This Thread Is For Elders & Those Affected By Them (page 2)

AllTimeJeff

So my translation of that was...this whole GIG is smoke and mirrors! NOTHING is real, genuine, or Godly....it's a big PLAY and the elders and the MSs and the congregations are all players in it. All of us showing the world one thing, showing each other at the hall another thing...and in the privacy of our homes...something else again.

Great thoughts Wuz.... Something I was never able to "translate" in my head was how some elders could be so involved in their congs, yet neglect their families, or even worse, mistreat them like despots.

You can be considered a GREAT elder by being super busy, even if your family sucks, and the CO's will just accept that as a collateral damage. Your family be damned, we need your husband/father as an elder... Sorry!

Scarred for life

Great thread. Especially Wuz' post.

aSphereisnotaCircle

Even as a true beliver, it used to turn my stomach when a twenty something bro would get appointed.

But most of the congo simply saw that bro as uber spiritual.

If you are male, your seen as a spiritual weenie unless you "reach out", and you never will get any respect.

My X-husband would lock horns with the elders on a regular basis, he even had the nerve to call our PO out on the carpet for allowing his daughter to date a man who was not yet baptised and not yet divorced from his first wife. The rest of the congo politely looked away, but not my ex!

He was not a good ol boy, or a company man, he called BS when he saw BS. The elders thought of him as a spiritual weenie and regulary told him so. Another time an elder went into a screaming rage in front of the intire congo because my ex dared to step behind the book counter to pick up his own literature.

My ex didn't seem to mind being the pariah, but he was a pretty unique individual anyway. Most people would want to tow the line to be accepted.

I know I would have.

aSphereisnotaCircle

You can be considered a GREAT elder by being super busy, even if your family sucks, and the CO's will just accept that as a collateral damage. Your family be damned, we need your husband/father as an elder... Sorry!

Neglecting your family is a prerequisite for becoming an elder.

JeffT

The guy that did our wedding was a genuinely nice guy. At one point he stepped down because he couldn't take the stress. They talked him in to coming back because too many people relied on him for good advice. There were also a few jerks, but I think most of them just did what they thought they were supposed to be doing.

Regarding the jerks: A few years ago my wife and I were talking about problems with JW's and I mentioned the name of one elder who had been a real tin Hitler. My wife (who NEVER talks like this) said "his problem isn't that he's a JW, his problem is that he's an asshole."

chickpea

not painting with a broad brush here...
but there is also a bit of ego woven in
that is undeniable...

i remember the "appointed at 26"
elduh (son of elduh) who eventually
became the study conductor for the
BS that met in our home being so
excited when his large reference
bible was rebound by some snopes-type
outfit... he held it in one hand so the
book splayed open and he said:

isnt this going to look great from the platform?

yeah, mate.... nice prop...

BTW, after the newspaper interview
about my son being transgender
made front page, i happened to
pass aforementioned elder at
the grocery store where he was....
wait for it
wait for it

washing windows; he did mumble
a theatrical, whispered "hi amy"...
i hurried about my business with
a jovial rejoinder knowing he was
more uncomfortable than i

minimus

Keep in mind that most elders could NEVER recieve the recognition they get anywhere else other than in a Kingdom Hall. Smart wives knew the real truth about their husbands and you'd often see that look from the wives if someone noted how wonderful their elder husband was.

aSphereisnotaCircle

Smart wives knew the real truth about their husbands and you'd often see that look from the wives if someone noted how wonderful their elder husband was.

Haha, this is so true, I've seen that look many times.

minimus

At least the Organization began to realize that husbands/fathers who were elders all had their kids leaving one by one. My thought is that NO ONE with a family could possibly "qualify" as an elder since no one can maintain an Organizational "exemplary" family.

This Thread Is For Elders & Those Affected By Them

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