xjwsforChrist

SOFT/GENTLE SAID

gladiator thankyou very much for that book recommendation. I am quite passionate about this subject as i have seen too many lives ruined by the WTS' awful directives against education.

GLADIATOR SAID

Glad you are interested LeAnn and soft+gentle. The woman that wrote the book likes to get poetical and paint pictures with words. I enjoy that way of writing, though at times the floweriness seems to get in the way. As the book progresses it all comes together.

I am not impressed by her punctuation and use of paragraphs. Also some sentences are much too long. Still it’s to be expected, she is American.

It's not everyone's 'cup of tea' so you need to read some reviews on the web to decide if it's for you.

Be seeing you…

GRAMMAVELTA SAID

The brain is a marvel! It can do a lot more than we even expect. I heard this lady scientist on an Internet site and I was amazed. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xnw9vO8 ... re=related

You can change the physical brain. This information is priceless.

Love and hugs,
Gramma Velta
_________________
God makes everything work together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Website: www.imdoingeverything.com/maes

AGUEST SAID


Q
Greetings, dear, dear S+G and peace to you! Absolutely NO need to apologize! I look forward to your comments, so thank you for responding and clarifying!



I'm sure I did, but not so sure it was accurate. Indeed, I think that reflective thinking is what made me so vulnerable to the WTBTS to begin with. Coupled with their claim to be/have "the truth"... and showing me the name [of God] "Jehovah" in the Bible.


Please don't get me wrong because I don't mean to be contentious, but because I was also once "newly leaving" I'm not sure there was a difference between these and me. At least, not as you seem to suggest here. Now, if such newly leaving ones were "born ins"... or had spent most of their life in... or new nothing of "faith" other than what they learned from the WTBTS... that makes sense. I went IN because I was searching for [the] truth, and they said they were/had it. Those born/raised in it have no other frame of reference.

So, it would most certainly be different for them. Although, my children would be considered born ins, because they were quite young when I went in and both of them "woke up" and came out before I did (they were teens). And both rejected it with ease once I explained what was occurring with me. They could see for themselves the "golden calf" harlot the WTBTS is... because they saw the LACK OF LOVE.


Again, what, though, if that "wider community" is, say, the WTBTS? I mean, if NO ONE else compels folks to do some "reflective thinking", the WTBTS does. Unfortunately, it is WRONG reflective thinking. Such thinking can cut both ways, then, no?
Quote:


Assumptions are tied to contexts and one needs quite a lot of imagination to speculate about these. Speculation (a dirty word amongst JWs) involves theorising about different points of view - basically one has to ask WHY, HOW and WHAT.


Yet, while they consider speculation a dirty word, is that not EXACTLY what they ask folks to do? As well as to question their assumptions? Heck, even Satan tried that ("Is it really so, that...?").



That's how it SHOULD be, but that's not necessarily how it IS... particularly when an organization like the WTBTS is involved. In such a case, one develops THEIR ethics, faith, and character... those which THEY say are "right" and "good", etc. Then the who-what-why is based on THEIR teaching (and you'd better accept it!)... which is carried over into making a commitment to THEM (under the guise of making one to anyone or anything else, including God or one's OWN ethics, faith, or character).

And this was the reason for my post: because most who leave them don't know HOW to think reflectively in a way that ALLOWS one to develop one's OWN ethics, character... and FAITH... apart from them! That's why all the head-nodding at even the absolutely most ridiculous of doctrines! I wanted ones to be able to go back... and THINK... and not as to things "new", per se, but things they really already knew!

For example, for one to claim to be a christian, one has to at least acknowledge that Christ was resurrected from the dead, right? Which means he is NOT dead, right? Which means he lives, right? Which means... he should be able to speak. But, okay, maybe one can't get past that. But they have no problem believing that "demons" speak ('cause the WTBTS certainly teaches that!). So, how, then, can the One to whom ALL authority has been given, in heaven AND on earth... NOT do something that those he had power OVER can do?

If one just ponders even slightly on that... they would see the ridiculousness of the assumption that he cannot, let alone does not. And that's what I am trying to get folks to consider: how CAN some of the things folks think/believe BE... in light of OTHER things they think/believe?


That could very well be, dear one... but, again, one can develop reflective thinking but that doesn't necessarily lead one to the right conclusion(s). I mean, how many times have YOU heard the speaker say, "See it with your mind's 'eye'!" Heck, there's even a song about it. And seeing things with one's 'mind's eye' is a form of reflective thinking.



Okay, now, to me, that's different! Even so, the problem is when one does not trust one's own insight... or one's insight has been... mmmmm... compromised, warped, even altered. For example, through cult indoctrination.

What I am suggesting is: take what you know/have heard... and compare it to what you know/have heard... and does it fit? Does it work? CAN it? If not, why not? Can someone who's been raised from the dead (assuming you believe that) not communicate with those over whom he has authority (assuming you believe that), while those who have no such authority (assuming you believe that) can? Would this not indicate that the latter actually have MORE authority? If so, how can the first (the former having authority even over the latter) be?



I've lived 50+ years, dear one, and I don't think it's the schools that fail these... but the parents. True, the purpose of a school is to teach us TO think as well as perhaps HOW to think. But a school can only do so much when one has to go home to an environment where the LAST thing they are told/led/taught/allowed to do... is think. Where thinking is the LAST thing they want to do... because thinking... is actually quite painful. Given the "things" one has to think ABOUT... at home.

I realize a lot of folks would take issue with me stating this, but in our culture home is often the LAST place were thinking is encouraged/desired. Not to mention reading... which helps cultivate thinking. Homework is as much a hated "chore" for parents as it is for students. Yet, students are expected to be able to turn it [thinking] on for school... then turn it back off to "deal" with "home." Way too much to ask of some, IMHO. Most save their thinking for when they're with their friends, most of whom don't know any more than they do.



Well, while I truly don't mean to challenge, per se, I do hope what I did share didn't disappoint. Again, I openly profess that I "see" things a lot different than most folks (took me years to accept that; no, actually took my Lord telling me it was okay because I saw what HE was showing me to make it okay!). My perspective is often consider unusual and eccentric. To me, it's just that I see things as they are... and not as we would like them to be. But I do that because I look to Christ to SHOW me (now that I know it's him) and so see the truth in and through HIS Light. Whole different view and perspective from that vantage point.

Again, peace to you, dear one!