Worship of Men and Emphasis on Titles

HereIgo

I remember a few years back at a circuit assembly, a few bros were introducing themselves to the CO, they made sure to mention that they were an MS or an Elder from such and such cong. I was also an MS, but was the only one that introduced themselves by just my first name. I was so irritated and blown away at the arrogance by these Bros, trying to impress MEN with titles! At the same time, the elders from my cong were in the back room laughing and talking for the ENTIRE program. I guess it pays to pursue "privileges" since you are so much better than everybody else.

schnell

I hear you. This was one of my early complaints about announcing new pioneers, etc.

I once had a special pioneer tell me after a couple beers that at Gilead, everyone was there to meet girls. -_-

Funny thing is when "Paul" wrote Timothy about elders and servants (or whatever church hierarchy nomenclature you prefer) that's evidence that it wasn't written by Paul. No, Paul died before 70 CE, and there was probably no hierarchy in the congregation yet. They were awaiting the end of times, as far as they understood it. When you're in for the long haul, that's when you get organized. That's when you get titles.

wheres caleb?

Herelgo

Modesty is a huge problem for witnesses and it really gets worse than the things you were describing.

Politics is rampant among these so-called "happiest people on earth". Elders crying over circuit assembly parts. A teaching part is more relevant than being allowed to give some announcements.

One elder's family was outright lying about their son's assignment at bethel. He had a menial job but the family was telling everyone that he worked in the bethel offices. That he was serving a very important role at bethel. I challenged them on this and their position was that it was up-building to the congregation to see their son as some big player at bethel. Oh, the immodesty that these people cannot see. Diseased minds for sure.

He was sent home shortly after that.

hoser

people introduce themselves to me as " I'm so and so and I'm a regular pioneer/elder/ex missionary"

I guess it's really that important to them.

Landy

If I was at a different congregation people used to ask what position I had in my congregation.

I used to take perverse pleasure in saying, 'Just a common publisher brother, just a common publisher'.

punkofnice

There is always a marked difference in what the WBT$ claims and what it actually demonstrates.

That was something that irked and upset me when I was a Jobo. Those in control preached love and forgiveness but in reality, when it came down to it, many were vile men, not fit to be called human.

We hada PO (now CoBE), who would take the mickey out of publishers when we were in elders meetings. This was when I began to wake up...I saw the reality of it all. It was not what it claimed to be. If a CoBE who did curcuit work was so brazen(tm), what must the real leaders be like? Surely, the governing body must be utter scum.

ttdtt

I think the announcements at the Conventions and Assemblies is more about adding weight to the words the guy is going to say, and not an ego thing. (By the way its in the instructions for the talks and for the chairman)

Having been a speaker at many conventions, and being involved on different levels, I am pretty shure its not what you are thinking, though you could tell some elders LOVED that, and some did NOT want any attention.

Arthur Others

I was surrounded by this group of parents a few years back that used fear and guilt to keep their kids JW's. I knew their kids pretty well and I can tell they very much wanted to see what the world outside the organization was like. At assembly one time, the mother was very vocal about telling the kids to, "Make sure you go up and introduce yourself to the CO, make sure you're seen, and he remembers your name!". The kid's response when their mother left was, "I thought we're not supposed to worship men! Why is every running over there?". That brought a huge smile to my face, that they recognized it at such a young age.

stuckinarut2

Oh yes!! Great thread!

This ALWAYS bugged me.

The hypocrisy between what is said and what is practiced is outstanding in this regard.

The position one has is EVERYTHING in witness wold! Titles are EVERYTHING!

So too is making it known when one does something for another. So much for "let not your right hand know what your left is doing"!

sparrowdown

When you have so little to be personally proud of.....

Many JWs that are pioneering or reaching out for more privileges have minimum education, minimum wage jobs, no hobbies, no sports, no outside-the-cult interests, no individuality or outlet for self-expression.

Let's face it JW life is all about denying self and never doing enough so their (meaningless in the real world) titles become hugely important to them. They overcompensate for deep down feeling like a worthless piece of crap by bragging about their JW credentials and pedigree.

Sick, sad little cults like WT wield a stick and hold out a carrot - the titles and accompanying bragging rights are part of the "carrot" program.

Worship of Men and Emphasis on Titles

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