Why else do I call them hounders? And the COs "hounder-hounders"? This is precisely why. And yes, the hounder-hounders come in and expect everyone to rearrange their schedules so they can be out in service all week--after the Grand Boasting Sessions, this is probably the biggest waste of people's vacation time on the planet. Why should I waste a week of vacation so I can pioneer the month the hounder-hounder is in town? What a vacation--putting in close to 60 hours that week to make my time! Good thing I didn't go along with it.
Elders Giving Personal Opinions as Counsel,How did it Affect You?
by flipper 23 Replies latest jw friends
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Mysterious
I almost had my cartilage ear piercing as a JW..there was a pioneer who had it. Until a CO rolled into town with fire and brimstone and she took hers out making her an even worse case against the piercing.
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OUTLAW
..Many elders,with a brain the size of a peanut,tried to give me advise..They`re lives sucked..So they wanted someone elses life!.Spiritual Vampires!..LOL!!...OUTLAW
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XBEHERE
This is basically what happens at elders meetings personal opinions, occasionally the mentality does spill over into the congregation. I recently had a "shepherding" call from 2 of my fellow elders and I was told that elders need to show the example by commenting at ever meeting, making sure that my ENTITRE family was out in the ministry on one weekend day and then only me if they couldn't be there for both. They thought they were encouraging me! hah!
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undercover
It's the elders giving personal opinions as counsel that leads many JWs to believe that a lot of the little things that they "can't" do are actual "rules" or "laws".
Owning a four door car instead of a two door car.
Brothers counseled for wearing necklesses and bracelets.
Sisters counseled for wearing too much make-up or jewelry.
No denim for sisters at the hall or in service.
Sisters had to wear pantyhose.
Length of overcoats for brothers in field service.
Advice on the design of neckties.
Length of mustache (for brothers...the sisters never got counseled)
Length of hair...and I don't mean long over the collar. Just being "shaggy" was enough for an elder to pull you aside.
Music choices, reading material, TV shows...anything in entertainment was commented on with a personal opinion by elders.
How to spend your vacation time in pioneering instead of traveling.
Don't have kids.
You need kids to add to the ranks of Jah's people (huh?)
Don't go to a family member's funeral in a church.
Don't go to a family member's wedding in a church.
Don't drink...avoid alcohol.
That list is all things that I remembered off the top of my head where elders gave their personal opinion instead of sticking to what the WTS had to say.
It caused me to resent certain elders because they made it a point to lord it over others with their personal advice that was usually much more conservative than normal. But at the same time, it's those elders that help people to become disgruntled and start to question things. In a way, we can thank the pompous, over-righteous, sanctimonous bastards for driving us away.
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38 Years
I remember hearing a visiting Elder giving a talk about prayer. He said that if you fall asleep, lose your focus, or not finish before saying "In Jesus name, Amen", that you are disrepecting Jehovah. After all, you wouldn't fall asleep or just quit talking to your boss, or a friend so you can never expect Jehovah to accept that type of prayer. As a result, he won't except you period because you disrespect him. It hurt me deeply. I had these weaknesses when praying. My praying was never the same until I left the Borg. After I quit, I asked one of my Christian friends at work if this was true and she told me that was the cruelist, unmerciful thing she ever heard.
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flipper
Mr. Flipper here. Loosie- Water his grave with pee? Good thought! I'll help you do that too. Frequent Fader- My youngest daughter(18) tried to tell my witness family I slept with Mrs. Flipper before we married. Only my fading witness son(22) and a fading witness niece(31) were at the wedding. Mysterious- Why don't elders pierce their noses? They'd look cool giving talks! Outlaw- They do suck the life out of you! Their brains are as big as a peanut?? Could have fooled me! Xbehere- That's the problem with elders. Their personal opinions spill out into the congregation and the members think it's gospel truth they're hearing! Big Trouble!! Undercover- That's a long list for sure. But you have a good ironic view though. By the elders being nit-picky it caused us to open our eyes to things. Great point! Thanks y'all, Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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Alligator Wisdom
I knew an elder that hated sisters wearing jean skirts the meetings or on the ministry.
I know a MS who was currently trying to enforce this rule. (BTW, he really has the itch to become an elder. In fact, that's all he talks about). He feels as if wearing denim means that it isn't good enough for Jehovah.
I told him that this sister whom he was referring to "is a poor pioneer living on her own and is just scraping by to make a half way decent living and is making every effort to be regular to all the meetings and to pioneer. Why even think about her skirt being made from denim? Would Jesus even go there? No! Why? Because of love".
Needless to say, this MS had nothing to say after that. He needed a lesson on how to have the mind of Christ.
Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
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flipper
Mr. Flipper here- As of yesterday I can fully say it caused me to fight them for my own justice and rights and fairness. I'm glad I did. It seems to have worked. Not backing down so to speak when you know you're right. There is no need to let them intimidate you. Peace, Mr. Flipper
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GermanXJW
I think there is nothing wrong in giving one's own opinion. It is more natural than all the times referring to a specific WT-issue or the WT-index. The problem was that most elders were morons who had a personal opinion that was not worth the disposal of the paper if written down. The other thing was that you were expected to be obidient to whatever they said.