What percentage of assmbly experiences are total fabrication?

by NoRegrets 41 Replies latest jw experiences

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  NoRegrets

  When I was in 4th grade, I ended up in a situation involving minor school politics. They had developed a "student council" which did little more than sell pencils at lunch time for fundraisers. Anyway, I was appointed by the teacher and didn't think much of it as an 8-9 year old. When I got home, I made the mistake of sharing the news with my mom who became immediately alarmed at the "political" implications of the opportunity. I was given a copy of the school brochure to take to the teacher which I believe included a note from her as to why I had to "resign" from my postion. I thought that was the end of it but I was wrong.

  Some time later an announcement was made that the PO was looking for young ones to relate personal experiences for his upcoming Circuit Assembly part. Well, my mother just LIT UP! Immediately after she began recounting the story (at least her version of it) and forced me to seek out the PO to tell him I had an experience. In the end, she completely wrote the part for me even though she wasn't there and it was a TOTAL FABRICATION! Is this the norm? I know it happens, but how often? I would guess more than half the time the parts are AT LEAST exaggerated if not a complete imaginary tale!
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  jamiebowers

  There's been many threads on this throughout the years. Your mom, like many others, was probably encouraged to fabricate the story. If the stories aren't fabricated, then huge chunks of the truth are deleted from these "experiences". For example, after I was df'd I heard that my mom was chosen to relate an "experience" about her unbelieving husband opposing her and later becoming a jw himself. I wondered to myself if she bothered to mention that said husband molested her 12-year old daughter, mentally tortured her son, and that her daughter grew up to marry an abusive jw and was df'd in her attempts to flee the violent man who was threatening to kill her. Probably not.
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  OnTheWayOut

  I think you will find that any true experience is loaded with exaggerations until it is a total false fabrication.

  In movies and television, there are true stories and stories based on the truth. The ones based on the truth are barely accurate in the overall story but details are totally made up.

  There is a third category called "Inspired by a true story." This means that something sort of like this happened and people wrote a fiction based on hearing it. That would be more in line with some of Watchtower's assembly experiences.
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  wannabefree

  When I was new in "The Truth", a convention experience was given by my study conductor about my transformation from worldly to Witness, I didn't know about it in advance, so when I heard it, I recognized parts, but some of it was definately sensationalized.

  Perhaps they start out based on truth, but C.O.'s and D.O.'s reserve the right to use poetic license to make them more interesting and encouraging.
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  caliber

  It's never total fabrication there is always at least a faint glimmer of truth somewhere
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  Retrovirus

  Some good examples on this thread
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  WontLeave

  WT experiences are to reality what Catholicism is to the Bible. Many of them are even beyond "inspired by actual events" and into "based on characters from...", like when a movie franchise becomes so cheesy the original author wants nothing to do with it anymore, but the production company keeps writing more and more ridiculous garbage with the same characters.
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  NoRegrets

  They ARE encouraged to lie if it means a story that means it will pull at the heart-strings which equals a sentimental streak which can line the ol' contribution boxes!
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  Iamallcool

  I am wondering do they fake emotions too?
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  truman

  The experiences on an assembly stage are about as real as reality TV.