How can they care more about their meetings than their family?

by student1 24 Replies latest jw experiences

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  hamsterbait

  The Witchtower always tells its minions it is a sin to miss the meetings.

  HYPOCRISY!!

  1 : Bethelites are regularly made to miss meetings to fix mere machines. The following was posted by a former WT farms man on this board.

  Once at Farms they were behind with the harvest. The young men complained that they had to get ready and go to the meeting. (evening). A Gibbering Buddy tuffy got tractors and shone the lights along the rows they were meant to harvest. They missed the meeting to pick fruit!!

  2 : When we were being indoctrinated in the early 70s (including 1975) The elders were always harping on about how evil the Church of Rome was to tell its followers it is a sin to miss mass. This is CRUEL and makes people feel they cannot live their own lives if they have not been to mass.

  HB
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  flipper

  STUDENT 1- I feel for you . Lots of us have family here that shuns us, and not just due to meetings. I have 2 daughters 20 and 19 that I love dearly but because I made the decision to just stop going to meetings 4 years ago , they will not return my phone calls or return any letters I write them. Believe me, I do feel your pain. Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  wizardca

  Simple solution, do what every JDub does on SuperBowl Sunday. Tell 'er to go to an early 9am indoctrination session meeting and there ya go.
• 

  MissingLink

  My (elder) father used to say there were only two reasons to miss a meeting:

  1. You're in the hospital
  2. You're dead
• 

  Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit

  student1, Welcome!

  That's so cold how your sis dealt with you, and your mom too. Don't berate yourself for having feelings, it isn't normal to place one's family in second place and what they're doing goes beyond defining with words like cruel, cold, deranged. Here you are doing what you can to cheer a grieving friend's child (for which our hearts go out for the loss of her son!) and our own families treat us as though we died. Don't worry dear, many here have come to the point where we must grieve the "death" of our own mothers, fathers, sisters, etc. . .because of how completely they've cut us off, or how awful they will treat us because they're sooooo right.

  Thanks for posting, we're here for you and you're not alone in dealing with divided families.

  llbh-sorry your son had to bear the burden of his mother's righteousness at such a noble event as his graduation. Congratulate him from us!!!
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  carla

  What gets me is that the general population thinks the jw's are pro family or very family orientated! How far from the truth! My jw has missed extremely important markers in my kids life. He is hanging himself in those relationships, they will carry the resentment for the rest of their life. Oddly, he has a few things going on in his own life feels the kids 'should' be there. yeah, right! The kids are all over that. Why should they go to his things when he doesn't go to theirs? Hard to argue that one. Seeing as the wt makes up arbitrary rules due to religion or conscience, we now make up our own too. "sorry it's against my religion' jw- 'and what religion is that?' 'it's a secret can't tell outsiders'. That's only if things escalate which is rare. Apparently he does not like to be reminded of missing important and even life altering events in his families life. go figure!
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  WTWizard

  I have noticed that. Very often, the Kingdumb Misery had parts about what happens if unbelieving family members are visiting, and all too often they refuse to make exception when tragedy is the reason for the trip. You are supposed to bring them to the meeting or leave them at home and go to the meeting yourself, no matter what. Which might not be that bad if your family made the trip to control your life and it is frequently interfering with other aspects of your life.

  However, when the visits are infrequent, to leave them home or to drag them into the Kingdumb Hell is downright rude. Family is meant to be enjoyed. And, especially when tragedy is the reason for the visit, it is exceptionally disgraceful. Rude isn't even a strong enough word for that situation. Chances are, the family member is already feeling distressed by the tragedy itself. The last thing they need is to have you going to the meeting and leaving them home, or dragging them to the meeting with you. If I was in that situation, I would be documenting the experience and putting flyers in doors explaining that they are anti-family and that hypocrisy reigns supreme in that religion. Hopefully, after that, meeting attendance and growth would stagnate.
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  So sorry for your pain. Unfortunately, it's not new in the bOrg. Frankly, WTBTS doesn't care for families. I suppose there have already been threads about how Rutherford had a wife and son that outlived him. He had no use for family, he had a corporation to run. Of all the pictures of Rutherford, I don't think I've ever seen any of him with any of his family.

  Nowadays, they have lots of articles about family, as dictated by the bOrg. Look carefully, and the 'happy families' they try to promote are becoming extinct. When Service Meeting parts call for a 'family discussion' many congregations have to fabricate a family out of a childless couple and a single mom's kids. Other congregations use the same elder's or MS's family every time.

  When I was young, I was led to believe that since the end was so close and the world so wicked, I would wait for the "New World"(tm) to have a family. Now I'm thinking that I just don't want to raise my kids in the bOrg.

  What can I say? I guess, um, try not to be bitter, because if/when the time comes for them to leave, make it easy for them to come to you and be forgiven.
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  R.Crusoe

  Ice cold and calculating! Humans wired emotionally to WT circuitry. Even adults not baptized who have been exposed to years of WT programming, conditioning and imprinting will have powerfull conflicts of mind and emotion which result in them defaulting to trained practices they have seen as role model behaviour for years -e.g. shunning. It seems heartless but they are often emotionally in conflict yet puppets to their master. It's even odder when they are no longer an active JW and behaving this way because they are torn between family still in and those who are out. Never having been baptised may seem great but the JWs can still love bomb them ,never having been baptised, so they have never experienced rejection so their emotion is all over the place. Non discussion is imprinted heavily on any emotions that warrant it! It is extremely painful because it rejects the need to discuss real human feelings!! Perfect WTBTS atmosphere!
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  Homerovah the Almighty

  Yes quite the cruel apathetic corporation, when it comes to families and the personal individual

  They even suggested at one time that young people should hold of getting married or if were they were to get married to not have children

  time instead should be spent on field service and sell more of their merchandise.

  Power and the greed for money in the cooperate world is what this business is all about anyone that doesn't see this is a complete fool or idiot.