JW's who remain in the organisation but try to reform it - pissing against the wind

by jambon1 54 Replies latest jw friends

  • willyloman
    willyloman

    Eight or nine years ago, while I was still an elder, I wrote a long letter to Guy Pierce. It was right after he was named to the GB. Pierce had been had been our CO a few years prior and had been at our home for lunch on a couple of occasions. We worked together in FS and I felt I "knew" him so I thought he would be sympathetic to my thoughts.

    I wrote him that since the 1995 generation change there had been a noticeable impact on many JWs, notably the loss of a sense of urgency. I told him many of the "friends" our on the front lines had deduced from the Society's doctrinal adjustment that they may grow old in this system and were beginning to pace themselves. I made several suggestions that I thought the GB ought to consider and, with all due respect, offered them for his review.

    Among these was the suggestion that the meeting arrangement be looked at with a view toward folding the book study in with the school and service meeting and give the friends an extra night off a week. I suggested the WTS could then promote that free evening as Family Night, to be devoted to studying for the regular meetings, or personal study. Ironically, the Society did almost exactly that a few years later. My other suggestion was that FS should be revised to include all sorts of "service," and that the publishers should be able to sign up and count their hours for hall cleaning and maintenance, visiting the sick and elderly, and all sorts of "good works" other than just FS, and that all this would be organized by the congregation ahead of time.

    There were a couple of other suggestions, and my thinking was these would all benefit the bros and sisters and create a big boost in morale and esprit d'corps and would be met with gratitude and relief by the rank and file.

    I realize how hopelessly idealistic I was then. I was channeling my frustrations and disappointment, my disillusionment, into reform. I really thought reform was the answer.

    After I spent considerable time polishing this letter and getting every word just right, it dawned on me that the letter would not be well received. So I never sent it. Looking back, I knew on some level that this letter would just cause me problems. So I continued to search for answers on the internet and found this forum (and others). As I studied the "truth about The Truth." I came to realize what a poster, above, said: There is no reform for a cult.

    A year or two after writing it, I reviewed that letter and was glad I never mailed it. It was clear to me by then that reform was futile.

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    WILLYLOMAN - funny thing...

    Myself and the above mentioned 'progressive' elder, YEARS AGO when I was still on the elder body, would always suggest to each other how the book study should be eradicated an only one meeting held during the week... We were prophetic! We joke about it even now.

  • NewChapter
    NewChapter

    Reform? Why would the truth ever need to be reformed? The desire will pass.

    Technically, the bible was actually written to the Faithful and Discreet slave. It's their job to pass it on to the common folk. From the F&DS only a tiny number is actually charged with the job of explaining the bible. The R&F's only job is to follow and be submissive. It's not up to them to question doctrine or practice---they are to wait on Jehovah.

    Why would anyone ever think this group would be open to reform? REFORM=APOSTACY=COMPLETELY CUTTING OFF. problem solved.

    NC

  • moshe
    moshe

    OutLaw, that looks like a sorry burger for a sorry ass JW-

    But for you OutLaw, you deserve the best and these lovely servers have it---- a quadruple bypass burger, from the Heart Attack Grill, in Chandler, Arizona- if you weight over 350lbs- the burger is FREE.

    -

  • Scully
    Scully

    You can't reform any organization whose foundation is falsehood, whose walls are corruption, and whose mortar includes the wrongful deaths and shattered lives of men, women and children who have been duped into its service.

    The only forms of protest that the WTS will ever understand, and the only forms of protest that the WTS specifically attacks, are boycotting Field Service™, Meeting Attendance™ and, most importantly, withdrawal of financial support.

    "[L]oyal Christians refuse to believe just any statement made about their brothers, and they certainly do not allow bad publicity" - as opposed to false publicity - "to cause them to miss Christian meetings, to slow down in the field ministry, or to waver in their faith." (Watchtower, 03/01/2003, p. 9, par. 6)

    Why do you suppose that there is such vehement pressure on JWs to avoid association with Inactive™ people, or to avoid unnecessary contact with DFd relatives? It's because those are the channels whereby people who have genuine conscientious objections to practices within the WTS can share their justifiable concerns with the people they care about.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    What a lot of rubbish being spouted on this thread.

    Of course JWs will "reform". They have already reformed in many ways, and the process will continue. Even the most mainstream denominations today started out as radical sects: that's how the development of a religion works. The denominalization of JWs may have been more protracted than for some other groups (although Christianity itself took a couple of centuries) but the direction and destination are inexorable.

    Those who remain in the organization and push for reform are heroes on the front line.

    What was the name again of the lawyer on this forum who was pushing for reform? He was DFed but was pushing for reform from the outside. He had a good website too. I wonder what happened to him.

  • serenitynow!
    serenitynow!
    Those who remain in the organization and push for reform are heroes on the front line.

    Nope, they're just wasting more time. Why not leave, and just worship on your own? Why fight that uphill battle?

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt

    The reforms are 'just around the corner'! They are as near as the door!

    If it's Jehovah's will, the reforms will take place BEFORE Armageddon.

    Wait on Jehovah, brothers.

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt

    Side question: Are there any ex-Bethelites who believe that reform is possible? I'm very curious. My experience at headquarters has colored my thinking on this topic, to a large extent.

  • moshe
    moshe

    If you like the idea cheating death and of living forever on paradise earth, then you have to be a JW. No other religion gives you this guarantee. If you tried to reform JWs, they wouldn't be JWs anymore and that just won't sit well with the Witnesses. You might as well try reforming a Chicago Cubs baseball fan, who have been waiting longer than 1914 to win the World Series.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit