i just have a few more things to add. as we pulled into the parking lot at the hall, i asked my brother (he drove me seperate so we could arrive right as the meeting started) if it's always this crowded. he said no, just for the CO's visit.
and like you all, the contradictions seem glaringly obvious to me. didn't seem like any of the jws noticed them though.
Larc,
A lot of stuff was just plain old common sense. Keep a neat house and car, and be neat in your appearance. Seems to me, where I live, most people do that without having to be told.
exactly my thoughts. i was sitting there thinking, "hello?? who doesn't know this already? why is the CO wasting time with this trivial shit? shouldn't he be talking about love or how to help those less fortunate than us?" i've been to catholic mass a few times and one of the major differences i found between jws service and a catholic service, the catholic preist actually seemed to be trying to convey some deeper message, some insight to the congregation.
April,
we should hit a convention together, with your tall boots, our mini skirts and my tattoos, i think we'd cause a bit of a stir. they'd prolly think we were lesbian lovers or something! LOL
Beetle,
Thanks for bringing out the point of Abraham stopping because of Terah, i had missed that. and it wasn't highlighted by any of the answerers at the hall. hmmmmm. ((((beetle))))
Anton,
I just realized why the JW faith relies so heavily on works instead of faith. Because if you look at it, Christ is only the intercessor for the 144,000, and only they are then saved by faith and grace alone. Since Christ is then NOT our personal Savior, and we are only the Great Crowd, we must then rely on our WORKS in the mosaic sense to attain a second rate redemption which requires us to spend eternity in on the earth in these limited bodies, while the 144,000 anointed ones escape these earthly confines to a much higher level of existence in Heaven.
wonderfully stated!!
Dana,
i found that comment <<Must realize that joy is not external. The world has not figured this out. >> very laughable too. hell, i've never been happier and i'm about as "worldly" as one gets! and i discovered AFTER leaving how to find joy within myself, it had nothing to do with the commands of men to study more, attend meetings, set spiritual (i think they redefine spiritual here, i think they mean organizational) goals, etc, etc, blah blah blah.
logical,
thanks for your comments, you are right on. i understand your not being able to read it all....quite a bit of bs to digest eh? (((logi)))
Ken,
i took notes, i only got about 4 hrs of sleep the night before so i had to take notes, otherwise i'd have fallen asleep. guess my college career paid off eh? one thing i learned was how to pay attention even to the most boring drivel!
outnfree,
thank you for expanding on the WT article! i don't have anything to add to what you said, you said it all. as a side note, i fell back into my old habit of studying the article during the meeting. even without the reading of the paragraphs, i'd have to answers underlined before the speaker finished asking the question. needless to say, i was never a very prepared witness nor did i care oh and i was there as a compromise, i got to use my mom's car to go to a party saturday night, she got me to come to the meeting.
Gopher,
yes, i found this comment <<6. Entertainment
--Don't try to match/imitate the world.>> quite laughable. considering the fact that my own brothers are in a rock band (actually the youngest one is in about 3, he plays whenever his talents are needed) now, i am so HAPPY for my brothers that they are allowed to do this but what gets me is what about joe blow's son what wants to play in a band, join a team? and joe blow is a hardnose jw (and probably just a jerk) and refuses his son's wishes? it's just not fair.
Moxy,
ahh, thank you for attending your meeting out of sympathy! you said
one thing i just noticed is you didnt mention the WTC attacks anywhere. were these not brought up?
the WTC was mentioned in passing by the CO <<-Kingdom hope. No other people on earth come close with answers to present day sufferings. (reference to WTC, "like the events last week")>> and i do recall that paragraph with the 430 years thing mentioned, didn't mention it because well, because i didn't get it, their reasoning made no sense which you point out.
John,
yup, i attend for similar reasons, a nice reminder as to why i know i made the right decision to get out.
Conflicted,
hehe, sorry about that, i'll put warning on title next time! LOL.
Tina,
i can't wait for the horns!! i will wear them proudly
everyone else who commented, thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for your comments and kind words. it wasn't the worst two hours of my life but was close, hehe. what made it fun was reporting it back to the board. and i'd never paid such close attention to a meeting before. still baffles me that people buy into this crap!!
love and hugs
harmony
Most people think, Great God will come from the skies, Take away everything And make everybody feel high. But if you know what life is worth, You will look for yours on earth: And now you see the light, You stand up for your rights.~~Bob Marley
