Spirituality ??

Blueblades

Why do the elders always equate meeting attendance and field service with the level of ones spirituality?I keep hearing them repeating,"we hate to see you lose your Spirituality",by not attending the meetings and going out into the field service.The 1973 Comprehensive Concordance points to Jude 19 as the only reference to the word Spirituality.However in the 1985 ed.of the Kingdom Interlinear of the Greek Scriptures the actual word at Jude19 is Spirit not Spirituality.Jude19 remarks that one can lose God's Spirit if one became " UNGODLY".The Society deliberately TRANSPOSES the word Spirit to Spirituality from the Greek into the English New World Translation.The reason I bring this subject up is because that's all I ever hear when you miss meetings and field service.Not once has an elder used the Scriptures to support that viewpoint or interpertation with me.Since circumstances differ with all of us, how in the world can they make a such a blanket statement and a wrong one at that!? Your thoughts please,Blueblades.

Satanus

The wt's problem w spirituality is that they don't believe that people have such a thing. The wt defines ones spirit as ones attitude. Thus they render the scripture that says something like, 'god's spirit bears witness w our spirit' as totally useless. They admit that god has a spirit. Yet they deny that humans have an equivalent spirit. So, there is really nothing spiritual about jw's. Their spirituality is on the same level as that of a materialist evolutionist, who sees a human as a biological machine.

If one accepts that a human has a spirit just as god itself does, that would be the first step towards being spiritual. From there, being spiritual would be any exercise that activates the spirit, such as meditation, some types of drug use, visualization, listening to some kinds of music, chanting, fasting, trancing, etc.

SS

JH

The elders have always compared your attendance to the meetings with your spirituality. For some reason, they want you to attend all of the meetings, and go regularly in the service. They are obsessed with taking all of your time away from you, so that you don't open your eyes to the world. They have a tight grip on everyone, even inflicting fear so that even if you're sick, you must go to the hall. I guess they have a report to give to their supperiors. No other religion will say that your not spiritual if you miss meetings. The bottom line is CONTROL.

Buster

JH, you're on the money. In the JWs, spirituality is the equvilent of "level of brain washing." They need adherents to attend the constant flow of mind-numbing, head-nodding indoctrination sessions. If they miss a few meetings, their heads may slip out of their collective rectums and they may smell fresh air.

Downunderandout

Whether the elders are aware or not, they are keepers of the cult. They conform (in most cases) to the intellectual, emotional and time control as dictated by the wt.

Just imagine if the majority of the r&f members started to miss meetings and f/service, the elders might start to question their own legitimacy and "faith". If they keep everyone "spiritual" (that is in control as directed by the wt) then that goes some way to confirming that they individually are not being sucked in.

I suppose they live in the fear the wt envelopes around the world wide wt family, and it might be harder for the elders to give in to their suspicions given that they are responsible for the "policing" of the wt rules. Some of them are really nice people and genuinely would not want to knowingly hurt anyone, losing people to the "world" could reinforce in their own minds that what they are doing is preventing people the right to a happy balanced life, that would be a terrible feeling a suspect.

dsgal

Even if I was sick and had to miss a meeting the lady who studied with me told me rather sternly that satan could attack me easier and my spirituality could suffer.I hate that mind-control crap.

benext

The elders have to make an accounting to the Circuit Overseer every six months. Upon his arrival he checks the congregation's numbers to see the spirit of the congregation. If the numbers are down, this equates to a possible lack of spirituality. If they are up then the congregation has a fine spirit. Hebrews 10:23, 24 are always used to encourage meeting attendance. Faith without works are dead if you're not counting enough field service time. For them the numbers tell the whole story.