good to have you here OTWO....
surely the best and brightest leave - eventually.....
Personal Story: Trying to Help the Flock
by OnTheWayOut 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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aSphereisnotaCircle
Being the "good" elder put a face on the organization that it simply didn't deserve.
This is true.
The nice elders helped me to stay in the org.
The elders that followed the real rules of the org are the ones that helped me to leave.
Thank you all you asshole elders that towed the company line, you helped me see the light.
Nice elders? naw, no thanks to you. You kept convincing me to stay, you were no help at all, you just kept lulling me into unconsciousness.
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not a captive
When you see a good elder--who tries to follow Jesus--has to bite his tongue because the Organization demands it, then you know it is time to leave.
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Lozhasleft
OTWO why do they see smoking as sooo serious though...especially as its a lifelong addiction???
Loz x
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Aussie Oz
On the way out...
you remind me of the elders that dealt with me during the last few years i was in. I was glad they treated me with respect. When it came time to disfellowship me they were so hesitant that in the end i had to tell them they must!
Despite what i feel for the organization, i have enormous regard for those men and could never berate them.
oz
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OnTheWayOut
Lozhasleft, I think smoking was heavily demonized in the 70's so much that it still rings forth as practically worse than adultery.
My opinion, birthdays and holidays are demonized to keep JW's separate from family and coworkers and children feel separate at school. Smoking, in the 70's, did the same thing. You felt out of place with relatives- someone probably smoked at every family gathering. You felt out of place at a bowling alley or a nightclub. A JW had to surround himself with JW's to avoid smoking. It was also one more way for JW's to smugly feel better than "the world."
As smoking got banned in one place after another, it just fed the minds of JW's that they had it right first. It's like the opposite of cognitive dissonance. JW's feel there are things wrong with the WT organization and it hurts the brain to think about them, but this is one area where they are sure they got it right so it makes the brain feel good to demonize smoking.
Oh, and one more huge factor- cigarettes cost a person 10 to 30 dollars a week (or even more). WTS wanted members to save that money for the box. I am surprised they never demonized twinkies.
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blondie
Smoking is more likely to be viewed as a health problem by many new jws; but in 1973 when the no smoking or df directive came out, smoking was described as the same as spiritism more serious than a health problem.
*** w73 6/1 pp. 338-339 pars. 14-15 Keeping God’s Congregation Clean in the Time of His Judgment ***
Do, then, persons who have not broken their addiction to tobacco qualify for baptism?
15 The Scriptural evidence points to the conclusion that they do not. As has been explained in other issues of this magazine, the Greek word phar·ma·ki´a used by Bible writers and translated "practice of spiritism" or "spiritistic practices" has the initial meaning of "druggery." (Gal. 5:20; Rev. 9:21) The term came to refer to spiritistic practices because of the close connection between the use of drugs and spiritism. Tobacco was also used initially by the American Indians in this way. It can properly be placed, therefore, in the category of addictive drugs like those that provided the source for the Greek term phar·ma·ki´a. The nicotine in tobacco does not have the same mental and emotional effects produced by "hard" drugs such as heroin or the so-called psychedelic drugs like LSD; yet nicotine addiction does definitely affect the mind and exercises a strong enslavement. In Europe at the close of World War II, in some instances cigarettes were worth more than money. Reportedly, prostitutes sold themselves for a few cigarettes, and ordinary people sacrificed even food ration coupons to obtain tobacco.
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Lozhasleft
Right...I understand more now folks....thx...doesnt make it fair though...
Loz x