Brotherhood or sisterhood that is the question.

by sparrowdown 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  sparrowdown

  In a cong of about 70 publishers only about 50 regularly attend.

  Out of those 50 the majority are women, some single but a fair few whose husbands don't come anymore.

  The only men that do attend are the elders, ms and a couple who tag along with their wives.

  So in total there are probably only about 15 males in attendance at best.

  We have had several local needs over the recent past encouraging sisters to turn over their male return visits

  to bros, and for bros that go in fs to ask to speak to the man of the house (but I am sure that is the same everywhere).

  My question is are men more likely to wake up first and if so what could be the reason for this?

  This is a trend I have noticed locally and was wondering if it is a female-centric religion everywhere?

  Would welcome anyones observations on this

  cheers everyone

  sparrowdown
• 

  Comatose

  Interesting observation. The WT themselves in their marriage talks like to say that men are logical and women are emotional. Although I now find that kind of mysogonistic thinking extremely annoying, they may have drummed it into the JW thinking enough to cause it to be somewhat true in this case??? I dont know. But my mom as an example has no hope of ever waking up. I think my dad does...
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  prologos

  Perhaps men are sick and tired of being lorded over by other more ambitious but deluded dudes. Men are not going to jump through these redicolous hoops to then being able to lord themselves in such 'lofty' arrangement

  Let the 'elders' preside over the compliant flock.

  Basically there are two voices in the congregation, the 'elders' and the sisters, between them they make up 95% of the amplified voice time.

  with the dumbed down doctrinal content, that amounts to a lot of verbage, to the benfit of the speakers only, and accounts in part for the absence of the male participents in all the shurning, platform or FS.
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  sparrowdown

  I aggree the mysogonistic climate in the congregation makes it even more incongruous that it is

  women that tend to stay(even when they suspect something not right).

  I also agree that many men feel judged unworthy if seen to be not reaching out and that also would drive some away.

  There also seems to be a strange symbiosis that exists between the elders and what I refer to as the "manhaters club" and the lipstick mafia.

  It certainly is a complex organism the congregation as a whole.
• 

  villagegirl

  Single parent women need any and all support they can get

  and I was one, I deludedly felt "safe" in the quiet, monotonous

  and droning meetings, and it was someplace to go. Its like an abused

  wife who thinks she is "being taken care of in some way " Its habit

  and habit is comfort. There was always a majority of women in

  for the last 35 years that I know of. Many single mothers.
• 

  sparrowdown

  Single parents most certainly deserve respect and support.

  The illusion of support on the other hand is ultimately a cruel con.
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  villagegirl

  sparrow - correct - single moms are not the image the WT wants to portray -

  I pointed this out once to a Circuit Servant who gave talks as if everybody

  was two parent family, and husband and wife team, I pointed out to him

  the majority were not married, but single mothers, he hated and resented it.

  We were second class citizens even though we were the majority.
• 

  Mum

  I have been in other churches besides the JW's. In all of them, there are more women than men. The oppression of women might make them turn to religion. Women feel more responsible for their children's spiritual life as well. I remember someone who had lived in Latin America describing a scene of women going to church while the men watched. I don't know if this phenomenon exists in Buddhism, Hinduism, or other religions which predominate in other parts of the world.
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  transhuman68

  LOL, here's a quote from the 1951 WTS book "What Has Religion Done For Mankind?" page 55:

  10 So Adam chose to join up with the new religion. It was just as in many lands today where the religious clergy dominate politics and commerce. The men who see the double-talk and double-dealing of the clergy have no use for these religious hypocrites. But because their womenfolk hold to the religious system, the men make no disturbance about it just in order to keep their women and get along with them. And the religious clergy know the wily power of the women over their men, and so they craftily use the women.

  So there you go...
• 

  joe134cd

  Just to mention a observation I made. When I was waking up I used to count those in attendance by age. Roughly 2/3 of them were 40 and over while 1/3 was 40 and under. Roughly with about 4% in the 18-25 year old bracket. It wasn't until I started going to ex-JW web sites that this became apparent to me. I have to say the congeegations have changed from when I was a kid, and if the trend continues there are going to be some massive problems in a few decades.