Is it me or do the JW's act like the Circuit Overseer is Jesus himself?

by stillstuckcruz 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Band on the Run

  And Bob Dylan wrote, paraphrase (I'm ashamed I can't quote), even the president of the United States must sometimes stand naked.

  We did this in our time. The finest meals, special outfits that my mom sewed. Somehow I don't think Catholics make so much effort for a papal visit. I was just a kid and would not be impressed today. The COs we had stood out from the regular witnesses and overseers. First, he could give a truly public talk, rather than mumble and stumble. Second, his ideas had a clarity. Third, he commanded respect far more than any overseer. Maybe it was the allure of the occasional rather than the usual. This is funny. I had forgotten.

  We were drilled what not to mention when he and his wife came for dinner. Normally, we were shunned but not disfellowshipped. My father was a former bodyguard to Knorr and Rutherford. He devoted his life to Witness stuff but he would never conform. Knorr and he were always engaged in struggles concerning factory work. My father was the only one in our KH to own property. No one could even acknowledge him at the hall. I yearned to have a friend who was a Witness as my mom's best friend had been. When they needed cash, they could fetch and step better than anyone.
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  steve2

  Universal Law #69: Females are brainless suckers for "men of God".

  All males have to do is wave a bit of random spirituality around and joyless female JWs start their ritual swooning. This says less about the female of the species than their repressed role within the religion.
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  meangirl

  Yep and it was disgusting. I remember one day we had met for service when the CO was down and it was raining really, really bad. Well everyone at the hall just pretended like yes we always go out when it is raining like a monsoon outside. I looked at my husband and said this is ridiculous. It is raining and I am going home.
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  WontLeave

  After I first came into the religion, when I saw the Kingdom Hall which was normally empty on weekday mornings suddenly fill with axillary pioneers for the month it struck me as odd. People were falling all over themselves to impress this guy and I immediately thought of all the scriptures which talked about doing things for the glory of men.

  Then, when I attended my first district convention, a big group of the guys in my Hall were running down a corridor like the place was on fire. One yelled to me "Want to go with us to meet one of the kings of the earth?" A member of the Governing Body was there and they were practically wetting their pants over him. The only thing I felt about him was that he was old and even with his (if I recall correctly) Scottish accent, his talks were boring and he spoke very slowly.

  I mentioned how uncomfortable the whole thing made me, every time some official from the Society was around. It's like I was speaking Swahili to these people, as they couldn't fathom why I wouldn't swoon over someone higher up the ladder between the unwashed and God himself. I thought about the times I'd heard them say there is no clergy/laity distinction and was just dumbfounded.

  The part that had me most confused is that many of the guys I knew in the congregation were converts. I can maybe understand how a born-in can be so indoctrinated in the proprietary culture and emotions of very close-knit and separatist extremist group, but some of these people had spent decades as human beings yet had decided to become these mindless freaks that I saw.
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  teel

  Somehow I don't think Catholics make so much effort for a papal visit.

  Yet they bash those Catholics for the show they make for every papal visit. Hypocrites.
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  nugget

  It's all about appearances. The elders want to present the best picture of the congregation they can so they don't get told off by the CO about the quality of talks and discipline. The best speakers and dressing up is all about appearance.

  Also there is a feeling that these people have given up much to be in the position they are in and as such should be honoured for their sacrifice.

  This is a religion that is obsessed with how they appear to others rather than what they actually are.
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  wobble

  I had to laugh one C.O visit, an Elder was asked in my hearing "Where's your brother ?" the guy was looking for where the E's fleshly bro, also an Elder, was in the KH.

  Elder one replied "Last time I saw him he was so far up the C.O's ass he could see so-and-so's shoes !" LOL

  In one succinct sentence he had explained his own brothers creepiness, another Elders super-crawling, and the C.O's obvious enjoyment of the situation, being adored like he was J.C himself !

  I had not heard that expression before, and certainly not in a K.H , boy did I laugh, but it was SO true !
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  steve2

  Yet they bash those Catholics for the show they make for every papal visit. Hypocrites.

  The Watchtower has always reserved a special place for its often vindictive, spiteful opinions about the Roman Catholic church. True, a lot of what they currently write about Catholics is much more restrained and muted compared to the 1930s and 40s; but they continue to single out the Catholics as being the very worst of the worst in Christendom. I always thought how strange their targeting of the Catholic religion was and then it dawned on me: The structure of both religions is very similar:

  To Catholics, the Pope is God's representative on earth. If he declares something to be God's word, good Catholics obey without question. He can change doctrine in a flash and the faithful followers accept it as directed by God. When he visits countries around the globe, Catholics flock to catch a glimpse. Catholics have the Vatican, Witnesses have Brooklyn.

  If you've ever been in the company of a strict Catholic, you'll already know how much reverence they have for the Pope and other earthly representatives of Christ. A Catholic colleague of mine became very excited a few months ago because her grapevine suggested the Pope was expected to visit New Zealand. She described how her local group of Catholics were even then drawing up a plan to ensure they saw him when he visited. As it turned out, the grapevine was inaccurate: He was not planning on visiting this country after all. While disappointed, she turned her energy to now keeping up to date with his visits to other countries and holds onto the hope that one day he'll visit here. I caught myself often making comparisons between her excitement and that of the Witnesses as they anticipate an upcoming convention where representatives from Brooklyn are scheduled to appear. Spookily similiar.
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  Mr. Falcon

  When I was little I always thought the CO's were they almost magical guys who you were supposed to look up to. It wasn't until I got older and had to work with them that I realized that they are usually nothing more than a over-the-top Ned Flanders type who prefer living out of a car with your cantakerous old battle axe wife, never have kids and get a lifetime of free meals.

  

  

  YAY! the Circuit Overseer is here!!!!
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  WTWizard

  I noticed that, when the hounder-hounder is scheduled, the boasting sessions are usually packed. And there is always 15-20 witlesses waiting to do field circus above and beyond the usual group. They also push pio-sneering during the month that the hounder-hounder is in, which is ridiculous because anyone doing that would pio-sneer every time the idiot shows up. And the Kingdumb Hell fills up earlier than normal when the hounder-hounder shows up.

  I never really gave a fxxx when this idiot showed up. I never pio-sneered when his visit was going on, nor did I make an effort to work with the hounder-hounder. And I never gave him even a penny on my own (aside that they had those forced resolutions where we were forced to vote to give the pig some material things, usually paying for his car and/or sickness insurance). As far as that goes, I would be just as willing to dog it during the month the hounder-hounder shows up just to make the congregation look like sxxx.