Living Through the Brief Liberalization of Jehovah's Witnesses, Never Recovering

by TMS 74 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  BluesBrother

  So much truth in this old thread :

  I finally understood why my last few years on the elder body were so problematic. My difficulty sprung from actually believing in the principles taught about the role of the conscience, the understanding of the word minister, "Rights or Duties, Which?", etc.

  Something clicked when I read this and the opening post. I too was a young elder at that time. I know now why it all seemed better back then. We had a common-sense attitude to it all that stayed with my generation of elders , but is certainly lost now on this rule book bunch of dozos.

  I have left completely , Sis Blues has had tough times trying to explain the concept of conscience to younger elders . They don't get it..

  Thank you TMS
  
  
• 

  fulltimestudent

  
  

  Ultimate Axiom : I remember a great deal of intellectual freedom ...

  Yeah! I recall that too.

  And then the 'shutdown.' haha!!!!

  It really pissed one of my friends off. He had a young family after pioneering and continually struggled to make ends meet for his family. ( YHWH will provide - bullshit!)

  His father-in-law had come off the circuit work and was being 'developed' as a writer (including, it seems, articles with a spiritual content). As, I remember it, Dave Madzay had something to do with that 'writing' team, and Dave always seemed to me to be on the 'left' rather than the 'right (grin) but then he had be a bit liberal because of his drinking problem (another grin).

  Anyway, with this new liberal intellectual attitude, they were apparently allowed to use some previously forbidden, publications used in academic research and churches. I forget what the name of this 'Bible aid' was but it was a set of volumes and cost in those days, some 500 dollars (a few weeks wages as I recall it).

  Father-in-law tells son-in-law how helpful it would be to his writing research to have this $500 dollar research help. Son-in-law ever-conscious of serving YHWH, decides to buy this $500 set that has suddenly become a spiritual treasure for his father-in-law and his family goes without whatever.

  A few years later, the heavenly weather changes, and consulting anything from non-JW sources is suddenly forbidden (again) and the $500 volumes go into the garbage bin.

  My friend took it on the chin like the faithful Christian that he was (then), but I think it was the beginning of his awareness that led to his freedom ( he is now a sceptic).

  
  

  Maybe $500 was cheap to be free from bloody old YHWH and his Jesus side-kick.
• 

  fulltimestudent

  Another story - not everyone liked that sudden and exhilarating 'spring.' A sister (we were quite close at one time) finding all those changes a little difficult to deal with said to me one day. I liked it when everything was black and white, now everything is some shade of grey and you've got to work out how grey is too grey.

  OK. Brooklyn soon fixed that up.

  ---------------------------

  On another topic - I noted somewhere that Vaughn Guy is now on the Aussie Branch Committee. I always found him an easy guy to deal with. I wonder what he's like now?
• 

  slimboyfat

  Has anyone got the famous Sydlik(?) quote where he compared it to Vatican II and talked about opening windows to "let some air in here".
• 

  Vidiot

  tornapart - "...There were several changes and generally for the better. It wasn't until I read Ray Franz' book CoC recently that I realised a lot of those changes were brought about under his influence...."

  Probably why the pendulum swung so hard in the opposite direction after he was gone.

  They felt an overwhelmoing need to purge - through hardline policies - all of his "satanic" influence.