by The wanderer 17 Replies latest jw friends
Life in the Kingdom Hall is image conscious. Jehovah’s Witnesses seem more
concerned and worried about how they look in front of the congregation
then they do in front of God.
Do you recall a family member or someone from the congregation
ever criticizing you for doing something that either embarrassed
your family or dishonored Jehovah?
Respectfully,
The Wanderer
That reads like a newspaper article.
But yes; I was. One of the brothers (later elder) wanted to borrow some of my videos. so I brought them to the kingdom hall and got a reprimande for that (i was just recently baptized). Later on in my carreer as a JW I had a big fight with that same brother who dared disrespect my mother. I lost my patience ( a big no no) in the hall. Well, he screamed at me too.
Yeah...the first time I got an OFP (Order for Protection) against my JW husband. [now ex] I was criticized for 'bringing a brother to court.'
Oh, yeah...and for going out for Karoake: "No Jehovah's Witness does that! And if there are Jehovah's Witnesses who do that...well...I don't know what to say about that, but...what are you thinking? Think about Jehovah! Think about us kids! Think about Dad!" --This left on a long, intensely lecturing answering machine message from my then 14-year-old son several months after the divorce was finalized.
I used to work in a department cosmetics counter, and there was this horrible elders wife that worked at a diferent counter. And man did she ever keep an eye on me. She was on my case constantly about any peircings I had, what I wore to work etc. One time, our dept. manager threw a party around Christma time. I decided to go, an had a fabulous time. The next day this biatch cornered me in the stock room and told me I was embarrassing all the JW that worked in the store and putting them in a bad spot. She said I was headed down the worng path, etc. I was so mad I marched right up to HR and told them I felt very uncomfortable being cornered and felt religion should not be part of the workplace yada yada. They agreed, she got called up to the officem and she never spoke to me again. She was later fired for stealing.
She was later fired for stealing.
See...and her publicly castigating you--'cause you can bet she went back and self-righteously informed her JW cohorts--provides a good cover for her! She would be viewed as the good, zealous JW for as long as her trickery holds up.
It's hard to recall just ONE time this happened. Actually my entire childhood was one of constantly maintaining appearances. We all know that within the JW mindset the most important thing is your stature before the congregation. It takes precedence over all else, even the emotional and mental needs of the individual family members.
By the way, nice pic in your avatar! You look like the quintessential JW, I used to look like that.
I know I made my dad feel like that several times when I was a teenager, in fact he eventually stepped down as an elder because of me. But looking back at it now as an adult I realize that I never really did anything back then that was that bad, he had a way of overexagerating things. I remember once talking to them a few years ago and he still tried to make it look like I was a horribly wild child. But my mom stepped in and reminded him that I wasn't really all that bad, it just seemed like that compared to my brothers and sisters who never got in any trouble. He only cared what people thought of our "perfect family name", I know it doesn't have the shine it used to, but good god we're all only human.
I was raised and until I left my whole life was based on that. Truly sad.
tsof
What!? Embarass my family? ha. Every chance I got as a teen . . . hope I continue to do so for the rest of my days!
I was called down a number of times for my activities, post-disfellowshipping, even as a adult!
Everything from my cohabitations to smoking to politicking to housekeeping was criticized; imagine me wanting to continue to embarass them! Now why in the world would I choose to do that?Living well is the best revenge, I suppose.
