" matthew 28:18-20
"all authority has been given me"
"out of all the languages"paragraphs 12-13
NOW get the barf bag ready: Par. 6: ? ?We do not require that people simply do as we tell them, but we give them convincing reasons to obey Christ?s command.? Oh really?
Depends on how you treat the meaning of the word "require" in this context. Do they hold guns to our heads? No. Must we comply with their rules unquestioningly in order to remain a part of their flock? Yes.
Yet another example of how the WT sugar coats their doctrines.
from what i've noticed so far, an awful lot of posts on this board deal with watchtower hypocrisy which has been manifest both in their doctrines and in their double-dealing with many issues.. a few all-time classics would include:.
1) secret association with the un.
2) 1975 / generation 1914 doctrine changes.
So what exactly does ?WTS hypocrisy? mean to you - not in terms of acts of hypocrisy, but rather in terms of the people who are guilty of it?
I know the following is an act of hypocrisy, but it's an example of how the people use hypocrisy to excuse their own actions while keeping underlings under their thumbs.
While I was studying with the JWs, I worked as a volunteer for the Salvation Army. As you all are adequately aware, JWs have zero tolerance for anything that even looks remotely like another religion, including the SA. However, I needed volunteer hours in order to become accepted in my local college's teacher education program, so I went ahead with it.
When I finally worked up the nerve to ask to join the Theocratic Ministry School, one of the questions the overseer asked is if I cut all ties with the SA. However, I have since discovered that brothers and sisters have no qualms about buying articles of clothing from the SA. When I confronted some of them with this act of hypocrisy, I usually got a bunch of meaningless rhetoric in return.
It supports what you said about how they use the ends to justify the means. It's okay to shop at the SA because established JWs can save money. However, it is not okay for me, a person new to their indoctrination, to work there, even though doing so means gaining a career down the line. This is all just another example of how they like to keep the microscope on new recruits and make sure they don't "drift."
(matthew 24:14).
[matthew 24:14]
but, does this lead to true happiness?
Outstanding work Terry. It's funny and it cuts right to the point. I'd love to see some JWs expressions after reading this WT article.
i dont have much time to watch a lot of tv b/c im so busy w/ work and school but i am obsessed with monk and i have to watch it every friday night.
i even hate making plans friday nights cuz i dont like to miss it...what a dork, i know.
i also like family guy on cartoon network...so hilarious.
Sealab 2021
i just saw an advertisement that they are cancelling the "aqua teens" on the cartoon network in a few weeks.
i hope this is just a joke to advertise the new season since there were already 5 more about to air, starting the 15th, and i think 13 new episodes total.
hopefully, this is just a parody of the whole "friends" thing....
I heard ATHF will be taken off the air until the new episodes are released. By the way, does anybody watch Sealab 2021? That's my favorite show on Adult Swim, ATHF being a close second.
one of the hardest doctrines of the witnesses that i couldn't wrap my little brain around, was the teaching that the resurrected would not marry.. i remember one assembly, a whole talk was spent on the resurrection, and emphasis was placed on the fact that they would not marry.
the couple sitting in front of me (obviously a happy couple, 'cause this distressed them) whispered how they just couldn't believe it.. here's the scripture they use to back their doctrine:.
matt 22:22-33 specifically vs 30 "for in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven...".
There is a way around that doctrine of "they will not marry".That is by realizing those words may have been written by warped people with an agenda instead of inspired by a super supreme being.
I agree, Terry. I used to believe that The Bible is the inspired word of God. However, I always had nagging questions regarding scriptures such as the one discussed in this topic.
It doesn't make any sense that God would create Eve for the sole purpose of allowing she and Adam to start a family in the perfect Garden of Eden only to disallow marriage in the perfect afterlife. Why is marriage okay in one perfect setting but not the other?
i once asked my daughter what happened to make her lose faith in the 'truth'.
what was the turning point?.
she said she heard an assembly part about witnesses kids hanging around the mall.
Outstanding. I'm glad your daughter could pick up on the WTS' use of faulty logic.
i dont know much about physical abuse in the jehovahs witnesses,but there is sure alot of verbal abuse.i was verbally abused for many years in the congregation by a high up elder,who didnt know anything about his own religion,and a ministerial servant i will call jerkwad abusive.
(almost sounds like a jedi doesn't it?
)this punk was a first class liar,jerk,and cared very little about the organization.here's how his cycle of abuse would work:he would do a mean thing,you would become offended,then he would say if you didnt work it out with him,he would go to the elders.you would then forgive him,and then next week,he would do it again.nice,huh?when i first joined the organization,they told me to never tell anybody in the world about any incidences like that,or i would bring reproach on jehovahs name.i wanted to tell somebody,especially the cops,but never did.has anybody else had any experiences like this?god bless.
I protested to the elders at my last stand,(the Rockland Massachusetts Kingdum hell) about gross sexual harrassment from some sleazy 'sisters'. One 'sister' in particular borderlined on felony sexual assult.She would literally bend over and wiggle her fat ass IN the Kingdum hell.I would discribe her as,"Tammy faye Baker look a like only uglier".
And this is a bad thing because?
Oh wait; she is ugly. Nevermind.
after reading many experiences and comments on the board, i have begun to have questions.
questions that i really didnt know i until i read them.
as a recently df'd person, i am still struggling with whether jws are really a cult or is it just that im bitter for being torn away from the only thing that i knew, where i had friends that i thought loved me.
Sinamon -
If your so called "friends" refuse to talk to you because a bunch of old men who don't know their heads from their butts declare you as a bad person, then you have every right to be bitter. And then they wonder why DFed people usually never return to the borg and why they bear such a negative connotation in the eyes of the layperson.
At any rate, I'm glad you at least have one true friend whom you keep in touch with.
it seems that jws have a knack for pulling money out of their asses.
they work low paying jobs so they can spend 70+ hours in field service, yet they seem to survive on such a salary.. i just saw the most unbelievable site today.
as i was driving through town, i noticed that the man who used to conduct my studies was looking around the used car lot, so i dropped in to say hi.
It seems that JWs have a knack for pulling money out of their asses. They work low paying jobs so they can spend 70+ hours in field service, yet they seem to survive on such a salary.
I just saw the most unbelievable site today. As I was driving through town, I noticed that the man who used to conduct my studies was looking around the used car lot, so I dropped in to say hi. Turns out he was in the process of buying a car for his 16 year old daughter. I didn't ask, but I was wondering how they could possibly afford it. I know the father got laid off from his job, and is currently unemployed. His wife recently contracted cancer, and they have had to spend money on medicine, not to mention countless trips to the doctor. I know for a fact the family is poor, so how in the hell can they afford a car? Where do the JWs get all this money that seemingly comes out of thin air?
