How "spriritual" (cultish) was your congregation?

by brokethechain 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  brokethechain

  Scaling the level of cult control within the JW organization on a scale of 1-10, I would say bethel life is probably a 10.

  I ended up in a downtown big city congregation, and it had a high influx of uber zealous young people from other parts of the country. And, as controlling as the WT publications are, some elders managed to find ways to add more rules. A very controlling P.O. made sure we had regular local needs' talks with stuff like: "some of the brothers in this congregation are very unbalanced with their amount of recreation. Balanced recreation only requires OCCASIONAL recreation. In this cong., some are socializing SEVERAL TIMES / WEEK! That doesn't leave a person refreshed, then they are tired for FS" We were also repeatedly councelled against working in service with our friends, of arriving at the group pre-arranged.

  There was also a huge amount of social pressure to "pioneer", stay "pioneering" or go to "bethel". I got the feeling that normal things like buying a house, going to college or having a normal job put someone on the fringes. But after visiting a few other congregation, I saw that some were so much more chilled. Everyone, including elders and their children, going to college, having careers, buying bigger homes, without any feeling that there was any pressure to do otherwise.

  From my perspective, the contrast made those more liberal congregations seem like any other protestant religion.

  But then the odd thing happened. After word got out that I had stopped attending meetings/FS, the friends I had that were in more chilled congregations were just as harsh on me for "leaving Jehovah". So I saw it's a cult, no matter what degree of cultishness.
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  creativhoney

  i think even people who are 'chilled' when it boils down to it will do what they want, get drunk, fornicate, smoke, and keep on going to the KH - but the big reason they become harsh with you (hypocritically so) is in case they are found out for being a sympathiser and get the same fate you do. - that is a bigger fear than anything - the fear that the elders can take away their friends or family. ive seen this even with my non baptized relatives and those who dont even attend. - they break all the rules and yet continue to shun me, whilst mixing with faders, and even people who are the most 'worldly' because thats ok, they dont have a label and you cant be DFd for it...

  I think thats it, plain and simple x
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  WTWizard

  I noticed that they never discussed more practical matters. They whine about recreation and "unnecessary" socializing. It is holding people back from pious-sneering or doing well in field circus (which is a complete waste of time, which is the real reason why people suck at it).

  However, are you going to be out in field circus if you are in the hospital? Suppose you are in one of those run-down apartment buildings (there are some in every major city) with stairs to access the upper apartments but no daylight. The only light comes from one of those squiggly things (or several) near the upper level, and it is rather dim near the bottom. You get near the top, or are on the way back down still near the top, and the lights go out. This is going to be more realistic when countries start helping Israel out and Saudi Arabia cuts off their oil like they did in 1973. Now, it is pitch dark. Suppose you had a flashlight. You pull it out of your bag, turn it on, and you can guide yourself and your partner down the stairs safely. Without it, you could well fall down the stairs and land in the hospital. Without the light, your field circus day ends abruptly. With it, though you might not want to stay out, you still have that option.

  Or, you are at the Big Boasting Session. The morning intermission starts with the singing of that horrible song, and in the middle of the song, the lights go out and the emergency light system malfunctions because they cheaped out. It is pitch dark inside the auditorium, and some have bad balance in pitch dark. If enough people have flashlights that work, they could turn what would have been a dangerous situation into a disruption. People could be guided out of the main auditorium back toward the parking lot, and the more people have working flashlights, the fewer attendants are going to be needed. If no one has a working flashlight, the elderly and those with balance problems could get hurt and people could stumble on others, falling and landing in the hospital.

  This might not seem like a big deal now. However, the first country to lift Israel from losing another war is going to pxxx off Saudi Arabia (anyone else remember what happened in 1973?). The result: Another oil embargo, just when environmentalists are preventing us from developing our own oil reserves. This will increase the likelihood of frequent rolling blackouts, and thus the chances of encountering the above situation. Those who plan ahead will find it no big deal. Those who do not, oh well.
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  punkofnice

  The CoBE used a very revealing turn of phrase: 'We need to be company men!'
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  Fernando

  I have come to view all religion/s as cultic/controlling, albeit to varying degrees.

  In contrast I have come to experience organic (natural) spirituality as very liberating and healing.
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  Phizzy

  The congregation I was in was probably the least cultish and least controlling in the county, if not the country, for that reason we always had "growth", but it was JW's moving in because their original Congo. was a nasty nazi nest. Because it was liberal, sociable, friendly with a good number of really genuinely loving people, and above all it was fun, it took me a hell of a lot longer to wake up than if I had been somewhere else, dammit !
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  trujw

  One thing that stayed in the back of my mind as a WTF moment even as a child was a Hair cut that was popular in our area. It was longer on top and really shortly shaved on the sides for men and boys. We had a local needs talk about how basically wordly this hair cut was. I liked history even at 12 and remembered seeing pictures of young men from the 30 thirties with the same hair cut. It really got me thinking about if they new what the heck they are talking about. This wasn't some new wordly fad it was a hair cut popular 50 years ago by proper english children. I imagined back then if you didn't have this haircut you would be called out for trying to follow wordly trends. On eof mant things that help wake me up
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  cobaltcupcake

  All the congregations I associated with were in New England which is a pretty conservative area to begin with. The general attitude in most of them was very "by the book." I was in one congregation in Boston that was composed of about 35% pioneers and 65% publishers - lots of pressure to pioneer.
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  minimus

  The last Hall I was in was more independent UNTIL the ex-Bethelites came in. But they tried to set the proper example and were generally respected and didn't create too much stir. There were a lot of older elders, set in their ways that were basically good men.

  The first congregation I was in was run by an ex Zone/District Servant. He was a Society man but still a decent person who tried to single handedly take care of everyone's problems and his health became affected by it. Then the elder arrangement came in. He groomed his nephews to take over. He became the PO in a congregation not too far away and the dynasties continued.