I couldn't help but mutter "Thats a crock!" to my wife at the DC this weekend and I think I was overheard. :-P Still an MS here BTW.
Did you ever hear any active witness complain or criticize the Org?
by JH 30 Replies latest jw friends
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Moomin
The most complained about thing I would hear is the fact that women had to wear skirts all the time. Some would say that they would stay out on the field service for much longer if they could wear trousers.
A few women had real problems with putting scarves on their heads when they needed to pray. I don't blame them because it did look really odd.
A lot of them had trouble understanding the biblical reasons for not celebrating birthdays . We all would sit there sometimes trying to find a short and sweet answer that we could tell unbelievers.
Someone said it is because King Herod and others did wicked things on their birthdays. I said that if someone who drives a car commits a murder then that doesn't mean we all have to stop driving cars. It went really quiet when I said that. I'm not sure if they secretly agreed or just thought it was a mad, random comment (I make lots of those!).
Someone else said that Jesus or Jehovah never mentioned these celebrations but neither do they mention jet skiing in the Alps but it doesn't mean we should'nt do it.
So we couldn't come up with anything substantial which was very irritating, but we still obeyed. :(
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MsMcDucket
When I first joined, I found out that I was pregnant with twins. A sister said "and you're happy about it?". I was like what kind of question is that??? If only I had known what she was talking about. She knew that I was about to go through hell. She knew that it would be hard for me to attend the meetings, go out in field service, etc. . .
She didn't directly criticize the org, but she would have if she wasn't an elder's wife.
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jaguarbass
No I never heard any active witnesses criticize the organization but myself. Maybe thats why I didnt fit in from the get go. I like to think of myself as a lone wolf as opposed to a goat. Los Lobos.
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VM44
"...everyone would drop their utensils on some sort of que, quickly stand up in unison, and then end the meal with a prayer"
At Bethel meals begin and END with a prayer? What's the deal with having to say a prayer at the end of one's meal?
Can someone explain this to me?
--VM44
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Outaservice
The prayer at the end of the Bethel meal was to thank God you didn't die from the food!
One writer on cults said that if you ask a person, Is there anything at all that you don't like about your religion, and they cannot think of one thing, then there is a good chance they are under cult 'mind control'!
Outaservice
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blondie
Actually, I thought they said a prayer in the beginning and then a prayer of dismissal later so Bethelites could leave the table if need be. Especially, some had a long way to walk back to the work assignments.
Also, I don't think the Bethelites can start eating in the morning until the discussion of the day's text is over.
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w50 7/15 p. 223 par. 7 Dedication ***We recommend that all Christian families or households carry on such a morning breakfast-table service, using the daily text and comment published in the current Yearbook or in foreign-language issues of The Watchtower. This helps to start off the day aright for everyone participating. At the close of the meal the Bethel family rose at their places and Brother Knorr offered a short prayer of dismissal. Before each meal a brother is called upon to ask the blessing upon the food. Dismissal at close of the meal is by prayer.
Did you know that in Russell's day that Bethelites had to say a vow before breakfast each day?
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yb75 pp. 51-52 Part 1—United States of America ***At Bethel was located C. T. Russell’s study. Downstairs was the dining room, with a long table that would accommodate forty-four persons. The family would assemble here to sing a hymn, read the "Vow" and join in prayer before breakfast. At the beginning of the meal a Bible text was read from Daily Heavenly Manna for the Household of Faith, and this was discussed during breakfast.
Would you like to hear the vow that was daily impressed on their minds? Entitled "My Solemn Vow to God," it goes like this:
"Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. May thy rule come into my heart more and more, and thy will be done in my mortal body. Relying on the assistance of thy promised grace to help in every time of need, through Jesus Christ our Lord, I register this Vow.
"Daily will I remember at the throne of heavenly grace the general interests of the harvest work, and particularly the share which I myself am privileged to enjoy in that work, and the dear co-laborers at the Brooklyn Bethel, and everywhere.
"I Vow to still more carefully, if possible, scrutinize my thoughts and words and doings, to the intent that I may be the better enabled to serve thee, and thy dear flock.
"I Vow to thee that I will be on the alert to resist everything akin to Spiritism and Occultism, and that, remembering that there are but the two masters, I shall resist these snares in all reasonable ways, as being of the Adversary.
"I further Vow that, with the exceptions below, I will at all times and at all places, conduct myself toward those of the opposite sex in private exactly as I would do with them in public—in the presence of a congregation of the Lord’s people, and so far as reasonably possible I will avoid being in the same room with any of the opposite sex alone, unless the door to the room stand wide open:—In the case of a brother—wife, children, mother and sisters excepted. In the case of a sister—husband, children, father and brothers excepted."
(Outaservice, does that apply to not being able to say anything bad about one's country?)
Blondie
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Alligator Wisdom
At Bethel meals begin and END with a prayer? What's the deal with having to say a prayer at the end of one's meal?
Yes, all meals in the dining rooms begin and end with prayer. Why? I don't know. Maybe to give extra thanks or to look extra spiritual.
Believe it or not, a branch committe member gave a talk at our last Special Assembly Day (SAD) and said that it should be considered by all family heads to follow such a fine
exampleritual of ending our meals with a prayer. Needless to say, do we really need such direction? Shouldn't our pure motive prompt us to do so if desired instead of trying to emulate the Bethel family?Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously by WTS standards)
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sass_my_frass
No, I never heard any murmurs; everybody was good and under control when I was putting on nylons three times a week. Critical thinking must be a new phenomenon.
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Sunspot
Hmmmm......I must have been hanging out with the right JWs (aka "spiritual people) because the only two instances I can think of in my 30 years in Watchtowerland are when...
...one brother who was seriously upset at being called into a "Judicial" meeting for something really stupid----when telling me about it he kept referring to the elders as the Three Wise Men! It was SOOO disrespectful but SOOOO funny! He was DFed a few years later-so I guess his "rebellious attitude" never changed.....LOL!
The other time was when my best friend's daughter wanted to get married---the groom-to-be had JUST been baptized for less than a month---and the elders would not marry them in the KH, although neither one was on restriction or reproof.
They ended up having a lovely garden wedding at his parent's (JWs) home about three hours from here. We all went to dinner at a fancy restaurant with just the immediate family and very close friends.
My friend was SO hurt when the refusal to marry them in the KH was told to them.....and I didn't blame her at all for being upset.
I did a LOT of groaning and complaining......in the mirror when I'd be getting ready for yet another stupid boring meeting (gasp) and having to gulp down yet another meal to be ready on time. I was not a happy camper a lot of the time but I kept it to myself, suffering in silence!