by zeb 17 Replies latest jw friends
A criticism of the wt way is the practice of using 50 words when 10 would do. This is an example of an aged speaking style practised in the 1930s 1950's. Just look at movies from that era, political speeches etc
Memorials are no different. I have come away from memorials where it was obvious the elders were just busting to start a talk about anything and thus drag the evening out... ad nausea but never had the lisence to do so.
The memorial is a Watchtower ritual. All about the organization and Jesus is a not relevant side kick.
Gorby attended the memorial in a language group and observed 5 non JW visitors. The time that many people are interested is gone.
G.
That`s their "15 minutes of fame" zeb where else can they have a captivated audience to speak to for 45 minutes ?
Even more annoying to me were the two different brothers that were chosen to offer the prayers, one over the bread, the other over the wine. Long, drawn out speeches, half the time not speaking to Jehovah, but speaking to the congregation. Men full of themselves and all of their pompous attitude.
smiddy3, don't you mean captive audience not captivated. :)
It's more of a celebration of the anointed and who can and cannot partake.
As usual, I am asked to do something, (not serving this year) and as such being the case, I am seated by myself. This means that the cup‘n saucer gotta be dragged to me separately. This provides an interesting opportunity.
Now, in the past, I used this opportunity to shun the shun.
What I mean is, when the plate was offered to me, when the opportunity to shun the body of Christ was presented to me, I held up my hand and said “thanks” in a whispering undertone, shunning the shun, not reaching out to touch the superstitional object. (new word).
The last time I did this, the elder was freaking out. Unless I reached forward to touch the edge of the saucer, just brush it gently, he wasn’t moving on. He had a visible reaction. I thought he was going to stroke. So I touched it ever so slightly.
This year, I didn’t do this, because I think they are watching.
But the hocus poKus can be seen in the elder’s emblem chicken dance.
The elder walks up to me, reaches out his right hand with the glass, I slowly reach for the glass, allow it to unweight from his right hand, he withdraws his right hand, pivots his body, extending his left hand, like he was dancing, and takes the glass with his left hand.
Now, it’s easy to understand why elder boob did thusly. He felt stupid giving and getting with the same hand. He could sense the foolishness of it, but more, he for that moment, could feel the idolizing of the glass. His hand was telling him.
So, to quiet the message from his right hand, he put it away, and used his left. He was trying to give meaning to a moment in time, meaning where there was none.
For that second in time, elder boob felt like he was ‘playing tea time’ with a 4 year old girl in a treehouse. He felt foolish. So, in a vain effort to feel less stupid, he did the emblem chicken dance.
It's all so ritualized, Lastman! I was in a congregation that had a guest speaker from the NYC area. He was a "commuting Bethelite" so he had credentials and actually did well with the dry material.
When one of the passers approached him with the plate, he simply put up his hand as if to say no thanks.
I have seen the speaker go off of the platform, take a seat, be handed the plate so that he could hand it back, then go back up to give the next segment of his talk.
Hahahaha still in,, I could see it in my mind.
They do the chicken dance at the front of the hall, I’ve had to participate in it myself, where, after having their grubby hands all over the cup and saucer.... they gotta sit down and be handed it one more time.
Its like their ass is telling them, “hey, I gotta be on a chair for the everlasting life to flow through “...
Haha.. I can tell the board this, now that my significant other knows.
I started my own Memorial tradition this year.
I slobbered all over every one of the glasses to be used.
They were clean, they tasted clean, every one. As the slobbered glasses went around, as the slobbered glass was handed to me, I chuckled.
Hahaha I slobbered the shun.
As a general rule, almost every talk at every meeting, and every prayer is this way, although some speakers are definitely worse than others.(every once in a while, you get a great speaker that's easy and enjoyable to listen to) The exception being the bible reading at the theocratic ministry school (and what is up with that?! Just read the verses, no review of what's read or summary from the speaker. Don't learn how to engage your audience, just read...?)
Obviously they have a timeslot to fill, and you can only talk so long about a subject until it starts to become repetitive and dissected to death. This has always been one of my issues with the religion. It's so freaking repetitive! I mean, if you eat at a restaurant 3 times a week, every month, for a year, and they only serve 8 different dishes, and every once in a while, the cook does an amazing job preparing the meal, but the majority of the time, the meals are bland, and you can't leave until you clean your plate, after which you have to hear a long drawn out explanation from the owner about how great his food is, and how thankful he is for his restaurant, staff, food, patrons, liscensing, health inspectors, FDA, food truck delivery, table cloths, silverware, napkins, grandma for the recipes, the building, the heat, the A/C, and on and on... And finally, when he's finished, you've got to navigate a sea of other patrons who want to converse about how great their meal was. I bet you don't eat there often, if ever again...
It gets old and repetitive. I'll never forget, after being gone for over 12 years, with the exception of some minor "new light", it was like I never left. The same exact meals being served. Yes its dressed up in a bit fancier packaging, with the new songs, flat screens, video presentations, and of course, JW.org, but it's the same meal, regurgitated. And when you finally peek behind the curtain and see how dirty the kitchen is, you realize why you should never go again, relieved to be free to choose for yourself.
