"What will be examined in the following article?" How many of you adults shamelessly raised your hand for these questions? (page 2)

moshe

There weren't any exciting books for me after I studied the original Babylon book= it was all downhill after that.

GrandmaJones

I have already put away my bible and WT by then, I already have the songbook opened to the song.

Rarely did I comment. What can you say when it's been read out loud already? I never wanted to sit there and be a parrot. If I had something interesting slightly off the beaten path to contribute, I'd comment.

WTWizard

I never did it--I would answer early in the lesson so I could drift off to veg out during the end of the lesson.

inbetween

funny thread, sure I did when I was a kid, now I barley answer directly to the question, try to give dome brain in it...of course, eve a little brain means a lot for a such a repetition course...

I remember, our WT conductor, one of the brighter JW you may find, got in trouble with other elders, for not turning the study into a stupid question - repeat from paragraph session. Sometimes he still doesnt listen, and digs deeper, which makes it a bit more interesting...

Amelia Ashton

I only ever answered questions where the answer was not in the paragraph. I didn't answer very often.

Palimpsest

I only ever answered questions where the answer was not in the paragraph. I didn't answer very often.

Same. I really resented the questions, even as a child, so I usually went for follow-ups (we had one WT conductor who was good about including some) or reading Bible passages. Felt a little less demeaning to me. But then, I was also the same way in school -- I only liked answering questions from teachers if they were about outside information -- so it wasn't just a JW-related thing for me.

I also very rarely read those introductory pages that set up the rest of the magazine for you. I think of the magazines sometimes now when telling students to stop using their thesis paragraphs to provide an outline the rest of the paper. Show, don't tell!

On the flipside, its funny how some parents who think too highly of their childs developement.........let their children read scriptures, or paragraphs beyond their child's capabilities. Sometimes you can see the irritation in the conductor's face when this happens, or some of the more zealous dubs. I find it funny personally, some little 5 year old reading John 17:3...

If it really irritated a conductor, why would they call on the child?

That's one of the few things I ever gave/give JWs credit for, to be honest. Talking down to children or assuming they can't do something based on their age is one of my biggest peeves. (Probably why I respect the Society of Friends/Quakers so much.) I like the idea of getting children involved in things and making them feel like equal human beings, regardless of the setting. Besides, letting them read a Scripture keeps the children entertained during what can otherwise be a torture session. It's like a moment of mercy for them.

And honestly, we had kindergartners in my congregation who read better than some of the adults. ;) I'd rather listen to a 5-year-old sound out Maher-shalal-hash-baz than listen to an adult butcher the inflection or tempo of a verse when they ought to know better. And hey, anything to not have to listen to yet another SuperCommenter or kiss-ass MS, right?

"We should be grateful that Jehovah has given us the faithful and discreet slave organization to provide meat in due season in the short time left before Armageddon."

That's ALWAYS the right answer.

Hah! I always loved when people would lose their train of thought or start to stammer, and then try to make a "save" with something cheesy like that. Never failed!

Magwitch

For the 1st 20 years in the borg, I answered as little as I could get away with, without upsetting mother and father. The next 20 years, I never bothered to answer. It was all so stupid to read the retarded paragraph and then repeat the stupidity in an answer.

undercover

...the ones who waited until the last minute to comment. To hell with the little kids having trouble with pronunciation and reading, and their parents waiting for something simple in the lesson so they could show off their children as being raised as little spiritual gifts from God. Nope, slacker JWs would raise their hands in a heartbeat to avoid the shame of someone approaching them after the meeting saying, "I missed your comment today!" I guess the shame of not commenting at the meetings far outweights letting cute little children express their love for Jehovah.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane... or more aptly, repressed traumatic memory reawakening...

Yes... I was a 'slacker' JW off and on. Even at the height of my JWness, I didn't like answering at the hall. First of all, I'm not an outgoing extrovert, so it was hard for me to seek attention by raising my hand and wanting to speak in a microphone. Second, I think my inner self knew more than my subconscience and kept me from wanting to speak up. It knew something was wrong. I don't have problems speaking up at work or speaking to crowds for work....why was it so hard at the KH?

And yes... I would pick some easy question to answer just to not hear the dreaded, "I missed your comment today, Brother Slacker" after the meeting. But late in my last days of attending, I quit answering and got over the embarrassment of not having done so. I was breaking out of the mold of mindless sheep, doing what I was told and expected to do. I remember finally taking a little pride, for lack of a better word, for not answering. One day an elder did say to me, "I've been missing your comments lately" or something to that effect, to which I said without hesitation, "that's because I haven't felt like answering". Direct, to the point and it took him by surprise. He had no retort. It was quite empowering.

pirata

I only answer the questions that I don't completely disagree with. These are one of the few questions I can answer freely.

Open mind

About 4 or 5 years ago, there was some "counsel" given to elders during the CO visits advising the elders to take the lead in giving "little kid" comments. I think the idea was that if a high-and-mighty elder can give a "Jehovah" or "Live Forever" comment, then the R&F wouldn't feel stupid giving those kind of parroted answers either.

And yes, I obediently barked out quite a few one word answers to show how "receptive" I was to the counsel.

om

"What will be examined in the following article?" How many of you adults shamelessly raised your hand for these questions?

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