by Tina 20 Replies latest jw friends
Hi all,
Did anyone who received this Wt ,notice that loyalty was only extended to the ORG, marriage mates and family 'WHO ARE BELIEVERS' The rest of you moms and dads sisters and brothers,etc. You're out in the cold.
The article is titled,'What does it mean to be Loyal?'...
Is this damage control? So believers won't listen to anyome who isn't approved by the WTS? Is this a 'circling of the wagons' ? Just some thoughts. tina
Tina:
Could you please quote the paragraph where it says that? I would appreciate it, thanks!
Oh, and are you still reading that shit?
Expatbrit
Hi expat,
Forgive me,I just saw this.
I'm looking for the mag now(hope it didnt get thrown away)
Maybe somebody else has this article. I remember it was very explicit about 'believing' friends and family deserving ones loyalty-no mention of other family members or friends. Still lookin for ya,Tina
Here are some points I got from the article:
"It [loyalty] is intervention on behalf of someone suffering misfortune or distress. It is demonstration of friendship...It includes the idea of loving attachment along with the taking of positive action so as to benefit others" - Pg. 20
I find this definiton of loyalty fascinating since it has made me reflect on so many people who are depressed in the congregation, and have nobody to talk to, and who have verbally made it known to the elders in the congregation that they were seriously thinking about committing suicide, that their kid was being molested by a brother, or they were watching re-runs of friends...and yet, the elders didn't lift their finger in order to help. It's happened to me. Yet, when I told the elders in my congregation that I was gay their interest in me peaked at no other time as my career as a JW. Yep, I love my sexual preference and feel no need to label myself--unless, of course, you count my "Home of the Whopper" underpants. (You think I'm joking. I'm not.) However! I don't call what the elders are doing helping someone when they're in distress. I've always found that friendships in the congregation were kinda screwy.... but, move on, it gets better.
"Jehovah also demonstrated loyalty toward mankind in general in that he provides the basic necessities of life for all men, righteous and unrighteous" - Pg. 21
(Italics theirs)
Since I've left the congregation, I still believe that God is the creator of all things, even the basic necessities of mankind, so I thought this was a valid point.
"If loving kindness is demonstrated toward you, then the same can be expected in return. Loyalty is repaid in kind" - Pg. 22
How can one express loyalty to an organization when the organization refuses to express such loyalty to the individual. Isn't that why there are several cases going to the courts involving elders shielding child molesters from the full extent of the law, in order to protect the organization over the individual? I'm serious, if you found out that your kid was being screwed by some guy in the congregation, you would want YOUR kid to karate-chop that creep right in the neck, crush his spine, and fly the sociopath to the nearest police station, hang him from a street lamp wrapped in webbing, and leave a note stapled to his goddam forehead that reads, "Crime doesn't fawking pay!" Besides, how can I remain loyal to a group of people whom I have never, nor do I plan to ever meet?
"For instance, if Jehovah's name is reproached, does your concern for its reputation motivate you to speak up in his defense? That is what happened to one relatively new Christian and his wife when they attened the funeral of a relative who had been killed in a motorcycle accident. It was a non religious service, and those in attendance were allowed to say something about the deceased. One speaker proceeded to blame God for this young man's untimely death by saying, 'God wanted him in heaven, so he took him.' Our Chrisitan brother found it impossible to to remain silent. He stepped up to the podium, even though he had neither Bible nor notes. 'Do you hink a merciful, compassionate, almighty God approves of situations like this?' he asked. He then proceeded with a ten-minute impromptu discourse with Scripture quotations explaining why we die, what God has done to rescue mankind from death, and the marvelous prospect of a resurrection to everlasting life on a parqadise earth. The more than 100 people broke out into extended applause" - Pg. 20
I think when a person is moved to do so, he or she should voice their beliefs about issues like life, death, God, etc... Even at a funeral becuase we want to grasp onto something that channels our hope to the future, and nobody wants to die. My time as a JW has given me the opportunity to attend several memorial services. Boring! Every single one of them was a discourse. I doubt every single elder who has given a talk at all the services I attened truly knew the people they spoke of in their talks. Every presentation was a talk that could have applied to anyone else that could have died: Lee Marvin, Ty Cobb, and Liberace included. When we ignore a person's humanity we truly have to wonder what led us to that point. So..let's say that a person will be resurrected...well, that's fine...but, something made that person live, and walk, and breathe....and now they're gone... and there's nothing you can do about it... and they deserve to have a proper funeral like everybody else, with a person who truly knew him or her, giving the funeral talk. No wonder so many Jehovahs's Witnesses have zilch emotion. They've grown up in an environment where they're told to put their emotions under the rug, so to speak. When my grandmother died two years ago the first person to call me up was the circuit overseer in my congregation, and he immediately to me to get over it and that "these things happen". It's almost like we're told not to mourn. It's sad.
"Loyalty to God also includes loyalty to the organization... unquestionably, Jehovah has stuck with his modern day organization. Can we not do likewise?" - Pg. 22
Let me ask a question, "Who is 'Jehovah's Organization' loyal to?" How is it loyal to God? By acting in ignorance of his teachings? By removing many people each year from the congregation for petty offenses? The Governing Body are just like the Pharisees of the 1st Century. They feel like they have a monopoly on Bible truth, and they've accumulated so much power they don't know how to handle it properly.
"In addition to being loyal to the organization, will we be loyal to one another?" - Pg. 23
This far into the study article and they've finally mentioned the importance of being loyal to one another.
"Remain loyal to believing friends and family. As the years pass, do not forgot them" - Pg. 23
...but as for your unbelieving friends and family, they don't matter? All I can say is I'm glad I've left. I have two good friends, and that makes all the difference...
BTW, thank you for letting me rant and rave, I have never posted this long before. I just had to get a lot of things off my chest before I went to bed tonight. Thank you for listening...and remember, push out the jive, bring in the love!
Hi Preston,
Thanks so much for posting the points from that article! I couldn't find it.
Especially pg.23. That was the one line that bothered me,loyal to BELIEVING family and friends. Yep the family that aren't believers,guess there not worth the time of day<snort>. I don't remember when I've seen that stated so clearly before.
S'ok Pres,rant and rave,get anything off your chest.I don't mind and many times it helps! hugs,Tina
"It [loyalty] is intervention on behalf of someone suffering misfortune or distress. It is demonstration of friendship...It includes the idea of loving attachment along with the taking of positive action so as to benefit others" - Pg. 20 "
From this quote, we can see the Org defining loyalty as sticking by, AND DEFENDING the Org when they are attacked in the media and in the courts.
They are getting the R&F ready for Dateline, etc, I am sure of it.
It sounds like this is the entire purpose of the article. Food at the proper time indeed.
They had a similar article a few years ago, but I don't think that this was their definition of loyalty back then.
Interesting how this article seems to be talking a lot about love. Connecting loyalty with love. So if someone you love molests someone you should defend(be loyal to)them, because that is love. Forget about loving the victims. They arn't your family, you don't know them. What have they ever done for you to get your loyalty? ("If loving kindness is demonstrated toward you, then the same can be expected in return. Loyalty is repaid in kind" - Pg. 22)
I can't wait to read the whole article. Hum, where am I gonna get it?
--LisaBobeesa
Tina, I noticed the word "believing" in that article also. I must admit, I found it a bit odd. My guess is that loyalty to an unbelieving family member could result, in certain situations anyway, in a compromise of Bible principles, at least from the JW point of view.
Not to piss in anyone's Corn Flakes, but which issue was that in? A Watchtower or an Awake? My WT from that date doesn't have it. Just some propaganda about France.
Jer.
I was struck by this comment:
"Jehovah also demonstrated loyalty toward mankind in general in that he provides the
basic necessities of life for all men, righteous and unrighteous" - Pg. 21
(Italics theirs)
Have any of them visited a Third World country? An estimated 40,000 children die each day worldwide due to malnutrition and diseases related to it. And how many children are abandoned by impoverished parents in countries like Brazil, India, etc. Children who are exploited and who struggle to live without the protection, care and love of adults?
This "loyalty" thing is not new. It's just another brick in the wall separating JWs from the outside world (including family members) while at the same time insuring that they rely on the GB for all their thinking.
Pete
pmf
Pete,
I think the comment in the WT was accurate, in that God does provide the earth and its bounty for man's use. Much of the problem with poverty in third world countries in attributable to man's own short-sightedness and inadequacy in dealing with such things.
