In Your Opinion Do Today's Elders Recognize That The Religion Is BS? (page 4)

tenyearsafter

I always felt it was my wife's goal rather than mine, and I never really felt the calling. What was the line from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"?..."the man is the head, but the woman is the neck...and the neck can turn the head any way it wants!!"

LongHairGal

MINIMUS:

I think that some of them do know it's bullshit but they have too much to lose by leaving. This is either because of age, social life, family in and possibly being financially entangled with other JWs if they have a business, etc.

So, they stay and convince themselves they're living a better life than if they were out.

Finkelstein

Where there is power there will be underlining corruption.

nicolaou

smiddy: Becoming an Elder in the JW religion they are suddenly looked upon as somebody who has to be respected and looked up to Where their ego gets a big boost.
once they have tasted that adoration and that is what it is by many it becomes very hard to give it up and be a nobody again and many just cant do that.going from a somebody back to being a nobody .

And occasionally, one of those 'adore me' elders carries the exact same narcissism into his exJW life, courting as many 'followers' as possible and berating any who criticise him.

tor1500

@Introvert2,

Thanks, that's how I see. I love men, they are wonderful creatures...but if you observe them instead of trying to change them you'll see how they roll...Men, love to look at women....and women love to look at men...but that is suppressed in the org. Someone told me along time ago, just because you are on a diet doesn't mean you can't look at the menu.

What man wouldn't want to be in the company of a bunch of females...and can talk to them and smell them even if their wife is there...that's a fringe benefit...all these women...awwww...lol...imagine all the pheromone in the hall, it's so intoxicating ....men are visual, that's why in the snow, they won't cancel the meetings, because they want to come to the hall to get their man on...they can look at sister so and so...& say how much he loved her comment...& he is set for the nite, he can now go home and tolerate his wife even be intimate, because he got a glimpse of sister fine....single brothers that are looking but can't find, at least they can come to the hall and smell us sisters even though he may not be a good pick...

I hear you, that's why I would like to leave, I can't preach something that is the truth one day and not the next...I avoid trying to get bible studies..I just go on return visits with folks....like you say, don't want to be responsible for someone else's spiritual well being.....no not me...

Tor

Anyway, thanks for acknowledging me..most folks on here don't bother with me...but that's ok...I get to vent to keep my sanity...plus I think my comments are too long...I try to make them shorter, but I got so much to say, whether right or wrong....LOL

Tor

kpop

I think many elders are really well intentioned and well meaning but they start to like the power they have. The ones that are not power hungry will wake up and leave and I believe that some elders in my hall are already fading or have serious doubts.

dozy

I think most elders , while perhaps they might have certain misgivings , do believe it pretty much 100%. It would be virtually impossible to continue as an elder for any length of time while having serious doubts.

An elder is basically forced to be something of a cheerleader for the leadership , and that acts as a strong disincentive to investigate further as ( in a sense ) they are going against what they themselves are teaching on a weekly basis. I remember hearing that the best Amway sellers were those who were "Ambassadors" ( another empty title ) . who acted as proselytisers for the company.

I remember an interview with some of the defence lawyers for OJ. They knew he was guilty but because their job was to defend him & try to find all possible loopholes to try to get him off , after a while they almost believed he was innocent , as a kind of mental coping system. In a sense - that's what it is like being an elder.

Looking back ( I was an elder for 10 years ) I was taking the Watchtower sometimes , conducting the weekly book study , giving talks from Society outlines and generally forced into supporting the Org. I'm sure that if had never been appointed as an elder I would have been able to look somewhat more objectively at the Org & been able to make the difficult mental steps to unravel myself a lot sooner.

In Your Opinion Do Today's Elders Recognize That The Religion Is BS?