"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there. (page 2)

LongHairGal

JADEEN:

Screw them and their local needs talks. These talks are given because something is bothering the elders and their wives. They give that "marry only in the Lord" talk so that other single women in the congregation won't go looking for a man outside the religion. The only problem is that a single woman over 30 is forced to look outside the religion because the only single brothers left are unsuitable, to put it kindly.

The religion knows that once a woman is married they cannot go up to her and bother her the way they would bother a single woman. Bottom line: this is all about there not being enough single women to do favors for all the users. Just my observation.

If I were sitting there and a local needs talk was given for MY benefit, I would be using my middle finger to get something out of my eye, if you know what I mean.

straightshooter

Sadly most local needs talks I heard was a total waste of time. They were meant mainly for the ones that were not in attendance.

Open mind

OTWO: "On your title, nobody should really hear the talks. "

Good point. The "should" is from a JW Elder perspective, but the title didn't indicate that. As for NOBODY "should" listen to them, well my wife and I don't mind. The wackier the topic the better as far as we're concerned. I would have loved to hear all about the evils of belly-button piercing.

willyloman: "poor communication skills exemplified by the WTS"

Absolutely. It's not about results, it's about appearances.

charlie brown jr.: "I was humiliated but like a Brainwashed Idiot..."

One of the few Local Needs talks that hit its mark as intended. Sorry you went through that. Hope it wasn't one I gave.

watersprout:

sir82

If they were serious about communicating people's perceived "faults," they'd do what works: sit down with them face to face and have a frank talk.

Everything they do is designed to create the impression they are "communicating" but in fact their methods are designed to put the responsibility for getting the message solely on the hearer, the intended target of their message. It's no skin off their nose if no one listens.

Suddenly, a whole lot of what I've seen now makes sense.

Open mind

(I accidentally posted too early.)

watersprout: Belly button piercing? You've gotta be kidding me. Too bad we don't have audio of that gem.

Anony Mous: "There are only 3 subject for those:"

(See watersprout's post.)

Jadeen: "Marrying only in the lord".

I hope you're having your reward in full! Good for you.

LostGeneration: "Local needs was always the ultimate read between the lines exercise."

I almost forgot about that subset of Local Needs talks: The Marking Talk. (Elder Bodies usually use the monthly Local Needs slot for this baby.) When we were new members of a former congregation, we heard this marking talk about not being a moocher and not encouraging the moocher by giving material assistance to him/her. We had no clue who they were talking about and ended up inadvertently inviting the targeted moocher over for dinner the following weekend!

BTW: The moocher wasn't a pioneer or "exemplary" or the mooching would probably have been encouraged by the BOE.

Found Sheep: Did they have talks on apostasy about you? Or are you faded?

WontLeave: "These talks are a means to whip the congregation into a frothy lather against someone so they'll do the dirty work of guilt-tripping the "wrongdoer"

Exactly.

LongHairGal: "I would be using my middle finger to get something out of my eye, if you know what I mean."

LOL. I'll have to keep that in mind if I'm ever there in person for another Local Needs talk. Not too likely though.

straightshooter: "Sadly most local needs talks I heard was a total waste of time. "

That's how it was this week for us as we were half-listening to the talk (during commercials) and mainly watching TV. It was almost a surreal experience. The speaker had "no hold on us".

om

Open mind

I'm trying to be as gracious as Flipper and reply to everyone (this time) so....

"Hey there sir82!! Thanks for posting."

om

Found Sheep

They had talks on how someone can become "unrepentant" after showing repentance? Not sure what scriptures they could use to back that up? I was reproved but then married the worldly man I got reproved over.

then they had a few on how it was the elders that help weak ones and how they shouldn't try to reach out to any inactive ones.

and then after I DA they had many on apostates and not to even "look" at one. I heard the first few. I used to listen in and they didn't know it. I heard from a friend about the last few. It's a small hall so they have to talk about something. There were two more that DF after me so i did get out of the spot light.

Open mind

@ Found Sheep: Reading about how your "scandalous activity" kept you in the local JW spotlight for a year just demonstrates what a sad little religion this is.

om

Found Sheep

i agree! and I left cold turkey?!

21stcenturywoman

I recall a "local needs" talk pertaining to a sister who was having marital problems and/or was in the midst of getting a divorce. She was "secretly" dating/having an affair with one of the young brothers in the congregation. It was so obvious that the talk was about the two of them, because both had been "publicly reproved" a week or two prior. The elder even made a comment about her physical appears. He basically called her physically unattractive during the talk.

"Local Needs" Talks: The people who should really hear them are never there.

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