Safety and Bloodguilt

by WTWizard 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    You may have heard about those thrill sports at the meetings. It is wrong to go bungee jumping, sky diving, or scuba diving. Why? If there is a mishap, you might die (and miss out on all the thrill of going door to door preaching the same message--they might miss out on all those coming in) or get seriously injured (meaning less service, and they don't ever want to allow anyone to get away with doing less).

    Why would bungee jumping be so bloody dangerous that the Watchtower Society wants to ban it? What they don't tell you is that you are more likely to get hurt in an accident on your way to the theme park than on the bungee jump. If many people were getting killed or hurt, their liability insurance would skyrocket and they would go belly-up (or they would get shut down). The fact is that the bungee cords almost never fail because they change them after every 500 jumps, and they have strict safety rules for jumpers and inspections. When someone does die or get hurt in a mishap with these jumps, it is front page news and the park gets embarrassment that they don't want. So they put up with the costs to keep the danger to an absolute minimum.

    Sky- and scuba diving are a bit more dangerous. Sky diving, properly done and with proper instruction, might kill or hurt one diver per million jumps for a failed parachute opening. Scuba diving can be dangerous, but properly trained divers within their abilities are actually quite safe. Serious injuries are rare, and you are more likely to get hurt on the highway than in the water. Most people that get hurt scuba diving get hurt trying to go beyond their capacities.

    How does this compare with the risks inherent with service? First, you have to drive to the Kingdumb Hell and often in a tired condition and with a cell phone in one hand to see if the first call is at home. Then you drive to the territory, cross often busy streets, and have to watch out for dogs, householders that will shoot first and ask questions later, and steps that are in hazardous condition. Heat stroke is a danger in hot weather, especially if they don't take the tie and suit off.

    Further, Witlesses are under stress of every sort. They are financially pressured, and each time they get a bit of a break, they are goaded to donate it to the Pedophile Protection Work. They usually don't get enough sleep (and if they do, they are told that it means they aren't doing enough). Their diets are often wretched, since they have to eat fast, good-tasting poison regularly to keep their time going. Not getting enough sleep poses its own health risks, plus that of causing more accidents while driving. And there is the stagnation that slows the immune system, which has to cope with germs from the doors.

    By comparison, bungee jumping and scuba diving, if the rules are properly followed, is actually extremely safe. Sky diving is inherently more dangerous because shifting wind and parachute opening issues are unpredictable. However, even this is safer than being one of Jehovah's Witlesses since you are more likely to die from the stress or in an accident related to the work than in the sky.

    One wonders, if there are so many problems with the Witlesses, why they don't ban that. They ban bungee jumping under threat of its being "so dangerous" when it's quite safe if the rules are followed. But they don't ban witnessing because it's so dangerous if the rules are followed (if you are playing safety, you aren't doing enough). And yet they make witnessing look safe. Bulls***.

  • quietlyleaving
    quietlyleaving
    Why would bungee jumping be so bloody dangerous that the Watchtower Society wants to ban it?

    Cos if you've done it once you want to do it again and again. And what's more you can't help but tell others about it and worse yet, at the kingdum hall. And lo what happens next - all the teenagers want to try it. Their eyes gleam in anticipation, they can't sit still, can't concentrate, all they can think about is bungee jumping - and besides none of the FDS have done it or want to do - how could it possibly not be dangerous.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    This could be dangerous to the Tower's assets if people go bungee jumping instead of out in service. That would prevent people from spreading the cancer of the Tower to others, and if everyone does it, there goes service.

    Of course, if you are looking at the risk of getting physically hurt, bungee jumping is safer by far. If you are as old as most of the people in the Governing Body, you are likely to be banned from bungee jumping for safety reasons. (Yes, their rules are strict. That's why it is so safe.). This creates envy among those control freaks, and they want to stop younger people from doing what they themselves are unable to.

    If you wish to go bungee jumping and are physically able to, then by all means do it! Just abide by all the safety rules--they are there for your protection and to keep serious injury a freakishly rare event. Just be glad you didn't get hit by a car trying to cross a street to get your time started or shot by an irate householder.

  • zack
    zack

    This is another great example of the fact that their teachings are abitrary. Don't indulge in thrill sports because there is a chance you might get hurt or die and this would show a lack of appreciation for the gift of life. Of course, under no circumstances is anyone to accept a blood transfusion because this would show a lack of appreciation for the SYMBOL of life, at the probable expense of actual gift of life.

    Tortured reasoning? Speciuos logic? Perhaps Paul said it best: "artfully contrived false stories..."

    More to your point, 5 individuals personally known to me have been killed in field service in my congo in the last 10 years. One was killed on her way to a Circuit Assembly. A sister driving in feild service killed a pedestrian during "evening" witnessing. She thought she hit something, stopped her car, looked all around and saw nothing. Two days later a newspaper story reported finiding the body of a woman on this road. She called the police and got some info, put two and two together, and after investigation it was determined that she had hit this woman but it was ruled accidental. These were all older people who were killed driving on country roads. These are real tragedies. I know of not one person who was ever killed sky diving. Not one. I personally have 32 jumps to my credit. It is a very safe sport. They just want to control everything and every decision a person makes in his life.

  • RollerDave
    RollerDave

    Maybe we could get the society to lighten up AND make the average dub safer if we found a way to COMBINE these activities!

    Going out in the bungee jumping ministry would be so much more interesting that just standing on a street corner! You've got to time it just right for when an unsuspecting worldly person is passing under, then get the magazine ready.....

    Imagine the surprise when a witness drops out of nowhere and uses the tiny moment they have before flying upwards to share the good news, overcome objections, and place a magazine!

    Probably have to hot glue the tie to keep it in place it it might get a little annoying.

    Of course this does little to lessen the danger to the public that some of them might actually embrace this cult, but hey, it was worth a laugh!

    Roller (of the 'facetious' sheep class

  • kwr
    kwr

    When and where did they ban bungee jumping?

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard
    When and where did they ban bungee jumping?

    I once heard a #3 talk where the householder was planning on going bungee jumping. The talk used some scriptures and the Fraud Initiating Book to "reason" that bungee jumping was not worth losing life in the "paradise" to participate in. This was likely an assigned part, since they assigned these subjects for people to do the talk on. Hardly what I call unbiased and objective--this is one of those implied bans on the non-sequitor basis of the potential for the bungee to fail.

    Of course, it is not even close to being sound. The actual statistics show that bungee jumping is very safe if you obey all the park rules, and they have every reason to want to keep up that safety record. The field misery, on the other hand, is not safe.

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