Shortest eldership ever? (page 2)

garybuss

Maybe it was a regional thing. My dad was a company man his whole life and I watched the behind the scenes backbiting, deal making, and structuring for decades. The context was wonderful for my dad. He liked the low life of the Witness hierarchy.

The circuit servants manipulated the elders like pawns on a chessboard. They'd move them from group to group. I think the circuit managers liked to keep a degree of strife in the stir. That way there was always a stoolie for him to milk.

The Witness elders here were the lowest people in the community. Look out if you ever were stupid enough to get mixed up in a business deal with one of em. They were the lowest deal making crooked bastards in business. I got in the way of a couple of them. I got handed my head in business and then at the kingdom hall they'd advise my kids to shun me.

WTWizard

So much for holy spirit making the decisions. Had the holy spirit been involved, they would never have let an apostate become a "hounder".

sspo

Gary

You are right about business dealings with the " brothers ".

I've seen way too many times those in the congregation hiring brothers (especially with mortgages, refinance)

getting financially burned and JC formed.

Usually elders were involved that always tried to screw some humble and poor witness.

passwordprotected

I was appointed as an elder in October 2007. I accepted the appointment in good conscience; I had no secret sins etc.

I started to wake up to the power of the Governing Body in April 2008. That led me to question who my faith was in. By July 2008 I had resigned as an elder and ceased meeting attendance.

In October 2008 I was disassociated.

undercover

Maybe it was a regional thing. My dad was a company man his whole life and I watched the behind the scenes backbiting, deal making, and structuring for decades.

The circuit servants manipulated the elders like pawns on a chessboard. They'd move them from group to group. I think the circuit managers liked to keep a degree of strife in the stir. That way there was always a stoolie for him to milk.

I had noticed it was well and I was never an elder either. I was being groomed to be one and the closer I got, the more some elders confided in me and the more I got to spend time behind the scenes at assemblies and conventions, I started to see the politicking, the alliances of elders in order to gain control of an elder body, the backstabbing, the rumor mills. The COs were hardcore company men, in town to whip people into shape. They didn't miss a chance to dress an elder down in front of his peers and in front of MSs, though the vast majority of the congregation knew nothing about it.

The closer I got to being recommended the more I knew that I didn't want to be part of it. It basically led me to question the Holy Spirit direction, if so many unqualified men were serving as elders.

DaCheech

I was a MS for about 10 years, of those years (100% of those years I had secret sins like masterb.), and (60% of those years I had aspostate thoughts),

(i also dabbed in premarital sex with my current JW wife).

had there been a real "holy spirit" that guides these "appointments".... I would have been removed, instead of resigning on my own later!

sspo

Never believed the Holy spirit had anything to do with appointments.

I've seen witnesses hiding serious sins for more than 20 years.

Elders seeing prostitutes for years, yet they were being used for circuit assemblies.

StAnn

Although I don't believe the Holy Spirit has anything to do with appointments within the WTS, just keep in mind one thing:

If you're a Christian, you believe in baptism for the forgiveness of sins. God knows none of us are perfect. The Holy Spirit uses us however we allow him to use us. If he were looking for perfect people to use, none of us would qualify.

Don't be so hard on yourselves.

St. Ann

dogon

I used to argue with my old partner Daryl Kunde all the time about that. I asked if he listened to the example given by the speaker at the assembly the week before, it was the one [and maybe many here have heard it] where there was a stazi agent who infiltrated the East German Witnesses. He had worked up to Circuit overseer and was just about to give out all his information when he was struck by lightning. Since the state would go into his apt. and gather all his belongings the Witnesses ran to gather up the information he would naturally have laying around when they got there they found he was a stazi agent and took the information he was about to give the state. I asked Kunde if god directs the installation of people he sees fit to eldership, then god wanted a Stazi agent as an Elder and eventually a CO? All I could get out of Kunta as we called him was "God must have seen something good in that man or he would not have appointed him." I was amazed at how Kunta missed the point or was just plane dodging it because he had not logical argument.

Now after a bit of study on how the Stazi or any intelligence agency works they would not let an agent work for years with no contact, in fact they would be watching all the people that he would have given the names of as soon as he came into contact with them. In retrospect this story was nothing more than a urban legend created by the society or a few brothers that sounded good. Just as the Harold Hill story I just posted on another post, a little research and the story falls apart fast.

garybuss

I've come to the conclusion that, for people like my dad, there's so much to be gained for the sad and miserable under matured ego, that the disconfirmations (be they many) can be easily dismissed by a learned excuse or a slogan. The carrier of the disconfirmation can be just as easily dismissed . . . even a son.

The only real acceptance and approval my dad ever got was ego payment for his service with the Witness group. If he had let reality into his life, he would have had unmet human needs and no rational way to get them met. Even though the Witness people were phony and conditional he felt accepted, wanted, loved, and admired due to his earned position of prestige.

For a superstitious, under-educated person, with a miniature ego, those are almost impossible benefits to walk away from. The omnipotent, narcissistic, egocentric, living failure, is doomed to stay in the context that delivers the crumbs to the starving ego. No reality, no disconfirmation, no amount of logic and reason will affect them.

All that can realistically be done by a rational relative or friend is to accept the person as they are and discontinue trying to change them . . . because it can't be done.

Shortest eldership ever?

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