by AllTimeJeff 51 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Thanks for sharing Jeff. The lack of formalized training as counselors put us at a disadvantage. The Elders Schools I attended were rehashes of articles written in the Wt., one I attended in the mid 1980's actually was a course in how to look up articles.
One of the great joys and satisfactions in the past few years has been to get the education and training as a professional counselor at a local university and to work with people trying to make their lives better.
At the end of the day, everything about being a Witness is weird. Being an elder just elevates it to "uber-weird" territory. You don't realize this stuff until you get a little perspective and have an epiphany.
For a lot of Witnesses, that epiphany never comes.
You don't realize this stuff until you get a little perspective and have an epiphany. For a lot of Witnesses, that epiphany never comes.
It seems I only learn in epiphanies... Good and bad I suppose.
For what this is worth, I hope the few elders who have commented on this shows that not all elders are bad people, just miguided like the rest.
To me, this reminds me that the real culpability lies with the Governing Body, if only they would notice the pain and confusion that they barter for your time and energy....
Great post as usual, Jeff. Now I just had to right click copy the beer and paste it to see if it disappeared for me, too.
What do ya know? Ha ha!
Great post ATJ
I was never an elder myself, but spent 11 years in the netherworld of MS. I was too much of a thorn in the elders sides to ever get appointed. Suited me fine. They eventually removed me after a sister committed suicide and I pointed the finger at the lack of interest in "the sheep" by the body. She was not well and if they showed some interest it may not have worked out anybetter, but we could have all felt that an effort was made.
So people with a similar experience shouldn't feel bad, we all did stupid things because of our lack of experience/training. Realize that the society like most high control groups seeks young men because they are easier to manipulate and control. Suggest something to an old dog and he will make you spell it out and analyze it against his experience. Suggest the same to a younger man and he will likely run with it.
I honestly can't imagine that there are many elders who actually think holy spirit is guiding them, at least at the local level.
I think that most elders eventually see that it is really every man for himself and there is no one upstairs directing things (arguably the guy upstairs is the one with the horns when it comes to WT) and that is what makes it so bad in most bodies and by extension congregations. Once these guys lose their faith/belief in god or just the belief in what they are doing, all that gives them pleasure is their power and using and abusing it.
My BIL was a dark elder character with lots of childhood and youthful indiscretions in the closet. A dfing machine if you ever saw one. The only time you saw him happy was at meetings where he announced someone was being df'd. He would literally skip to the platform. If I got to the meeting and saw him in a good mood, I would tell people someone was being df'd.
My 2 cents
Frank75
Although only having been a MS, I can relate to some of what you mentioned. My initial good intentions were totally sapped by the internal politics, arse licking etc that goes on among the appointed men. Laterly I attended CO/MS/elders meetings & kingdom ministry schools for MS's. I was appalled by the sort of stuff that was discussed. It made me see how utterly controlled we all were from the appointed men to the rank & file witnesses. The WTS 'methods' were totally against everything I stood for. One month I gave a part on a kingdom ministry school, the next month I walked out of my congregation & never returned.
Living as a JW wasn't ever for me. Getting to see the inner workings just made me realise it.
After being out of the cult for several years and getting back in I advanced up the ladder quickly... best thing that ever happened to me, I realied how the "Society" lied out their a$$ to the rank and file, how they covered up wrongdoing to make it appear that JWs were "the happiest people on the earth", how there was unity in the congregations.... RIGHT!
It is so sad to see people still falling for the cult propaganda.
"You need to put all of your experiences in book form and let us know where to purchase it."
I know I would be interested in reading it. haha!
I was also very young when appointed and I guess I really wanted the job back then - basically for two reasons: I really had not anything else in my life and I also loved giving talks, that really was my thing and I guess I was pretty good at it (maybe that was the main thing why they appointed me). It didnt take me more than 6 months or so to see through the whole thing, how it was all about politics and rules and how little holy spirit had to do with anything of it. Some elders really love their "positions", they want to look important, they are so nice to CO's so they can get some program parts in the assemblies... and often they dont do a lot of FS (there are some exceptions though but they are minority) though they talk a lot about it on the platform, in reality its often those poor single pioneer sisters who work the hardest in the field while the elders travel all around the world and buy new fancy cars..
I just wanted to say thank you ATJ, without prick elders like you I never would have wised up and got out.
