Posts by AndDontCallMeShirley

30

The Watchtower Writers Blame the Rank-and-File For Failed Prophecy, Why so Evil the Writers/

who is to blame jehovahs witnesses and the bible students believing the end was coming in 1914?

ive been reading lots of older magazines and they are so different from todays watchtower!

the current writers from the organization blame everyone except themselves for failed expectations, failed prophecy, "financial ruin and dependance on the goverment "old age social security and medicaid" on their rank-and-file members.

AndDontCallMeShirley

Holy f**k is right.

I'm glad that WT will never have the honor to man-up the way the WWCG did... because I'd immediately keel over dead from a heart attack.

24

Emblem Takers Mentally Unstable?

by Cold Steel in

onthewayout wrote: of course, for quite awhile (and probably still), congregations have been viewing any relatively young (maybe under 50 or even 60) partakers as mentally unstable and watchtower ignores such people anyway and says they must listen to the elders.

is this correct?

ever since the emblem-takers were given emeritus status as members of the faithful and discreet slave, have they been relegated to standard membership?

AndDontCallMeShirley

@ Cold Steel:

here's what OTWO was referring to:

.

w11 8/15 p. 22 Questions From Readers

"Memorial partakers. This is the number of baptized individuals who partake of the emblems at the Memorial worldwide. Does this total represent the number of anointed ones on earth? Not necessarily. A number of factors—including past religious beliefs or even mental or emotional imbalance—might cause some to assume mistakenly that they have the heavenly calling. We thus have no way of knowing the exact number of anointed ones on earth; nor do we need to know. The Governing Body does not keep a list of all partakers, for it does not maintain a global network of anointed ones."

.

This statement is astounding for many reasons, not just for the judgmental nature of WT marginalizing people in their own religion.

The WT has always said (up until 2013) that all of the anointed were the 'faithful slave', therefore all were a part of Jesus' special group of truth dispensers. The Governing Body also claims to represent ALL of the faithful slave class.

Which begs the question: how can the GB represent the faithful slave (old light view) when it neither knows nor cares who they are or how many there are in the group?

Their claim exposes their hypocritical lies... again.

29

Could the allowance of blood fractions be curtailing the growth of the religion?

by Apognophos in

so, imagine that you're just a regular joe who's not familiar with the witnesses and is looking for the answers to life, the universe, and everything.

you hear a knock at your door.

before long, you are studying with a jehovah's witness.

AndDontCallMeShirley

I asked the question from an elder/cicuit overseer substitute: Where in the Bible can you find support to accept fractions? He said, "I will get back to you". Two and a half years later and I am still waiting.

Well, 2.5 years is only a fraction of a decade or a century, so the CO is still within a workable timeframe.

(P.S. Don't hold your breath on an answer)

He looked at me with a blank stare and replied, "We have the faithful slave to help us understand that issue".

So if the FS has made it allegedly crystal-clear, why doesn't the CO understand it enough to just answer the question???

Dumbass.

15

Freedom of Relgion has been taken away.

by Jeannette in

when a person is disfellowshiped by a religion just because he or she doesn't believe it all is very serious.

some disfellowshiped ones have even taken their own lives because they have been made to feel so bad.

it's down in black and white that parents and friends are supposed to shun them, shunning is acting like someone is dead.

AndDontCallMeShirley

Unfortunately, religion is treated by many/most governments with kid gloves... and actions that are considered immoral and unacceptable by non-religious organizations and legal culpability via class-action lawsuits are seen as a reasonable outcome, suddenly aren't so bad, or at least are not prosecutable, in a religious context.

I hope the day comes when religions are forced to play on a level field just like everyone else.

54

How do you overcome this JW excuse?

by EdenOne in

during one of those meetings that took place before my jc, one of the elders, who was a good friend of mine back then and used to come up with a few outlandish personal views about some teachings, attempted to counter one of my arguments like this:.

eden - "well, if the truth doesn't change, why is it that what we teach as 'truth' has changed over the years (several examples given)?

how can we dogmatically claim at any given moment that we have 'the truth' if our teachings keep changing?".

AndDontCallMeShirley

Old view: the earth is flat

New view: The earth is a sphere

Both are true.

Amazingly, it wasn't that many years ago the WT blasted the Catholic Church for changing it's 'don't eat meat on Fridays' rule. How can anyone have confidence in their religion when it changes major teachings about what is/or isn't truth, WT asked?

Somehow that reasoning only works when casting stones at someone else's glass house.

54

How do you overcome this JW excuse?

by EdenOne in

during one of those meetings that took place before my jc, one of the elders, who was a good friend of mine back then and used to come up with a few outlandish personal views about some teachings, attempted to counter one of my arguments like this:.

eden - "well, if the truth doesn't change, why is it that what we teach as 'truth' has changed over the years (several examples given)?

how can we dogmatically claim at any given moment that we have 'the truth' if our teachings keep changing?".

AndDontCallMeShirley

Laughably, JWs blow a gasket when they talk about non-JW parents who convince their children Santa Claus is real. How can they lie to their children like that? How can they keep a straight face year after year knowing their children believe an obvious lie (JW speak: error)?

Using this elder's "logic", can't it be argued the parents didn't really lie to their children? After all, only in "retrospect" did they lie, because at the time the parents perpetuted the lie, the children truly believed Santa Claus was real.

Tell me, what's the difference between the above scenario and, "If Jehovah allows for a teaching or procedure to persist, it's because He wants it that way, therefore it can Never be wrong at any time in present time"?

54

How do you overcome this JW excuse?

by EdenOne in

during one of those meetings that took place before my jc, one of the elders, who was a good friend of mine back then and used to come up with a few outlandish personal views about some teachings, attempted to counter one of my arguments like this:.

eden - "well, if the truth doesn't change, why is it that what we teach as 'truth' has changed over the years (several examples given)?

how can we dogmatically claim at any given moment that we have 'the truth' if our teachings keep changing?".

AndDontCallMeShirley

So Jehovah™, the 'god of truth' who "cannot lie", is very comfortable with allowing lies/misinformation to persist, knowing his people are believing error? Then he's not a god of truth.

And, by WT dogma, if a JW does not buy into the obvious lie/error, Jehovah has no use for him.

Essentially, this elder is okay with following error. How do you even begin to reason with a person who likes being deceived?

28

Governing Body courageously 'Admit their mistakes'

by LogCon in

march 2015 study article learn from the illustration of the talents.

brothers and sisters worldwide will be overjoyed to know that the governing body finally has the.

courage to admit their mistakes .

AndDontCallMeShirley

Here's a real apology. Compare this to WT's version of apologizing and admitting mistakes:

.

The successor to Herbert Armstrong (The Worldwide Church of God), Joseph Tkach, Jr., made sweeping changes, perhaps more so than any other leader of a large-scale church movement in history. In part he said:

"Our flawed doctrinal understanding clouded the plain gospel of Jesus Christ and led to a variety of wrong conclusions and unscriptural practices. We have much to repent of and apologize for. We were judgmental and self-righteous—condemning other Christians, calling them "so-called Christians" and labeling them "deceived" and "instruments of Satan."

We imposed on our members a works-oriented approach to Christian living. We required adherence to burdensome regulations of the Old Testament code. We exercised a strongly legalistic approach to church government. Our former old covenant approach fostered attitudes of exclusivism and superiority rather than the new covenant teaching of brotherhood and unity. We overemphasized predictive prophecy and prophetic speculation, minimizing the true gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We’ve been wrong."

30

The Watchtower Writers Blame the Rank-and-File For Failed Prophecy, Why so Evil the Writers/

by SanLuisObispoTruthSeeker in

who is to blame jehovahs witnesses and the bible students believing the end was coming in 1914?

ive been reading lots of older magazines and they are so different from todays watchtower!

the current writers from the organization blame everyone except themselves for failed expectations, failed prophecy, "financial ruin and dependance on the goverment "old age social security and medicaid" on their rank-and-file members.

AndDontCallMeShirley

DD: Didn't the WWCG leader write a massive and heartfelt apology?

Here you go:

The successor to Herbert Armstrong (The Worldwide Church of God) Joseph Tkach, Jr., made sweeping changes, perhaps more so than any other leader of a large-scale church movement in history. In part he said [6]:

"Our flawed doctrinal understanding clouded the plain gospel of Jesus Christ and led to a variety of wrong conclusions and unscriptural practices. We have much to repent of and apologize for. We were judgmental and self-righteous—condemning other Christians, calling them "so-called Christians" and labeling them "deceived" and "instruments of Satan."

We imposed on our members a works-oriented approach to Christian living. We required adherence to burdensome regulations of the Old Testament code. We exercised a strongly legalistic approach to church government. Our former old covenant approach fostered attitudes of exclusivism and superiority rather than the new covenant teaching of brotherhood and unity. We overemphasized predictive prophecy and prophetic speculation, minimizing the true gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We’ve been wrong."

25

Stupid comment Witness made about the Exodus film.

by Trapped in JW land in

i was talking with two brothers at the kingdom hall the other day.

one of them suggested seeing the new exodus movie.

the other brother says, "i heard it's really violent"!

AndDontCallMeShirley

JW: Atilla The Hun decimating an entire city or region, killing children and old people, enslaving the survivors, all to expand his territory: evil, wicked, Satanic.

JW: The Israelites decimating an entire city or region, killing children and old people, enslaving the survivors, all to expand their territory : 'it is righteous warfare... Jehovah™ approved. I am okay with it'.