@ minimus.
Williams sisters
by Phil 90 Replies latest jw friends
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minimus
why, Dedalus?
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asleif_dufansdottir
Hey, I'm the last person who would condemn them for doing whatever they want with their lives. Heck, I behave in a much more stunningly untheocratic manner than they do. Being un-theocratic and un-JW-like is a very very good thing. They can dance naked around a Christmas tree while smoking a cigarette and I'll say more power to them (well, except I think smoking is bad and did before I was ever a JW).
My problem in this is with the society (what a shock) and with JWs who use the Williams' "being" JWs as some sort of smoke-screen to make the religion look like it might actually have some relatively normal members.
Let me say this a little more clearly. What I have a problem with, is when x-JWs say things like, "I hated growing up a JW because JWs aren't allowed to play sports." and people reply, "JWs can play sports - just look at the Williams sisters!"
The Williams family are not 'normal' JWs...neither were the Jacksons. And we all know that if some JW kid wanted to play on his or her school's tennis team, if the parents were going to follow the WT party line they wouldn't be allowed to do it...and saying, "But the Williams sisters play tennis and they're JWs" wouldn't cut any mustard with the parents, the elders or the society...so when it comes right down to it, most JWs don't consider them 'worthy of emulation' either.
Whether they're baptised or not doesn't make any difference...how many people on this board were children of JWs and were never baptised yet were/are still expected to obey the rules?
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joelbear
I would say that I am jealous of them for pursuing their dream rather than tying their life and dreams to false hopes.
I've been able to recover and realize some of my dreams since I left at 30 and hope to realize more of them, but
will never realize as many as I would have had I left at 20 which is when I was at Bethel.
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amac
It could just be me, but I've never heard a single witness "use the Williams' "being" JWs as some sort of smoke-screen to make the religion look like it might actually have some relatively normal members." Nor have I ever heard anyone say '"JWs can play sports - just look at the Williams sisters!"' (except on this DB) So not sure if it is really an issue at all.
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asleif_dufansdottir
What teejay thinks is that Asleif's comments have zero relevance unless the Williams sisters are baptized JWs.
I'm still not really understanding what difference it makes. They have referred to themselves quite clearly in interviews as being JWs. They apparently do not dispute articles written about them that refer to them as JWs.
And (this is the important part), neither does the society.
We know that they are not following "the rules" for being JWs (more power to them), but I have never seen or heard of the society or any individual JWs correcting the public's misunderstanding that what the Williams sisters do is OK for JWs to do.
Knowing what I know about the society, if it were following its own guidelines (which, of course, I know they don't do), the society should be putting pressure on the Williams family to either shape up or stop telling the media they are JWs. That's hypocritical (surprise, surprise).
When the news media reports that a bunch of elders defraud an elderly woman of her life savings, or a JW husband kills his wife and family, the society is quick to distance itself. The offenders are either df'd or, if they were never baptised, it is made clear to the media that they were never 'really' JWs...this doesn't happen with "celebrity" JWs like the Williams or the Jacksons.
JWs like to bask in the reflected glory of celebrity JWs, but they hate it when that glory is tarnished by behavior that would get your butt drug in the back room of every hall I'm aware of.
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asleif_dufansdottir
It could just be me, but I've never heard a single witness "use the Williams' "being" JWs as some sort of smoke-screen to make the religion look like it might actually have some relatively normal members." Nor have I ever heard anyone say '"JWs can play sports - just look at the Williams sisters!"' (except on this DB) So not sure if it is really an issue at all
OK, so you've never tried to explain to someone how destructive and controling this religion is, and have the person not believe you (even think you're grossly exaggerating your own experiences) because they've heard of certain celebrities who are JWs, or because they personally know a JW who breaks the rules and gets away with it?
Well, all I can say is, be glad.
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Phil
dedalus
You are obviously not a tennis player.
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amac
so you've never tried to explain to someone how destructive and controling this religion is, and have the person not believe you (even think you're grossly exaggerating your own experiences) because they've heard of certain celebrities who are JWs, or because they personally know a JW who breaks the rules and gets away with it?
No I haven't.
But if I did, I would probably just laugh as that is such an empty argument, using a one person example as being indicative of an entire organization. So I guess I still don't see any problem with the Williams girls.
Well, all I can say is, be glad.
Ok, thank you. -
berten
>...What's important is that they're kick-ass tennis stars lighting up an otherwise pretty dull (at the moment) sport.
I thought (And I am not alone in this) that women's tennis sport was getting dull because of those Williamses
always winning it.That's why I found it fun to see one of them losing out against a player (Henin) at whom they were poking fun
because of her size...