Frequently Avoided Quandaries

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Posted by J.H. on March 15, 1999 at 09:04:38 {MWKQmDRkic4cM}:

There's obviously not been much debate about the real subjects here lately*. It is also notable that those real debates about JW doctrines that really interests people who doubt or leave the WT religion are not debated much here. Why? Because JW apologists, even when they are at all present, avoid such topics like the plague.

I will outline some of the serious questions so often avoided here on H2O:

Blood debate. This is supposedly the main topic ofreformers, and one of the few where H2O admins seems to agree wholeheartedly with critics. Of course, there is actual messages here about blood, but they easily end up in "me too"'s, since if JW apologists dare to thread here, all they do is post the typical out-of-context quote from Acts 15:28, 29 and then run away from the rebuttals.

Disfellowshipping, or more precisely, forced/coerced shunning. Do I need to say more? JW apologists sometimes dare to claim that WT policies here are Biblical, but fail to make a coherent response when challenged. Some debate about the cruelty of the current practice, and practically no defence of WT policies. Typically, JW apologists claim that obviously cruel results are individual elders overdoing it. This is then rebutted with a ton of WT quotations. End of debate.

Creationism. The few sparse attempts by WT loyalists to defend the outragous amount of misquotations and dishonest claims in the WTS' Creation book were easily rebutted. It is little doubt many religious (not all!) exJWs/reformers are very uneasy about this subject. They seem to feel it's OK that the WT lies about this, since they tell lies for the "right" beliefs; or otherwise they think that touching this topic opens a can of worms. The theory is that once you question creationism and open for evolution, you can't help starting a chain reaction ending up as an evil godless atheist who eats babies for lunch or whatever.

Chronology. In earlier days, it was a very brave JW apologist who dared to step into this mine field. The evidence is so overwhelming that nobody can seriously maintain the WTS' 607-chronology. Alas, anyone reasing this subject will be deluged in various conspirationalist nonsense with huge GIFs. If this rubbish persuades anyone that there is any rational basis whatsoever for doubting established chronology the damage is done.

Last Days Madness. This is so dear at heart for almost all American protestant sects, but thanks to the work of COJ and others exJWs are strongly resistant to it. An unwary JW apologist (or fundie) sometimes post something about wars or earthquakes as "end-time signs" and are immediately drowned in hard statistical facts. JWs avoid this topic, and posting a thread against the last-days doctrine is the sure way of having a one-message thread.

various Biblical doctrines, typically the two-class salvation scenario so unique to JWs. It's true that the Bible can often lend itself to conflicting interpretations, but this is not such an example. The whole doctrine is so contrary to the clear message of the New Testament, and the concept violates the religious feelings of the really spiritual to such a degree that practically all doubting JWs or reformists have serious trouble with it. An obvious candidate for making JW apologists run away.

False prophecies. It's been a funny hobby to list the enormous amounts of false predictions, accompanied by WTS claims about being directly guided by God through angels or holy spirit. The WTS has a world record in false prophecies, which is somewhat odd for someone claiming to be God's unique people. The response from WT apologists? "We never said we were inspired^TM." Well, duh!

New light. Like above, listing wacky teachings in past Watchtowers has some amusement value, but the only response from JW apologists is that "apostates" are so dumb when they post old irrelevant quotations, besides the light should be brighter and all that. Ok, JWs: if it's Jehovah who guides the WTS with his holy spirit now, who guided Russell and Rutherford to all those wacky old teachings that JWs currently are embarrassed about?

Your Candidate Here

* Footnote: Hey, moddies: think about this fact: moderator debates are actually off-topic, but when you remove an off-topic message, your probably spawn an off-topic thread debating it. My advice: If in doubt, let harmless off-topic messages stay. When new readers find half of the messages here missing because of moderator censorship, they are likely to grow tired of H2O and leave quickly. (Hmm, perhaps that's the objective?)

Follow Ups:

*Frequently Avoided Quandaries Marilyn 19:28:42 3/15/99 (0)

*Frequently Avoided Quandaries ToddFoxx 17:36:51 3/15/99 (6)

**Frequently Avoided Quandaries Jaypeeto 19:04:46 3/18/99 (0)

**Frequently Avoided Quandaries Cygnus 20:29:20 3/15/99 (0)

**Frequently Avoided Quandaries Really I was!~!! 19:09:19 3/15/99 (0)

**Frequently Avoided Quandaries J.H. 18:59:50 3/15/99 (1)

***Frequently Avoided Quandaries Cygnus 20:27:58 3/15/99 (0)

**Frequently Avoided Quandaries Al; 18:58:39 3/15/99 (0)

*Frequently Avoided Quandaries FarkelLicious 14:42:26 3/15/99 (0)

*Frequently Avoided Quandaries a.j.w. 13:55:35 3/15/99 (0)

*Frequently Avoided Quandaries Skeptic 12:32:31 3/15/99 (0)