Did being raised a JW give you a higher moral code?

cantleave

I have noticed something interesting at work recently.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but our new owners have introduced a customer contract that is so one sided that it is technically unethical although not legally. I don't like it and won't sell it.

I asked the JW's where I work what they thought of this contract.

To my surprise only 2 are troubled by the nature of this contract (both young and quite wishy washy in the "truth").

The others didn't seem concrened at all and would be happy to tie customers into it, after it all secures the company's finances.

The interesting thing is almost all the "worldly" members of staff feel the same way as as me.

I thought my reservations were due to my JW upbringing - obviously not!

serenitynow!

Is it possible that they don't fully understand the ethical issue?

serenitynow!

I was raised a JW, but I can't really answer the question of whether I have a higher moral code in general than someone not raised JW. Since I don't have that much experience with "worldly" people, I don't know. I will say that I was friends for awhile with a woman who was one of the most unethical, dishonest persons I have ever been acquainted with. She happened to be worldly, but if I had to judge her according to other worldly persons I have been acquainted with, I think that she is an exception.

I think as it pertains to sexual morality, my moral code was/is different from worldly people.

cantleave

Is it possible that they don't fully understand the ethical issue?

They understand it all right - but because it is Business to Business they feel that it is a case of buyer beware!

serenitynow!

I have known JWs who were more into the letter of the law, as opposed to the spirit. Their thinking was very concrete. If a certain thing was not spelled out explicitly in the scriptures (or in the Society's interpretation of the scriptures) they would claim it was ok.

Nathan Natas

JWs don't have any special claim on ethics. In general, the majority of JWs are essentially good people, but the cult has also manifested its share of real stinkers too, and at all levels in the organization.

The minute one of these stinkers is exposed, JW apologists start talking about how there are bad people in other religions too, which only underscores the fact that JWs are nothing special.

Recently I've heard the phrase "Jehovah's perfect organization of imperfect men." I suppress the gag reflex and counter with, "how many rotten apples does it take to make a barrel full of "perfect" apples?

ziddina

"Did being raised a JW give you a higher moral code?"

Ah - NO...

Especially when I saw all the HYPOCRISY that went on within the Watchtower Society - the congregation - and especially my idiot PARENTS - who were BOTH in the "truth"... Who always dragged we children out to "look at the Christmas lights" because they didn't want we children to feel "deprived"...

Who I caught with Playboy magazines in my dad's '59 Buick's trunk... Who used alcohol and prescription drugs to a very UN-Christian level... Who gossiped about our non-JW neighbors in a most unpleasant manner... Who viciously attacked me and my brother, physically, mentally and emotionally...

Then there were all the hypocrites I saw in the Kingdm Hall...

Yeah, being raised in the Watchtower Society is NOT necessarily conducive to learning what a "proper" moral code is... Expecially when one looks at the lies and hypocrisy of the (B)Organization itself...

Zid

Hadit

The KH I've been in I have seen: child abuse, molestation, date rape drug use, wife battery, jealousy, spite, hate, gossip, slander, more gossip, more jealousy, unethical business practices, lying, deceit, cunning, prejudice, misogyny, chauvanism, more gossip, more jealousy, alcoholism, more wife battery, discrimination, injustice, adultery, swinging, etc. . .

I saw less of the above in school and at work and in my non-witness family. I always suffered more within the org than with the supposed "wicked worldly ones."

I would have to say that they SAY they teach morals but really they FORCE morals out of FEAR of being destroyed. Any time such things are forced out of fear there are two reactions: Dissenters and suppressors. I saw a lot of dissenters. The suppresors are all on medications.

I'm not saying that there are no JWs with a high moral code but these are ones who do it because THEY KNOW it is the right thing to do out of their own hearts and from a good loving upbringing.

Of course this is just my experience and how I see it.

LongHairGal

CANTLEAVE,

It is hard to answer this because I do not know what my life would have been like if I hadn't joined the religion. My answer to your question is probably "Yes" but only in the sense that I am more 'aware' if I am doing something wrong. (Of course, that doesn't mean I won't DO something wrong, just that I am more wracked with guilt if I do, LOL). I was raised Catholic and know all about confession and guilt-trips so it isn't just my experience as a JW. Some JWs are very twisted in their thinking and justify their own bad actions so I cannot speak for everybody, just me.

My basic moral character (for good or bad) was formed before I ever became a JW. Being a JW just made me suppress the bad.

Ding

1. The more legalistic an environment people live in, the more their sinful passions are aroused. Romans 7:5.

2. The Pharisees were beautiful moral superstars on the outside, but on the inside where it really counts... Matthew 23:27

Did being raised a JW give you a higher moral code?

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