I went to the GGG District A$$embly this past Saturday as a courtesy to my wife. We entered the building just as they weresaying th e prayer.
About the time we had taken our seats and was getting comfortable, my "bullshit detector" tripped, went into high alert and pretty much stayed t here for the duration of the session. I heard the speaker say during his discussion of the daily text that it ws the free gift of the "truth" that Jehovah gave to mankind, to which all the loyal dubs shook their head in the affirmative. Funny, all this time I thought it was Christ and his sacrificial death that was mankinds gift of salvation.
There appeared to be new instructions for a way to drive up those sagging bible study numbers bya technique they introduced as "doorstep studies"; ex. after leaving a tract with a householder youpose a question to be answered the following week. The following week you come back spend about 30 minutes answering that question and pose another to be answered the following week. This type of activity can now be counted as a bible study. Are they allowed to count this same visist as a RV also?Are they informing the householder of this little charade, namely that they are being covertly recruited.
The theme of the morning session was reflecting God's glory by always being on the alert and always zealously looking for preaching opportunities. They drove this home by the recounting of the "well rehearsed experience" method.
The first example was of a little girl whose parents after choosing not to go in service, took it upon herself to defy her parents decision and go out door to door alone. Shocked that they'd use this as an example, I turned to my wife and asked her in this day and age of kids daily being snatched off the street how can they in good conscious use this as an example with impressionable young kids in the audience; her answer;"the point of the story was the zealousness the girl showed toward the preaching work." I answered " so, by WT standards if it is in the interest of the "kingdom work" it is OK faor a chile to defy the authority of her parents and put herself in mortal danger..........rrrriiiiiggghhhhhtttt?
After my BS detectoe calmed down and i was able to again consciously focus what was going on they had an auxiliary pioneer elder from somewhere in SouthTexas on the mike recounting some well rehearsed experience who proclaimed proudly that his 9 yr old daughter had "decided" to take a stand for the "truth" and was getting baptised that very day. So much for them not baptising babies and ensuring that everything is known about what they are getting into. I couldn't help but t hink what will happen to this girl WHEN she makes a mistake, is possible df'd, or simply chooses not to be involved in the "faith" any longer where she'll be shunned, isolated, and possibly kicked out of the house.
What I was able to focus on next was them having a 82 yr old lady who'd been in service for 40 years and an older missionary couple where the wife had just survived a bout with cancer. both currently being housed and cared for by the WT. I shudder to think what will happen to these people when their usefulness to the WTS has run out.
My attention was eventually directed to the baptism seating area where about 200 people were sitting. to the JW's credit there was a cross-section of people of different ethnic backgrounds and age variances. I did specifically notice that there were a handful of people who were clearly of pre-teen years who obviously had no idea what they were getting themselves into. My thoughts again went to the 9 yr old girl elder's daughter and how it's quite possible that her perception of being a JW will change as she grows and what effect that change will have on not only her, but also, on all these kids who so young have been maneuvered to believing that they are mature enough to make what in all probability will be the most important decision of their lives.
They had three baptism pools set up. I saw brothers walking around the pool pouring about three gallons of straight bleach into each pool. The concentrated smell of bleach permeated the air even three levels up where we were seated. I can only imagine what that smell must be like closer to the pool area.
The next talk dealt with instructions on how JW's are to face trials and how they are hated without cause. Basically, if there is not a faviourable response to their preaching work and questions are asked whose answers may reflect negatively upon the organization it is was implied that they (JW) are facing trials and hate is being directed at them.
They had a brother who recounted his experience with the draft board and a few military officers during the draft of the Vietnam War. I questioned for what reason ws this relative and being used since "alternative service" is now a conscious decision which in itself is a 180 turn from past "old" light'.
Then came the obligatory remember this day, this is a most important day, you're disowning yourself, never renege on this dedication to J admonitions that we've all heard before...yadda...yadda...yadda.....blah...blah....blah......and then the baptism questions.
"...........in association with his spirit directed organization......"
"YES"
And with that, about 200 more people pledged their allegiance and dedication to a group of old dried up geezers in Brooklyn and their organization.
Morning session head count 23,400 including at least one person, me, who was by then ashamed that he'd wasted a perfect good Saturday morning being there and wishing he was home doing almost anything else. Yet, it was comforting to know that with that number attending, it was a far cry from the 30,000 or so that was there when I, oh so ignorantly, took the plunge in the late eighties.
I'll try to get the other half out later. There ws a fiery talk where the convention overseer all but declared was on Apostates.