Really enjoyed the CONvention....why?

by punkofnice 50 Replies latest jw experiences

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  punkofnice

  I remember when I was a mind cleansed(TM) JW I would listen to the talks when I wasn't napping.

  On the long tiring drive home I'd say how I ''enjoyed(TM)'' the sessions and felt ''encouraged(TM)''.

  .....and yet I couldn't recall a single ''point(TM)'' made. I couldn't remember what it was that actually made me feel good.

  On one occasion I asked the family what they found ''encouraging(TM)'' or interesting.

  Tumble weed. No examples. Not even me!

  All I remember was that ''soon(TM)'' ''Jehovah(TM)''would make it all better because the ''world(TM)'' was bad and very naughty!

  I wonder if it was just being in a group of like minded people that was encouraging?

  ....or what....considering I couldn't recall why.......a bit like mass hypnosis?
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  Phizzy

  I do not believe I ever uttered the words in your thread title. I too could never recall anything.

  About a Month after we had got over the D.C they used to have an item on the S.M all about the "highlights" of the D.C. The Bros taking the item used to go to the sisters who were prolific note takers and crib from their notes, as they too couldn't recall anything.

  After the S.M. I still couldn't remember one "highlight".

  I think they are simply a form of mass hypnosis.

  I always connect it wirh Homer Simpson saying to the pastor "Yea, but when you were up there going Yadda Yadda Yadda, I wasn't listening !".
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  breakfast of champions

  CONventions are a form of dissonance reduction.

  You spend your life trying to reconcile the wacky beliefs and attitudes of this cult with the real world, and month after month that unpleasant feeling of cognitive dissonance grows.

  Spending a few days with thousands of people who nod their heads and believe the same as you reduces that unpleasant feeling.

  Thus, the CONvention "high".

  It really has nothing to do with the actual content of the program.
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  punkofnice

  Phizzy - At least I never had the parts on the S.M. recapping the CONvention or a$$emb£y. That's true I remember one sister that would always be asked for her notes. Speaking of the Simpsons I found the 'Movementarians' very like the JWs. ''La La La La La La LA La leader!''

  BoC - Agreed. Dissonance reduction. I remember the amount of times I looked over my notes and tried to see the 'deep things of Jehovah(TM)'and all I saw was gobbledygook with scriptures.
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  notjustyet

  Why?,.... Why? Why did I really enjoy the convention? Cause it was the best one yet,..... That's why!!

  Lol

  Remember how the last one was the better then the one before,...

  I should have asked what they felt was lacking at the gods table LAST year,.. Hmmmm brother,... What was wrong with gods provisions last year?

  NJY
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  blondie

  This falls in these categories:

  Brother, we really enjoyed your talk....my husband, oh what point stood out...jw..ah, ah, and they walk away.

  Sister, we really enjoyed your comment...same

  The WTS now has articles reviewing the conventions in the fall KMs with questions provided for the brother assigned to the part. I remember the old days when the brother forgot to do any questions and was doing them as he walked in the door of the KM. Of course, he hadn't taken any notes so was using his wife's...he was doing important things behind the scenes and could not listen. If he had any questions, the only people who answered were the same jws that actually answered the questions at the WT study and the service meeting. (many jws said...I'll wait till it comes out in the publications?
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  Nosferatu

  Things to enjoy at the convention:

  1) the hot sisters in floral pattern dresses

  I think that's it...
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  punkofnice

  

  I found this in my miserybag for NJY!
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  punkofnice

  blondie - That about sums it up. So many talks at the $e$$ion$....so little content. How some JWs thought of answers to some of the questions I'll never know.

  Nosferatu - Nothong like a hot sister to make an a$$emb£y more appealing.
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  Partisan

  This "feel-good" euphoria after a convention is most likely attributed to the sacredness assigned to it. It is essentially a pep-rally that is marketed to be some sort of pilgramage to a "holy gathering" so therefore the attendee is made to feel that they've just been part of something profound and important. Old friends not regularly seen are associated with again, propaganda about what a privilege it is to be a JW, "End of Days" nonsense and a constant allusion to a convention environment being some sort of "spiritual paradise" all intensify this sanctimonious experience.

  It is no different than the Walmart pep-rally that employees are sometimes involved in to "motivate" them and make them think they are part of a special team, not just slinging cheap bras and LEGO Star Wars kits all day for $2/hour.

  It's what Marx was pointing to:

  Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.
  Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right