No hope for shy ones?

dsgal

I knew a very nice person who was also very shy.She would sweat bullets just thinking about joining the TMS or commenting at meetings.Yet she was the sweetest person at the kh.She confided to someone she thought she could trust and was told she didn't have Jehovah's spirit if she couldn't do these things that were required of her.Also that she might not make it into the new world because Romans 10;10 says clearly "Public declaration by mouth means your salvation".I don't get it.God doesn't love shy people?But he created shy animals! Needless to say,this woman does not attend meetings anymore because she thinks there is no hope for her anyway.Funny,I have never heard anyone in another religion say you were doomed because of shyness.

SixofNine

Good point dsgal, one I've thought about in the past, being (especially in my younger years) a shy person, who married a shy person, with whom I had a shy child.

While this issue doesn't get alot of airplay, it is, to my mind, one of the foremost sins of the organization. They have no place for various personalities. If you speak well in front of other people, but are a scumbag, you will be considered far more spiritual than if you are shy but caring. Whence comes (many) elders.

berten

>Funny,I have never heard anyone in another religion say you were doomed because of shyness...

I was also shy and introverted ,not a good combination for a JW who has

to go door to door,or has to do public talks.

But the Borg has absolutely no consideration for these personalities...

BluesBrother

Thats unless you are an elders son or dughter. In my last cong there was a bunch who got away with doing nothing, on the pretext of being shy. - it did not seem to affect them in other areas of life.

Since Daddy was the P.O. No one dared say they were doomed.

Larry

"They have no place for various personalities. If you speak well in front of other people, but are a scumbag, you will be considered far more spiritual than if you are shy but caring."

Excellent Points - Something to Ponder - Thanks - LL

Incense_and_Peppermints

yeah, WHAT ABOUT the shy ones?

you know, i had wrestled with this very issue when i was a young jw girl. i used to cringe every time a householder opened the door, looking at me as if i was a specimen in a petri dish. and i didn't blame them. i just knew i was interrupting their weekend to tell them something they didn't want to hear, which further compounded the problem. there were plenty of them out there, too. ugh there used to be this one brother, brother oleson, who used to always embarrass me in front of a whole crowd of people sayiung stuff like "well HEY THERE little JANETTEeee, why the long face", or "you'd be so much cuter without those coke-bottle glasses". etc. i think it was his personal mission to call attention to others as a way of calling attention to himself, or something. anyway i heard he's still in, and probably still a JERK. i heard his wife had died and she was a real shrew she looked like barbara bush except she had coal-black hair. her two sons were cool, though. i never could decide which one was the cuter... i heard the older one was still in and asked about me god i shudder to think what he has become now. it didn't surprise me that the younger one fell away... he was always thoughtful and quiet and rebellious in a subtle sort of way.

anyway i became unshy because the corporate world demanded it and so i joined toastmasters and learned how to talk good :p

but you're absolutely right, the org just sort of drives its tank right over the shy ones...