when i was a study , at first i was really impressed with the high morals in the congregation and how "happy "everyone seemed , i eventually fell for a pioneer and commited adultery , which i felt and was made to feel the most wicked woman in the world for .(i am married to him now ) but after i left i found out just how much had really been going on in the cong , there was one brother who had been having an affair for 5 years with a sister (he was married ) he only got reprooved and she was disfellowshipped ! i found out lots of people who wed in the hall had already done the "deed" child abuse had not been reported etc domestic violence situations , all though i am not in a position to judge "wrong doing " myself im amazed that so many in the cong had the nerve to look down on church goers "immorality " or "worldly people considering what they knew had gone on in the kingdom hall !
concerning "morality" in the congregation, did you ever think "how do we have the nerve to judge "worldley " people ?
by looloo 13 Replies latest jw experiences
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looloo
when i finally realised that it was not for me anymore , i said to an elder that i couldnt beleive they were not allowed to watch soap operas as in my experiance what goes on the congregation was no different to any soap opera , in fact if a film was made of that one congregation alone i think it would have been far more dramatic than any soap i have ever seen!
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serenitynow!
I did regarding my father and the fact that he abandoned his children, and noone in the org said anything. As far as I am concerned, if they want to be morally superior, they need to handle all the crap that goes on internally. As far as the fornication, that probably depended on the congregation, or the cliques. I personally did not feel that people fornicating was the rule in the cong, only an exception. The people in my group weren't, and I guarantee you, if we found out we would narc. I may be wrong about stuff not going on, I have been told that I am very naive. I did feel superior morally to alot of JWs and worldly people. I still feel morally superior somewhat.
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Jadeen
My mom always told us kids that Jehovah is the only one that can judge good people from bad.
She would point out some of the crap going on in the congregation and say that being a Witness doesn't guarentee anyone a pass to the new world.
Mom also would say that the local jerk family would be sure to raise a fuss about who actually did make it through Armageddon.
"But why is she here?! I poineered and went to more meetings- I deserve this, she doesn't!"
"He wasn't even a Witness! I think he slammed the door in my face once!"
Yeah, I could hear a lot of Witnesses saying stuff like that, if I believed it anymore.
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dgp
I understand the point being made here, and I respect it. I would like to give my opinion as a worldly.
I don't think it's the congregation's business to disfellowship or in any way punish someone who does not live up to the organization's moral code. I simply do not think elders should have such a power. And this on the grounds that whatever I am at fault for, it's between me and my God, if I have any. I do understand that elders should have a moral duty to at least state where the person is at fault, and perhaps some sort of spiritual punishment; but never a physical or real-world one. I am not excusing the person's bad behavior or faults. I just don't think it right to give an elder such kind of authority over anyone. Their having such powers is a great part of the control the organization exercises over the individual. To summarize this, I would fully agree with Jaydeen:
My mom always told us kids that Jehovah is the only one that can judge good people from bad.
That said, I also am in agreement that a religious group could only claim moral superiority if it were indeed true. The safest and most realistic thing to do is simply accept that we're not better than anyone. None of us.
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cult classic
There is not one sin that is committed in the world that isn't committed in the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.......not one.
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serenitynow!
That's true CC, but try getting them to admit those problems exist.
I remember watching the Dateline expose years ago, I was still very much in. I was watching with another sister, I said that I believe that it happened. She told me be careful, it's probably just apostates making accusations. I felt it was likely true d/t the things that the victims were told- "wait on Jehovah, etc" I've heard that helpful "counsel" before. What most JWs do is attack the source quickly, therefore they don't have to hear any accusations made. She wouldn't even consider whether or not the accusations could be true, just focused on who was doing the accusing. My mother assumes that anything I tell her I got from the net, so she doesn't listen.
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Found Sheep
We are all human but they think they are special and that is what causes guilt and shame and hiding problems
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serenitynow!
Yes, guilt and shame is what keeps people coming back.
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teel
The JWs came to an anectodal point of believing the written words more than their eyes. The literature tells them the org is the pinnacle of morality, so that is the accepted truth. Any incident personally experienced is categorized as isolated one, not representative of the whole congregation. One has to look for global forums like JWN to see that they are not isolated at all, JWs are perfectly human, morally not above others in any respect. Of course that sort of research is highly discouraged and the source of the information discredited all time.