When I was a witness the 'no fear' brand didnt exist but they did take exception to my 'frankie says relax' t-shirt.
DB74 (of the 'showing his age' class)
"No fear" t shirts, forbidden???
by free2beme 36 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
cyberdyne systems 101
Any other Brits here remember the trend to wear the 'Relax' t-shirts? It was because of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's song. Sisters were reported to have worn them at conventions. I guess that would have been a late 80's trend?
CS 101
-
doinmypart
Here is a scan of the recent KM regarding dress during & after the conventions.
-
blondie
under_believer, on another thread we had discussed quite extensively and recognized that the WTS was taking it one step farther and "insisting" that the rank and file not change into casual clothing after the convention to go out to eat, shopping, etc. But I thought I had missed something since I had not seen the KM article. Who knows maybe the next step is to insist that people wear their "meeting" clothes and BADGES traveling the first day to and from the convention site and on the last day going home...but not yet.
Blondie
-
undercover
5 Modest Dress and Grooming: Each of us can contribute to the overall impression given at the convention by avoiding styles of dress and grooming that are faddish, extreme, immodest, or overly casual. This applies when traveling to and from the convention city, while helping to prepare the convention site, and while attending the sessions. As servants of God, our first concern is for Jehovah's name and reputation, not our personal preferences or comfort. Family heads have the responsibility to make sure that their family's appearance reflects modesty and soundness of mind at all times.--1 Tim. 2:9.
6 It is no less important to maintain a dignified appearance during leisure time at hotels, stores, and restaurants. It is appropriate to wear our convention attire if we eat out after the sessions. Wearing our convention badge card creates opportunities for us to witness informally.--2 Cor. 6:3, 4.This is exactly the type of article that kept so many of us tied to "mothers" apron strings all the time we were under her power.
There's no hard and fast rule written in this article that says you must wear your meeting clothes while away from the convention, but it's written so that anyone who would think of changing to "worldly" styles should feel guilty about it.
Many dubs will take this suggestion as actual direction. To not follow this suggestion would be disobeying. And when the over zealous, self righteous ones see others not following the direction, they make trouble.
My mother was one to follow these little snippets of direction to the letter...and in doing so forced us kids to do so as well. By the time I was old enough to rebel against the system, I was too indoctrinated into just following along without ever questioning...outloud anyway.
It was these little articles that I hated more than the out and out "don't do that" articles. These were vague enough to give you wiggle room to not have to follow it, but yet the guilt was there if you didn't follow it.
-
under_believer
undercover, I couldn't agree more.
I happen to live in the general vicinity of a Witness-owned assembly hall that they use for circuit assemblies. Congregations in the local area are periodically invited to clean the assembly hall grounds. Of interest are the instructions for people who plan to volunteer there. I don't have the exact quote handy, because it was in a letter read to the congregation (though it may be posted on the information board.) The gist of the requirements were: No short sleeves, no shorts, only full length pants, no clothes too tight or too loose, nothing revealing. You know how in those "artist's depictions" of Paradise? Where they have a guy in Dockers, a belt, Hush Puppies, a button-up shirt with long sleeves and collars, and a sweater vest, pushing a wheelbarrow full of vegetables and fruit, or hoeing his garden? That's how they want people to show up for yard work at the assembly hall. -
undercover
No short sleeves? For outside maintenance work? I can understand long pants if you're working lawn equipment, for protection, but no short sleevs, gimme a break.
The sad part is that many over zealous types see the restrictions for how the dubs are expected to dress for KH or AH work and it's expected that that is how they should dress even at home doing the same type work.
Before I ever really started my fade I remember a brother giving a talk on grooming and dress and he used the example of a sister spring cleaning her house and if she was wearing pants and one of her husband's shirts and her hair was unwashed, how embarrased she would be if a group of other dubs in service stopped by to introduce the CO to her. Even then as a still believing dub, I was confused as to how or why she should be embarrassed for being dressed appropriately for the hard work she's doing. I wondered then that if people were going to judge us for not always looking like we should be in service or at an assembly then maybe we weren't acting too christian after all.
I wasn't allowed to work at a quick build one time because I was wearing an old army jacket. Not camo, just the olive green style, like you see on the TV show M*A*S*H. I originally bought it for dirty construction work. It was warm, waterproof and cheap. If it got messed up, no big loss, but since it was "military" I couldn't wear it on the KH grounds.