tiny fraction of the fossils that did form. We keep finding new fossils that match the predictions of evolution theory.
It ignores that evolution does not always happen at a gradual pace. Punctuated equilibrium is the other mode where evolution happens rather quickly (thousands of years, not millions). As a result fossils are unlikely to be recorded in such a tiny geological time frame. -
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JW TV, this month about evolution
by bohm inthis month the last segment is about evolution.
one is with a sister with a university education in biochemistry who (presumably) teaches at a highschool or public school.
she says that left handedness of amino acids indicates life was created because "if it was a random process half would be right handed and half left handed" (paraphrased).
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cognisonance
Btw. did anyone notice the "left-handedness of amino acids" argument is lifted directly from the "Life? How did it get here" book?
It's also in Is there a Creator who Cares about You?
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New DNA Study Confirms Noah
by notsurewheretogo inhttp://www.icr.org/article/9325/.
amazing read...go on , have a laugh if you want to.. new dna study confirms noah.
by brian thomas, m.s.
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cognisonance
His research is not scientific. In science, one is supposed to look at all available evidence, and draw conclusions from that evidence.
Agreed! He apparently failed to do his due diligence at performing a basic literature search on the topic. He only has 2 references, one of which is the bible.
Sylvia, if it's been that long since you read anything about evolution and can't remember much, I encourage you to look at UC Berkeley's very easy to read online website with an open mind:
Evolution 101
The evidence for evolution is so strong that it is what caused me to wake up from the JWs! And the link I gave you just scratches the surface. -
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JWs exist because...
by oldskool inone sentence answers only.. here's mine:.
jws exist because people want an escape from the modern world and are willing to give up intellectual freedom to get it..
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cognisonance
Because people don't honestly question or reason anywhere near as much as they ought to...
That's an understatement for sure! It's also an endemic issue in the US in general, perhaps pandemic in the world.
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JWs aren't stupid
by cognisonance inthe title is a bit of click bait.
but here's the alternative title: what stupid beliefs/ideas did you have while an active jw.. i think the majority of jws that don't have obvious mental health issues are not stupid, just un/under-educated.
for example, i now accept evolution as a thing, not a controversy or conjecture.
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cognisonance
The title is a bit of click bait. But here's the alternative title: What stupid beliefs/ideas did you have while an active JW.
I think the majority of JWs that don't have obvious mental health issues are not stupid, just un/under-educated. For example, I now accept evolution as a thing, not a controversy or conjecture. I even actively contribute to research papers and publish in peer-reviewed journals.
Nonetheless, about ~8 years ago I recall saying something fallacious like the following about evolution:"Telling lies is complicated, but the truth is simple. The world has numerous books on evolution, and they are anything but simple. Thus, we know evolution is a lie."
Facepalm. -
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JWs exist because...
by oldskool inone sentence answers only.. here's mine:.
jws exist because people want an escape from the modern world and are willing to give up intellectual freedom to get it..
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cognisonance
The same reason any other religion exists... the appeal of choosing beliefs that best fit with how you perceive reality to be (but not how it actually is).
For most JWs, I suspect it's beliefs that best fit their wishful thinking (i.e. the paradise earth teaching being chief among them).
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what sort of reactions have you gotten when talking to other jw when telling them the "truth about the truth"?
by AmIright inits funny ive read some stories on here about how they have become so infuriated by what logic dictates as being true and their own denying of it because it completely screws up their belief and shows how hypocritical it is xd some look like a nuclear reactor about to blow xd.
share you experiences here :) .
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cognisonance
I literally had one person put fingers in his/her ears and start humming!