by ThomasCovenant 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Hello
Has this ever been changed/repealed?
Watchtower August 1st 1953 page 458
'Hence starting with the congregational study of this issue of the magazine, the conductor may call on persons whether they volunteer or not'
I never saw this happen at my meeting
Thanks
Thomas Covenant
So if you don't know the answer do you have to sit in a corner or wear a dunce cap? Or just wonderful priveleges taken away like scrubbing the holy toilets?
I have seen individual conductors invoke this when no one raised their hands...but it is not an official policy. The unofficial rule is that at book studies that the conductor's assistant should raise his hand, then also his family should, so it should not be necessary to "embarrass" someone. I know one conductor who did that and promptly had half the attendees not show up the next meeting.
Blondie
I've had it happen to me. Not in the Watchtower study, although I've seen it happen during the Watchtower study. Usually the brother conducting would call on a family member or a friend that they knew would answer. If you didn't know the answer you just answered, "don't know". Usually to laughter. I don't imagine knowing the answer would be a problem these days, originality in questions or answers is discouraged.
Cellist
Oh this reminds me of my elder ex husband who meanly used to call on me during the bookstudy if he saw me starting to doze! (GRrrrrrrrrr!!!!!)
I've seen this happen probably only one or two times. I remember it happening though, because it scared the daylights out of me.
It happened sometimes, not often...as Blondie said usually at bookstudy.
The watchtower conductor at our kh would occasionally ask someone who didn't answer much to read a scripture, but I never saw anyone picked on to answer up.
I had a bookstudy conductor ask me to read scriptures. I had been reinstated a few months earlier, with restrictions. They removed the commenting restriction but I didn't comment. So the elder started asking me to read scriptures trying to encourage me to comment. I had a hyper wiggly two year old at the time I was trying to control, and commenting was the last thing on my mind.
When I was a kid, my parents made me sit in the front row at the book study. I was nearly asleep one evening when Bro. H called on me to answer a question. Fortunately, I knew what paragraph we were on, and after what seemed like forever, I gathered my thoughts enough to give an answer. That gave my father enough reason to beat me that night for "embarrassing poor Bro. H."
the conductor may call on persons whether they volunteer or not
At my book study, an elder called Hermann does that all the time. He will point someone, and say, YOU BROTHER SMITH, READ VERSES 1 to 20
I hated that. He didn't wait for people to raise their hands. Often he started by one end, and made us read each our turn. He didn't go by the hands.
I would spend my time, not listening what was being said, and trying to figure out what I would be reading when my turn was to come.....anticipating.
