Joining this discussion board was a first for me a few years ago. One of the things I've come to appreciate is that we all come from different backgrounds, families and ways of thinking. There is not always just one right answer to a question. There are variables and situations that affect us differently. For example, when I was a young boy in the city congregation that we were in, there were a number of black brothers and sisters. As a child and even when I was an elder, I never encountered prejudice in the congregation. We freely associated with one another and got along with no class distinctions. BUT when the Spanish congregation was formed, I did see a noticeable change from the "friends". The blacks and whites looked down upon them for various reasons......Now, coming on to this board, I've read a lot of posters saying that their Halls were very discriminatory! Certain groups were truly looked down on. Many posters have expressed their personal anguish over treatment by the elders and other cliques......What these discussion boards accomplish is the ability to get perspectives from literally----around the world. Just because a body of elders is "supposed" to handle a matter a certain way, it doesn't mean that it's the norm in a certain area or congregation. Due to the various posters we have and their individual experiences, we are able to see the Organization's "love" and how it REALLY works. Keep 'em coming!!!
What We See From Our Vantage Point
by minimus 14 Replies latest jw friends
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Jourles
In all of the congo's I've been in(a lot), I never once noticed discrimination based on skin color or ethnicity. But, money was the dividing factor in almost all of them.
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minimus
Interesting. Money can do that, can't it?
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Farkel
:There is not always just one right answer to a question. There are variables and situations that affect us differently.
Spot on, minimus!
"Religion sees as its purpose, to remove all moral ambiguity from our lives", - Unknown
That quote shows succinctly and accurately why religion is a scourge on mankind. There is and will always be moral ambiguity in our lives and we have to deal with it case-by-case.
Farkel
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wanderlustguy
In the south I noticed a discriminitory attitude towards some, but it was done in a way that the people being discrimitated against wouldn't notice unless they looked really hard.
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AlmostAtheist
There is not always just one right answer to a question.
Tough bit of wisdom to get your head around, but life sure smooths out once you do.
I never saw racial/ethnic discrimination, but I saw "beautiful" discrimination. (I can't think of any other way to put it) There were truly physically ugly people in the congregation and they were quite obviously ignored. Not invited to parties, not "picked first" for field service groups, even joked about behind their backs.
Some of these "left the truth" over this. Who's laughing now?
Dave of the "no, not ugly -- maybe proto-ugly" class
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Legolas
I my old cong there was a black lady and her husband that moved in around the same time we started to attend meetings, anyhoo, she and I became great friends, the year that I pioneered it was mostly her and I that went out together, anyway like I said we became good friends and she told me more than once that she felt certain people did not like her because she was black, because of what they had said to her and how she was treated by certain people!
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littlerockguy
"it was done in a way that the people being discrimitated against wouldn't notice unless they looked really hard."
Isn't that the way they do everything?
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wanderlustguy
good point
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Billygoat
I rarely saw racial discrimination within the walls of a KH. I saw plenty of it at school or in other public places. Being half Asian, in Missouri I was a "Chink" or "Jap". But also being half Caucasian, in Hawaii, I was "haole" (or white, which is never in a positive manner). But I don't remember encountering that type of thing in the KH. I did see a lot more discrimination when you didn't have money or when you came from a "certain family name". My family name was never part of the popular crowd. My dad wasn't the friendliest - he was rather moody and some people never knew how to take him. He was very tough on us kids (on the outside - at home it was abusive) and many times I was discriminated against because of the reputation my father had.