Things I thought about during the Memorial talk last night:
I don't know if it was just the Memorial I went to or if this was across the board, but it seems that the talk was dumbed down a bit more than it had been in the past. Not that it wouldn't surprise me if was dumbed down. That would coincide nicely with the "New and Improved WT for Dummies" release this past week. But then again - it might be that the speaker ain't all that. Not my favorite JW in the world. I was dismayed when they announced his name. A bit of douchebaggery wrapped up in self-righteousness.
I noticed that this outline pretty much skipped all of the events of Jesus' life leading up to the actual Passover(?) meal and/or the Lord's Supper. The speaker jumped right to the part where the Passover meal had ended, Jesus had dismissed Judas and instituted the new covenant and meal. Apparently it is accepted in JW dogma, and among their followers, that Judas left before anything of note happened without question. I know I did back when I was in. I never thought about it. When I finally read the accounts on my own, after allowing doubts and questions to surface did I realize that there was a problem between scripture and JW teaching. And the speaker, right after mentioning Judas being dismissed, had everyone turn to Luke and read the part where Jesus said he 'desired to share this Passover with you' but stops before it gets to where it shows that Judas was present for the bread and wine. Now I'm sure most didn't even catch it. The mention of Judas being excused first was a one sentence statement. If I already didn't have an ear for it, I would have missed it. It was so early on, most people were still getting settled in. And then by not reading any part of the Gospels that focused on the actual events, they were able to slip that whole Judas conundrum right on by.
Then we get to why the Memorial is important and why Jesus had to die. And it hit me...though I've read as much on some threads here but it wasn't until I was sitting there and listening to the speaker explain how Adam brought sin into the world and passed it on through his DNA (no shit, the speaker said that)... the ransom sacrifice is total bunk. I mean, it's all bunk, but you tend to ignore some aspects of it because it's easier to focus on the more provable issues. While I don't hold to the notion of a virgin born son of God who performed miracles or was resurrected, I tend to not worry too much that Chrisitans and off-shoot sects accept it as fact. Maybe a man Jesus did exist. Maybe he was a non-violent revolutionary, or insurrectionist. Maybe he was ahead of this time in trying to show that the Jewish faith was off track from the holy writings. Maybe he was just a corner preacher or the world's first televangelist before there was TV. Who knows...
But, getting back to my point... (I warned you... musings) Science and archeology has proven that man has existed on this planet for much longer than 6 thousand years. If that is fact, then the Adam story is not a historical account. Not that it was ever meant to be literal maybe, but those who took it as literal have now backed themselves into a corner. If the Genesis account of Adam is not fact...if Adam was not created 6 thousand years ago, then the ransom sacrifice has no basis in reality or fact. Even if Jesus was a real person who died a martyr's death, it meant absolutely nothing then and it means absolutely nothing now. So I'm fucking wasting my time sitting here listeing to this numbnut drone on about Adamic sin when I could be out doing something useful or fun.
And while I'm pouting that I'm wasting my time, the speaker trots out the ole Adamic sin is like a dent in a bread pan illustration. I don't know if the local guy did this on his own or if it was in the outline. He said if you had a pan that produced a perfect loaf everytime, what would happen if you dropped it and put a dent in it. Then every loaf would have a dent. and that is our scientific proof of how Adamic sin got to us today...we're all little dents of sin from our forefather, the naked bad fruit eater. Of course - I'm sure no one in attendance realized that if the baker dropped the pan, the dent is his fault not the pan's... and that to get a perfect loaf of bread, you have to put the correct ingredients in and cook it properly, again all the responsibility of the baker, not the pan. What a stupid illustration. They must take their audience as total dimwits....oh wait....
Then it came time to finally, finally pass the crackers and Manischewitz. But - hold your taste buds... we gotta do it just like they did back then. Just like Jesus did with his apostles. So which account did we reference to see how it was done? That's right! We got the scoop from someone who wasn't even there. Good ole Paul, who didn't become an apostle until later, is our source for how to conduct this most holy of rituals. We read 1 Corinthians. Eh, big deal, you might say. Well, it kinda is because neither Matthew or Mark say that Jesus told them to keep doing this in remembrance. John doesn't even mention the partaking of emblems. So that leaves Luke. Well, we can't go reading Luke now can we. After all, according to Luke, Judas was still there when the new arrangement went down. Not only that, but Luke reverses the order of the emblem partaking. Luke has Jesus offering the wine first and the bread second. Matthew and Mark agree with Paul and have the bread first, but it's only a 45 minute meeting. Let's not confuse things by reading accounts that don't agree with your planned ritual.
And then my favorite part of the Memorial. When they pass the emblems and the speaker shuts the fuck up for a few minutes. Glorious silence. Ahhhh...
Of course the two octogenarian elders they got to pray over the emblems decided to try to give their own Memorial talk in their prayer. On and on they droned. STFU already and pass the shit.
And don't you love how someone has to pass the emblems in front of the guys who just walked all around the all carrying them? I mean, if they wanted to, they could have taken a nibble or sip any time they wanted. Why all the ritual? And the speaker. He's standing next to the table the entire time. He could've just grabbed some when they set it back down...but noooo, we gotta make it a point to give him the plate/glass for him to acutally take in hand and hand back. Growing up in it, I never thought about it, but now it just looks stupid and ritualistic.
Finally, everyone has had their chance to taste Jesus...
But wait.... we're not done. We were reminded that attending the Memorial alone is not sufficent for proving to Jehovah that we appreciate his Son's demise. And not only is attending other meetings enough. We have to prove our faith through all our works. We were pointed to James 2:24, 26. Look closely... verse 24, verse 26.
24 - Y OU see that a man is to be declared righteous by works, and not by faith alone.
26 - Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
He actually read 24 and then skipped to 26. These two verses show it's important to study, attend meetings, progress in our 'accurate' knowledge of the Bible (no shit, he actually said accurate). But what about verse 25. I read it on my own
25 - In the same manner was not also Ra´hab the harlot declared righteous by works, after she had received the messengers hospitably and sent them out by another way?
Okay - hold the phone... a whore was able to be declared righteous by works because she helped the good guys escape detection and then helped them escape... Well, that's a lot easier than going to meetings and in service. Leaving that verse out allows them to impress on the listener how important it is to follow the direction of the organization on what they consider "works" needed to be accepted.
All in all, it was no worse than any other one I've been to, but it wasn't any better either. Same ole same ole. And I did manage to escape without having to talk to too many people that I didn't want to talk to.
Next episode: Leaving the KH parking lot between Memorial meetings. Warning! It may be too graphic for more sensitive viewers.