The watchtower quoting itself as if it were scripture about weddings...

EndofMysteries

the 1997 WT, 4/15 page 26 is about weddings and more rules the WT tries to enforce to take the fun out of even weddings.

"While a disfellowshipped person could be allowed to attend the talk at the Kingdom Hall, The Watchtower of April 15, 1984, said: “It would be unfitting to have in the wedding party people who are disfellowshipped or whose scandalous life-style grossly conflicts with Bible principles.” - Isn't that funny? If they lack scripture to twist to their crap reasonings, they'll quote themself as if it were scripture.

Here are a few more gems from this article....

"But what about attending weddings of neighbors, worldly fellow workers, or distant relatives and acquaintances? It is good to bear in mind that our time is precious, since we need time for our ministry, personal study, and other family and congregational pursuits. (Ephesians 5:15, 16) On weekends, we have meetings and field service that we do not want to miss. " - lol, so getting invited to somebody's wedding, what may be the most important day in their life, and you say sorry I gotta study the watchtower, or gotta wake up early for service tomorrow.

"However, such a gathering for true Christians should be different from worldly receptions marked by extravagance, heavy drinking, overeating, wild music, suggestive dancing, and even fights. The Bible categorizes “revelries” with the works of the flesh. (Galatians 5:21) It is easier to have proper control when it is not a very large gathering."

"The wedding talk should be about half an hour in length and given in a dignified manner, emphasizing the spiritual aspect. The wedding talk is definitely more important than any reception that may follow." - really? A boring wedding talk is more important then celebrating one's marriage with friends and family?

"If a couple invite unbelieving relatives or acquaintances, these will no doubt be limited in number, giving more importance to those “related to us in the faith.” - but doesn't the WT say they don't break up families and those who join jw's aren't broken up from their families? But according to this they should not invite any non jw relatives, and if so, only a very few.

"Music can be happy without being tainted by questionable lyrics, excessive noise, or wild rhythm. Many have found it best to have an elder listen in advance to the music to be played."

Band on the Run

Sorry. I want Paul McCartney ballads to play for hours. Oh, you can't even have your favorite genre of music. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" screech. "O Blad Di-Oh Bla DA - BRA. They are so funny once you are out.

Witness My Fury

It certainly is a joyless cult...

Spectre

"It is good to bear in mind that our time is precious, since we need time for our ministry, personal study, and other family and congregational pursuits."

Comments like this is part of what drove me out. Translation: If you are not totallly ocd about our crap, god hates you.

SadElder

This is a constant feature of JW doctrine and rules, quote itself as the authority. As if this gives any real weight to the blather.

Jeffro

EndofMysteries (quoting The Watchtower):

If a couple invite unbelieving relatives or acquaintances, these will no doubt be limited in number

Don't you just love the way it's phrased. Of course they don't want to say, "Don't invite unbelieving relatives!" But apparently there's no doubt that there wouldn't be many.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

WT thinking is very inbred. Promotion is based on thinking "inside the box". And at headquarters, WT articles are based on reworked previous WT articles or on talks written by Teaching. But Teaching bases many of those talks on quotes from previous WT publications and previous talk outlines. Comments are to be taken just from the study article under consideration... not with any quotes from "outside sources" because that's wasting precious time.

So what happens? You get extremism where the writer, or more often the local elders or CO, go beyond what was previously written to make a fence to protect the previous boundary. Then another guy adds another fence to protect the fence that's protecting the boundary. So you wind up with a bunch of rules to make a wedding more "spiritual"... and boring.

What else happens? You have these kids at a "spiritual gathering" where they drink Kool Aid and play Bible games. But then they sneak away and lead "double lives" because the JW life is horrible. And you also have these pioneers that have the appropriately boring weddings... and have an 8 lb. "premature" baby shortly after they get married.

label licker

Right on Billy! Or how they can bend the rules for a couple who is under nineteen, still in the world and they are allowed to get married in our last hall. Studied with for half a year, fresh out of the world, was told not to have sex(?) until they were married, got married before husband or wife were baptised in our last hall. The day they got baptised, they had two parts on the same day at the assembly! Didn't even have to pioneer. Was made an ms within one year from the time he started studying. The cobe would have him look after his dog while he and his wife would go to Florida for eight weeks in the winter. When he was announced as ms, the cobe stated from the platform that he wanted to reassure the congregation there was no simony with this young man being made an ms. Just sickening. Oh, by the way, this young idiot was one of my accusers whom the elders knew would go to bat for them even if it meant he would have to lie.

So yeah, Billy, they can bend the scriptures anyway they want to suite themselves even if it means that one has to take it up the you know what! No one in the congregation could believe these two were allowed to get married in the hall without even being baptised. The wedding party on the brides side were all in the world. On the grooms side it were all single horny nerdy brothers.

tiki

"many have found it best to have an elder listen in advance to the music to be played"

gag me....."many".... really??? so the dude can nix anything that might be to the couple's liking? seriously - i have gone to some extremely nice well-planned jw weddings.....then there were the bring your casserole ones....one in particular no one brought the food they were supposed to - and there was just nowhere near enough to eat - and it was supposedly a sit-down buffet. another sis and me got together and went around asking for $$$ to go to the store and get some deli platters. we didn't dredge up much - but did manage to get about 80% of the bunch minimally fed. what a fiasco. this was the same one that my husband and another bro were asked to be "Bouncers" because they were afraid that some family members would get plastered and when they did apparently brawls could break out. they never did have to bounce anyone - but it meant that we were stuck there for far far longer than we would have endured. after a bunch of us went out for pizza and breathed sighs of relief. the couple were divorced a couple years later....infidelity. go figure.

whathappened

At my daughters wedding, one of the elders teenage sons hijacked the DJ and had him play really bad,tasteless and obscure songs at the reception. I paid the DJ and felt he had no right to change the choices my daughter and the groom had chosen. Elders kids can be the worst offenders at the hall.

The watchtower quoting itself as if it were scripture about weddings...

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