by kneehighmiah 52 Replies latest jw friends
women long for justice more than men do... Well, I'm not sure that's true-losingit
Perhaps you have a point, my ex is the opposite, pehraps my views are shaped by my experiences. Thank you for broadening my view, maybe I was just putting across my view as a woman.
I do agree however there are many men on this board who yearn for justice. Thanks losingit, love Kate xx
Well according to the bible women are not worthy because they are the weaker vessel. So, it would be easy to assume that they are easier to indoctrinate than the strong male vessels. Wrong!
I have been married long enough to know that women have bullet proof minds that are programmed to do the complete opposite of anything they are asked to do. They are never wrong and know everything there is to know at birth.
If women ran the Watchtower Society it wouldn’t be in such a mess, and would be still be charging for literature and laying on food at assemblies.
In my congregation there is only 1 bro with unbelieving mate. However, there are nearly a dozen sisters with non JW husbands. Most of the men are born-ins. Very few male converts in my congregation.
This is just a generalization but I think more women tend to be interested in spiritual things. Now, I go to R.C. Church and see the same trend and even among my non-believing friends and family I see women longing for some kind of "after-life" so they can be together with their loved ones. Maybe it is just the way women are... more feeling than thinking. I am the same way, on logical and intelectual level I don't really believe in God, but I desperatelly hope He exists and will fix all the bad things so that the human condition will improve ( I hate all that child abuse, human trafficing, wars, torture, mistreatment of marginalized ones, hunger, death from easily treatable conditions,.........the list is long. And I don't put much faith in humans because all this are problems they created and are not willing to erradicate).
Once, the branch office once wrote a letter to us to reach out to more men in the field ministry as there were more women than men in the congos and men should be the ones with the privileges. Well, our sisters here in Nigeria did try their best, and there was an explosion in the male intake, only they came as babies! LOL!! Well, my opinion is, in many societies, women are still more repressed and are less educated, thus more gullible. Also, many women have been dealing with cognitive dissonance almost all their lives especially being told that men are natural and scriptural heads when they can see otherwise as leadership qualities is not gender selective. So, coping with CD in religion comes easier for them, they are taught from birth to deny the obvious more than men.
OMG, look at the attendance at any convention or assembly. It is a woman's religiion. The number of women so outrank the number of men. Brothers are a highly sought after commodity. I believe sexual repression is an element. Do Pentecostals have the same disprarity? I noticed when I visited the Vatican that when it came to uneducated folk rituals, almost all particpants were elderly, ethnic women. In fact, the most disgusting site for me was watching women kneels in prayer up the stairs of St. Helena's stairs. I was in line to see the catacombs or some fine art exhibit. The stairs adjoined as a tourist attraction. All these old Greek women (they looked Greek. May have been from an RC country) knelt in rosary prayer. Each step was a massive effort for them in terms of physical exertion. Not one solitary man was kneeling on the stairs.
I do believe there is a strong repressed sexual element. My mind was confused. You see masterpieces such as the Sistine Chapel, Bernini's canopy, the catacombs from very early in church history. I felt so fortunate to see such uplifting sights. Your view is obscured by peasant sites where money is collected from very poor pilgrims. Money should be handed out. St. Helena's stairs made me physically ill.
I worked in the hospitality ministry of a major cathedral in Manhattan. So many tourists come in who want to purchase something. Since the cathedral is very high church, bordering on Anglo-Catholic, we sold some post cards and votive candles. The New York Fire Department forbid the use of bodega candles b/c they tend to explode and cause fires. We had some nice beeswax tapers. Poor women would see the expensive fat candles in heavy glass. They cost almost ten dollars. The volunteers would hand out the slender tapers out of their own money. We could absorb fifty or seventy-five cents. Interfaith dialogue was hopeless. It is very clear that two things are happening. 1. These are Roman Catholics, not Anglicans. We did not know how to tell them in their language that the miniscule church down the side street was the local Roman Catholic Church. I used to walk people in extreme grief over to the RC Church. Thomas Merton was baptized in the church. I had trouble locating it and I lived in the immediate community. 2. They absolutely belief that Jesus' hears prayer according to the candle dimensions. This is heresy to Anglicans. Try convincing them that Jesus accepts prayers with no cancles or skinny candles.They did not want to talk with Jesus. Men will glance at the candles. Women must have the candles or die. Many a volunteer gifted ten dollar candles which was against the rules.
As a feminist, I wonder why there is such a diference in the sexes. I once thought that men entered the work world and were more skeptical as a result. A few generations have passsed since women entered the work force. I wonder if women want a greater sense of community. Have others seen a similar pattern in their lives? Men tend to end up in prison. Women tend to become more depressed. Of course, the depressed men could be diverted to the prison population and women receive traditional out patient care.
In my case, it is the man who is easier to indoctrinate.
As a woman I question everything, and research anything that is important to me. I do not want to make emotional decisions. I also follow my gut reactions and feelings, and do more investigating if I get a feeling something is wrong.
I wish my husband would do the same with his rekindled interest in the JW . I have seen him question and research deeply in some areas, but not in others. The inconsistancey really puzzled me until I learned of the JW mindset.
From my observation, university study of religion, and reading; women are more religious. The faith is more integrated in their life, family, and personal identity. It does not matter what religion. If you travel throughout catholic countries, you will see mostly women participating in rituals. I was last year in Central Europe to visit medieval abbey, and there were a few males, but women were banging their heads in front of altars in religious extacy. The same behavior I had seen in Poland in pilgramage sites, and they were constantly yelling on others not following the rituals. In extreme Mormon groups like that one in YFZ Ranch , women were the most devouted. They do not mind having their 14 year old daughters to be young bride for old codger, while their sons were kicked out of the community. Various christian denominations are like that. Nonetheless, religious fanatism is usually male thing and men behave like the great inquisitor.
From study of religion at my university, we were taught that one reason behind the success of Christianity in the 1st century were women. Jesus talked to women, they were the center piece of the proselysation efford. He revealed him self first to the women. Women became the cornerstone of the early christianity as they brought their children into the new faith. If Jesus and Apostles ignored women, the christianity would not be that successul throughout the Roman Empire.
Simon Peter said to them: Let Mariham go out from among us, for women are not worthy of the life.
Jesus said: Look, I will lead her that I may make her male, in order that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter into the kingdom of heaven. - Gospel of Thomas 114
I don't know about the indoctrination side of things but I do have some general observations:
1 - culture plays a massive part. In the UK, all the Portuguese groups are dominated by women whose husbands are at best irregular attenders. They tend to have British elders who have joined the group.
2 - There are generally significantly more women with unbelieving mates in a congregation than men. Is it social? Are men more lazy about religion? Who knows.
3 - If a man get's hooked on the male dominated heirarchy in the WTS then they love it. Men fed on power and heirarchy love to try and progress in the WTS. That side of things is not open to women.
4 - The people who do the most study and have the deepest appreciation are often the women. For the men it's appearances.
Horses for courses. Hook someone in on the facet of being a member of a group that appeals to their psychological makeup and you have them.
