Furuli's new e-book: "My Beloved Religion - And The Governing Body"

[Space Merchant]

@Anna One thing is for sure, Apostasy can be damaging, especially if there is a sprinkle of Unchristian Philosophies that are involved, which is indeed a faith killer for the one who is unaware and or ill-equipped to fight and or see it. Something of that nature would render who stripped of faith, and believing that God does not exist without even touching Atheistism.

[Anna]

9 hours ago, JW Insider said:

To me, this is part of the great progress we have made in applying the lessons from Jesus' teachings to everyone. And then, at the last paragraph, a very knowledgeable older brother, makes a long comment that showed how an older WT said that bearing much fruit can apply to the effort in the ministry, not the success rate of making disciples. That was OK, I guess, but then he added that another older WT from 2002 says 'but of course the branches represent only the 144,000.'

It made me wonder whether some of that enthusiasm the whole congregation seemed to share in those previous answers might have been dampened just a bit by this idea that it doesn't really apply to most of us after all.

I don't think they put two and two together....

I wonder why he had the need to add that "correction"

9 hours ago, JW Insider said:

During that part, the idea was repeated a couple of times that the GB ["slave"] had given instructions to be obeyed even though they didn't make sense from a human perspective at the time. 

Yes, I noticed that too and wondered what this had to do with the covid situation. Following those instructions makes perfect sense from a human perspective! Unless by human perspective the GB mean anyone who is naive and of lesser intelligence, or someone who lives in a cave.. However, those who follow the developments in the world and read the guidelines as proposed by human agencies (as you mentioned) will know this pandemic is by no means over, and may last a very long time. We don't need the GB telling us what we already know. However, we do appreciate their reminders and concern. But to cloak this in a way that insinuates they have more knowledge, when all they do is follow the same developments that are accessible for anyone else to read and study, is....well, funny. As an after thought, they do mention following the guidelines of these human agencies. So this is just such a bad example of "might not make sense from a human stand point" because they kind of contradict themselves half way through. When this phrase was used in connection with instructions for the GT, where we might be told by the GB to do something that "doesn't make sense from a human stand point", is it something like this they had in mind? Lol. 

9 hours ago, JW Insider said:

In a kind of "worst case" scenario, I wondered if a brother in Chile might have read a directive from the WTS that said they needed to put up the national flag of Chile on the KH property because of Romans 13, and then thanked the GB for the "spiritual food."

Food for thought more than anything 🤪

[Space Merchant]

@Thinking True. Mankind is imperfect after all. Perfection sheds no mistake whatsoever, but it's counterpart, imperfection, will commit to a mistake here and there, despite improving doing better in some instances, there is no way it can be immune to making no mistake.

That being said, I am sure everyone here has made some mistake in their lives, be it minor, or major... Perhaps even embarrassing.

[Anna]

14 minutes ago, Space Merchant said:

which is indeed a faith killer for the one who is unaware and or ill-equipped to fight and or see it.

You have a point there

[Space Merchant]

16 minutes ago, Anna said:

You have a point there

Yep, seen it a few times, for it took a single piece of philosophy to shatter one's faith. This is why some people who have faith fear educational institutions, which is sometimes known to spread such information. There is no question such a thing can be used as a dart or an arrow by someone who is deemed an Apostate, all they have to do is aim using this dart/arrow at whatever faith they want to target and or idea they do not like  and look for the novices within that community to spread this information.

[JW Insider]

47 minutes ago, Anna said:

Unless by human perspective the GB mean anyone who is naive and of lesser intelligence, or someone who lives in a cave. . . . they kind of contradict themselves half way through.

This will sound a bit cynical, but I assumed that the GB have been on a constant lookout for a really good practical example to make that old quote from the 11.15.2013 Watchtower seem less "scary" to outsiders. They latched onto this one and hoped it would make sense to enough people, and then they searched high and low for a Witness or two who had been "living in a cave."

And I hope that their cave does not get the Internet, because I'd hate to have just insulted someone who is also on this forum. (See how easy it is to contradict oneself?)

[Anna]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

This will sound a bit cynical, but I assumed that the GB have been on a constant lookout for a really good practical example to make that old quote from the 11.15.2013 Watchtower seem less "scary" to outsiders. They latched onto this one and hoped it would make sense to enough people, and then they searched high and low for a Witness or two who had been "living in a cave."

And I hope that their cave does not get the Internet, because I'd hate to have just insulted someone who is also on this forum. (See how easy it is to contradict oneself?)

I am not quite sure what you mean. You might need to explain it from another angle. Sorry, it's my fault. Usually I am on the same wavelength as you. 

[Thinking]

6 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I have no doubt of that. Do you know that I am blocked on Twitter by the Liebster Arnold foundation—the ones who published the recent book of the Tutsi brother who survived the Rwandan genocide? I went there upon reading that book and found that I had been blocked! I then followed them via another account (with the same banner that I use here as well)—it is not only here I have multiple personas—and I was instantly blocked again! (I did not follow them with my third account)

I said the same thing that you just said—‘in the Kingdom Hall we would work it out in two minutes.’ The internet is not the congregation and cannot be made to behave like one. They probably came across me when I was exchanging barbs with a few villains, and do not know that I subsequently carted them all out to the curb. In this case, bad association truly did spoil a useful habit.

https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/08/blocking-trolls-the-star-trek-way-i-didnt-want-to-do-it.html

 

6 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Where does that come from then that he was? I know I have read it.

Can I ask what the book was called..I would be interested in it ...

[Thinking]

3 hours ago, Anna said:

Continued....

So going back to the brother who asked the question; "how we would feel if suddenly Jehovah stopped existing". I wonder how we would feel if suddenly if the GB stopped existing? Would we fall apart?

Yes, well said. 

Yes. And funny you mentioned too many chiefs and not enough Indians, I was going to mention that very phrase, lol. Actually, I was going to say you can't have more chiefs than Indians. Same thing.

Going back to the fear of apostates, it makes me wonder why they (the GB) are so afraid, to the point of putting the fear of God in you if you so much as glance at something apostate related. That has always bothered me a bit. Are they afraid that their influence be undermined? That people will lose trust in them? If that is so, where then does the trust in Jehovah figure? Are we not supposed to trust Jehovah more than any man? Does it not reveal that our trust may lie more in the GB than Jehovah? Recently, in one of the study articles it was mentioned that idolizing someone (the reference was to the GB) could become a stumbling block if that someone falls away. Is it then not better to see the "contrasting view" because that might help us be more realistically grounded. And as JWI alluded (I think it was JWI) why try and "hide" something unless we are ashamed of it (meaning the GB) and why not be candid and transparent? Why have all this "secret" stuff for the apostates to dig up and wave around? Stuff that the GB does not want us to read? Do they think our faith in Jehovah is so fragile?

When you believe in God, then this inevitably leads to questions about his purpose for us and the meaning of life. This in turn leads to an analysis of writings which claim to explain that. This leads to admitting that the Bible has the most intelligent explanation, and that Jehovah's Witnesses are the only ones who adhere to all of it despite some personal sacrifice on their part.
When you do not accept there is a God, like Amber, all that is no longer relevant.
Of course those who no longer believe there is a God fall back on so called "scientific proof" . And yes. There are things that don't quite add up about the timeline of the flood, the fossil record, and the age of man, etc. but despite that, even JTR, who believes in evolution (with a helping hand from Jehovah) is still with us.

For any intelligent person there is more proof of the existence of God than there isn't. Those who deny the existence of God do it more for personal reasons than because of science. When it comes down to the crunch, in the end, things are always personal, even if people try to imply some other noble cause or scientific enlightenment, or apostate reasoning. So what are the GB so afraid of?

 

Great common sense post...

[JW Insider]

2 hours ago, Anna said:

I am not quite sure what you mean. You might need to explain it from another angle.

*** w13 11/15 p. 20 par. 17 Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes—What They Mean for Us Today ***
At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. (4) Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking.

*** ws13 11/15 p. 20 par. 17 Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes—What They Mean for Us Today ***
At that time, the direction that you receive from Jehovah’s organization may seem strange or unusual. But all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether we agree with them or not

This statement has been mocked by those who think it sounds cult-like. Like, 'drink this spiked kool-aid even if you don't agree.'

To avoid additional embarrassment from detractors, the GB have likely been looking for a some practical example that makes sense even to the detractors. So they would have been hoping for something to come up that could be used to explain this statement in a more natural, easy-to-understand context, that didn't sound scary from a "cultish" perspective.

So, it was serendipitous that someone had said that preparing for Covid in their country made no sense to them until it spiked just a few weeks later. Then they understood that the GB direction saved lives.

[Anna]

51 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

*** w13 11/15 p. 20 par. 17 Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes—What They Mean for Us Today ***
At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. (4) Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking.

*** ws13 11/15 p. 20 par. 17 Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes—What They Mean for Us Today ***
At that time, the direction that you receive from Jehovah’s organization may seem strange or unusual. But all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether we agree with them or not

This statement has been mocked by those who think it sounds cult-like. Like, 'drink this spiked kool-aid even if you don't agree.'

To avoid additional embarrassment from detractors, the GB have likely been looking for a some practical example that makes sense even to the detractors. So they would have been hoping for something to come up that could be used to explain this statement in a more natural, easy-to-understand context, that didn't sound scary from a "cultish" perspective.

So, it was serendipitous that someone had said that preparing for Covid in their country made no sense to them until it spiked just a few weeks later. Then they understood that the GB direction saved lives.

I understood that bit, lol. It's this bit I wasn't sure about and how it related to the first part: 

5 hours ago, JW Insider said:

and then they searched high and low for a Witness or two who had been "living in a cave."

And I hope that their cave does not get the Internet, because I'd hate to have just insulted someone who is also on this forum. (See how easy it is to contradict oneself?)

 

[TrueTomHarley]

9 hours ago, Thinking said:

 

Can I ask what the book was called..I would be interested in it ...

No Greater Love - How My Family Survives the Genocide in Rwanda