There are a few elders that I KNOW must know better. They're not that syoopid. Maybe someday.
Did You Know Many Dumb Elders?
by minimus 22 Replies latest jw friends
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Finally-Free
The worst elders were the ones that THOUGHT they were very intelligent but really were stupid.
I knew a few of these. They were usually the ones who never shut up, as though they were deeply in love with the sound of their own voices. It's no wonder they were stupid. The only viewpoints they ever heard were their own, because their mouths were never shut long enough to listen to what someone else had to say. How could they possibly ever learn anything?
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Seeker4
I knew a lot of not so smart elders, and I also think that inept is a very good word. My old congregation seems to have more than it's share now. A couple of those new elders came with the CO or another elder to see me a few times when I was leaving. They literally had nothing to say, and admitted it. They were just incredibly intimidated.
I also knew a few kind and loving brothers, who, while not so bright, at least did a little good for people.
The most dangerous elder I knew was named Claude Burkett. He was a former Bethelite who special pioneered in Maine and Vermont, was an elder at 23, and in his mind, fast tracking for the circuit work. He could be as cold and confrontational as any person I've ever met, had an encyclopaedic knowledge of WTS teachings, worked as hard physically as anyone I've ever known, and he had a very high regard for himself and his abilities.
He will never realize the amount of damage he did to people, as he always saw himself as god's warrior. One family he studied with ended up in counseling years later - and tons more carried a lot of guilt Claude hoisted on them.
At the same time he did a huge amount of things to help people, often in a physical way. I remember him dropping off a load of firewood for my family one cold winter day when I was deathly sick. Things like that. He was a spiritual "bull in a china shop" as one CO described him. He once told me that if he had "a scripture or a Watchtower quote" to back him up, he wouldn't back down from anyone.
S4