Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 03-20-11 WT Study (SINGLENESS) (page 3)

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I am a single young man.I take my education is that a bad thing in today's economy?Me personally relationships are overrated.You are better off single then you are married and miserable.

Pika_Chu

Poor Harold...He'll probably die a virgin...not to mention, he's not allowed to masturbate...crazy!

JW GoneBad

Par 10: 'A brother named Mark.......'

I thought his name was Andre?

Thank you Blondie.

mrquik

Things are looking pretty bleak then getting the ex a partner.

I'll start off by saying that, yes, single 'sisters' do get the worst of it in a congo. They are indeed used, neglected, ignored and forgotten. I will say, though, that it's not entirely a piece of cake to be a single 'brother' either. If you're a single male JW who hasn't gotten married by his late twenties and you're not an Elder, MS or pioneer, you're going to be subject to being ignored and forgotten also. It seems that continuing in an unmarried state into your thirties means that your "usable shelf life" has expired, as it were. Sisters can and do stick their noses up at brothers who aren't seen to have enough prestige or status, at brothers who aren't "doing enough".

I got baptized in my late twenties and I couldn't get married right away as I still had other affairs to get in order before I realistically could. Having untreated ADHD meant that it was all I could do to work a full-time job, take care of cooking and other household chores, do the required studies, prepare occasional talks and make it to the meetings and FS on a consistent basis. I had no energy or inclination to reach out for "extras" like being a MS or pioneer! And you know what? Single sisters ultimately stuck their noses up at me for that. Over time people who I thought were friends really weren't true friends at all. They were expecting me to do more, more, more when I could do little else besides taking care of my own needs. I'm sure folks were talking behind my back about my not doing enough for the congo and for Jehoober. My personal popularity was far eclipsed by those more "normal" married couples who were always getting the invites to various events and get togethers, while I was usually forgotten. It all got to be quite depressing!

Don't think that single 'brothers' have it all so easy...

V665 V665

punkofnice

Another pathetic advert for doing more to get money and power for the GB or die soon (subject to ''overlapping'')!!

I couldn't stomach reading all of this but.......

Harold 95 and all the other 'named' JW's. Are these those ficional characters they invent from time to time? Any of them single as NPG's? (Non Practicing Gays)

Para 3 was a real 'Do more for the GB!'

Para 7 - How do we know Timothy 'cheerfully' accepted Paul's invitation and did so for 'many years thereafter'?

BluesBrother

p 4] "Single Christians know that they do not have to get married to be recognized or appreciated by Jehovah or his organization"

Hmmm. Men maybe but women? Sister Blues calls herself a "spiritual widow" and to the congregation is single. I have seen firsthand how differently she is treated from when she was an elders wife. That is why I associate to some extent, to keep in touch. I have had to intercede on her behalf with overbearing attendants, M/S. and the like. They would never have spoken to her like that in the old days. Single sisters do not have the same opportunities if they want full-time service. They can doggedly pioneer in their town but are not given the glamour assignments that can come their way if they have a husband who takes them.

p17] "A conscious choice to remain single so that they can better pursue their ministry"

Similarities to the Catholic priests have already been noted . For how many decades have we been encouraged to be single because we are so close to "the end" . I browsed a copy of the J Rutherford book "Children". It was written as a dialogue and the young couple featured decided to put off their marriage until the kingdom had arrived. When was that written? The early 1930's ....

At least they did not repeat this piece of crackpot advice from Awake '72 12/8 p8

"And you do well to guard that you are not regularly talking about the opposite sex, reading novels featuring sex and romance or watching television programs or motion pictures of that sort. This same doctor [unnamed] added: “I recommend a policy of prevention. . . . If walking in the darkness makes a woman ache inside, then she should stick to daylight for her strolls. New Orleans jazz has a primitive tom-tom rhythm that does a single woman’s peace of mind no good. Tchaikovsky wrote some [music that is] mood music for two—and despair music for one. It’s masochistic [self-tormenting] to listen to music that is disturbing.”"

Mickey mouse

During paragraph 15, an elder's wife answered and said that the congregation is fully able to meet all the needs of our brothers and sisters without a marriage mate. I wanted to turn round and ask how long she had been shagging the single male contingent.

Seriously, how can they simply discount the strongest of human instincts: to partner up, mate and procreate?!

miseryloveselders

During paragraph 15, an elder's wife answered and said that the congregation is fully able to meet all the needs of our brothers and sisters without a marriage mate. I wanted to turn round and ask how long she had been shagging the single male contingent.

Seriously, how can they simply discount the strongest of human instincts: to partner up, mate and procreate?!

You know something, as a man I don't condone hitting women, but I might have made an exception in that case. What an arrogant and inconsiderable thing to say. I'm convinced that these articles create more problems than anything else.

jgnat

lifeisgood, I'd like to add to your comment, "I don't think that going after "status" is desireable."

As the non-JW wife of a no-status Witness, I can say he is treated differently - snubbed in fact - because he has no status in the congregation.

Before Witnesses at conventions figure out I'm not, they'll often drop hints to their status. They'll tell me if they are first or second generation. They'll mention involvement on Quick Builds or the local Hospital Liaison Committee.

I remember the day he came home despondent because he was admonished by a Ministerial Servant that he was spending too much time chatting up the widows. They are a sweet and lonely bunch, and hubby loves to chat them up. They remind him, I know, of his own mama. I have seen a widow brushed off by an elder because he had more "important business" to attend to.

My husband has also experienced the shame of not finding a partner for field service. He's been told bluntly that it's his problem. What is a man in his position to do? He can't dip in to the pool of single sisters; that would be unseemly.

Most of the time we are not considered for social events.

We were unknowingly given dance-only (second tier) wedding invitations. We arrived to see the rest of the brothers and sisters finishing up their meal and sharing reminisces, as they do at weddings. Hubby was so humiliated he asked to leave.

I agree that the going after status in the congregation - to move up from bathroom cleaner to baptismal tank attendant - matters only to those living in that fishbowl, but the lack of status leads to all sorts of bad behavior by fellow Witnesses.

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 03-20-11 WT Study (SINGLENESS)

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