REPOST FROM NORM--
AI had the opportunity today to go over this thread with a jw and they almost passed out , for this is what a number of them in their hall were discussing this pass sunday- the shear number of friends who are suffering from depression-
so i thought for the newer ones here it would be good to take a look at how the happiest folks on earth are not as happy as they claim to be
ENJOY
JAMES
As we know after many years in the Watchtower Society, Brooklyn loves to tell us how incredibly happy Jehovah's Witnesses are:
*** w99 10/1 8 "For Everything There Is an Appointed Time" ***
13 Of course, the fact that Jehovah’s servants “weep” over the sorry state of world affairs does not preclude their being happy. On the contrary! They are actually the happiest group of people on earth.
*** w95 1/15 12 The Joy of Jehovah Is Our Stronghold ***
7 Our close relationship with Jehovah makes us the happiest people on earth.
If you whip out your Watchtower Library CD and do a search on depression, reality will show that Jehovah's Witnesses aren’t much happier than the average population--on the contrary.
Sometimes the Watchtower prints articles which supposedly are “dealing” with such problems within the Witness community. One such article with the title "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" was published in the October 15, 1991 issue of the Watchtower. It started with the following lament:
*** w91 10/15 21 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
“I am so sad and discouraged,” lamented Mary. Referring to the load of Christian responsibilities, this Christian woman added: “I see friends experiencing burnout. I too feel the tiredness and the stress. Please help me to understand why.”
This should sound very familiar to millions of Witnesses. This issue of the Watchtower brings up a problem that apparently is quite common among Jehovah's Witnesses. What makes these articles so strange is that when you examine them, you will see that even though they identify the real cause of the problems that so many “Marys” and “Debbies” in the Watchtower organization are suffering from, they come up with totally ridiculous conclusions. These articles are an exercise in a mock search, designed to cloud and “explain” away the real causes. This particular article starts off very promisingly and does in fact identify the real problem straight away:
*** w91 10/15 21 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
DO YOU also feel that you are under stress, too tired to care adequately for your theocratic responsibilities? Does it sometimes seem that the Christian ministry is a heavy load, an unbearable burden?
The key words here are “theocratic responsibilities” and “Christian ministry.” For one of Jehovah's Witnesses, we know that this implies door-to-door work, five meetings a week plus preparation, endless meetings, during which the congregation is constantly reminded that they aren’t doing “enough service”. The article continues:
*** w91 10/15 21-2 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
Seeking the Cause
The Scriptures make it clear that Jehovah has not placed unreasonable demands on us. The apostle John said that God’s “commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) Jesus similarly told his followers: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.” (Matthew 11:29, 30) Clearly it is not Jehovah’s will that we feel overburdened or loaded down in our service to him.
This quote gives us an excellent example of the advanced manipulation techniques employed by the WT Society. The reason for Mary’s feelings of stress and fatigue could OF COURSE NOT be her ‘service to Jehovah,” oh no, because his demands aren’t “unreasonable,” and Jesus’ yoke is “kindly” and his burden is “light.” Without twitching an eyelid, they just simply equate slaving for the WT Society as synonymous with service for God and Jesus. This explanation is swallowed hook, line, and sinker by the confused members of the WT Society, who now ask themselves, “How can it be that I am regarding my service to God as a burden?” This guilt is likely to add to the burden instead of lightening it.
The “yoke” and “burden” that the Watchtower Society places on individual Jehovah's Witnesses simply is so heavy that it is impossible to carry, so heavy that it is bound to injure those who really try. A thinking human being would naturally conclude that there must be something wrong with the burden the Watchtower Society places on its members, that it is the Watchtower Society which creates the pressure and the bad conscience among the Witnesses when they allow themselves to lead a perfectly normal life. As usual the Watchtower magazine turns everything upside down when they continue their mock search:
*** w91 10/15 22 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
Take, for example, the matter of secular work. In many lands, economic conditions may leave a Christian with little choice but to work long hours. Often, though, people take on work merely to get ahead or to accumulate luxuries.
What’s unnatural and bad about people wanting to “get ahead”? What’s wrong about getting a little luxury, if one can afford it? What’s wrong with having a decent job with a decent salary? What about Patterson? Isn’t there a certain luxury about it? What about the GB when they travel? Do they stay in cheap third-rate hotels? What’s the real issue here, the real problem? Isn’t it quite easy to see? Working to get a better income is bad! Lets take a look at how the guilt and manipulation continues in the article. Take a look at the example of Debbie and her husband, both Jehovah's Witnesses:
*** w91 10/15 22 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
She says: “Our financial situation had changed, and there was no longer a real need for me to continue working full-time. But it was hard to give it up.”
Now, why couldn’t Debbie continue in her job if she liked it even though their finances had improved? Was she expecting a child? Was her health bad? Why did her wish to continue working pose such a problem? Why should she give up her job? The article continues:
*** w91 10/15 22 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
Soon she began to feel the pressure of having too much to do.
She had too much to do! What had happened? Didn’t she have too much to do all the time she had been working? What changed everything? Why did this pressure suddenly appear? Where did it come from?
*** w91 10/15 22 "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" ***
She explains: “Saturday was my only free day to do housework. Often I just didn’t feel like going out in field service. I felt bad about this, and my conscience bothered me, yet I loved my job!
Well, now we know it wasn’t her job that caused the pressure, because she loved her job. Her job wasn’t the problem. Then what was it? Well, as we can see, she “felt bad” because she didn’t feel like doing “field service.” But where had she got the idea that is the real cause of her problem? Where had she got the absurd idea that one must have a bad conscience just because one doesn’t spend all one’s spare time working for free for the Watchtower Society? Why did she have a bad conscience because she didn’t want to quit a job she loved so she could work for nothing instead?
Billions of people don’t work for the Watchtower Society without getting paid and maintain a splendid conscience. Could the reason she suffered from this very harmful delusion be things she had heard at one of the five guilt-trip meetings she had to attend in order to “survive”? Could it be something like this?
***w94 10/1 8 Time is fast running out for this wicked world, and it is imperative for all who want to survive this world’s end to learn what is involved in ‘obeying the good news’ and thus escape destruction. The next time Jehovah’s Witnesses call at your home, why not accept the invitation to have a weekly Bible study? Better yet, why not ask them to study the Bible with you because you want to understand it?”
*** km 4/91 4 Reaping in Proportion to Our Personal Effort ***
14 If we continually measure our personal effort, our worship of Jehovah will never become token service. What does that mean? It means that we will not become halfhearted in complying with God’s will, rendering only an appearance of service to him or a minimum amount without genuine heartfelt devotion and effort. Our service to Jehovah must be wholehearted.
Are there any doubts as to why Debbie and Mary feel pressured and have bad consciences? They want to survive! They have bought the idea that in order to survive some imaginary future disaster they must spend all their spare time distributing extremely badly written magazines and books. They can’t waste time actually having a life. They can’t waste time on paid work, vacations, and TV:
***w91 10/15 22 There may be other ways of relieving ourselves of unnecessary burdens. What about reducing the frequency of our pleasure travel, sports activities, or other entertainment—including time spent watching television?”
Yes, oh yes--those horrible burdens of “pleasure travel,” those pesky “sports activities,” not to mention the unbearable pressure of entertainment and television. What an unending source of unspeakable burdens! Don’t you all feel terrible when you have a wonderful vacation? What utterly “unnecessary burdens” they are! Dear, oh dear!
In actuality the Watchtower Society itself creates the whole load of “unnecessary burdens.” The problem isn’t the fact that people work for a living or that they need rest and recreation. The problem isn’t TV or entertainment. The real problem is all the activities created by the Watchtower Society—activities which, according to the Watchtower Society, are so MUCH more important than actually having a life! In reality the Watchtower Society does all it can to add to the pressure and inflict as bad a conscience as possible upon every single Witness. Making more or less open threats on behalf of God does this:
***w62 8/15 494 SHOW WILLINGNESS TO OBEY***
God has no pleasure in the person that serves him reluctantly and has to be prodded continually by others to do the divine will. If you truly love your Creator you will want to obey him.
***w62 8/15 494 Shunning such responsibilities by rejecting the assignments reveals a wrong mental attitude, an unwillingness to use your strength and abilities fully in advancing the interests of God’s kingdom. This is not serving him with delight. It is not showing wholehearted devotion to him. Do not reject theocratic assignments but be grateful that you were found worthy of greater service privileges.
If you all the time need “to be prodded” by others to “serve God,” God has no “pleasure in you,” according to this Watchtower. This really makes one wonder why the Watchtower magazines hardly contain anything BUT “prodding” and urging. Could it be (gasp) that the guys in Brooklyn don’t trust the average Jehovah's Witness’s zeal? Or is it because they want to make sure that you always have a bad conscience? But what if Debbie and Mary finally get fed up with all the urging and prodding?
***w70 7/15 430 Meeting the Divine Requirement of Obedience***
Instead of fretting when obedience is required, appreciation for guidance will draw us closer to our heavenly Father….. One who truly loves Jehovah does not need constant urging from others to keep active in the service of God.”
All Jehovah's Witnesses claim to love Jehovah, so again one has to wonder why the Watchtower is doing all this ”constant urging.” The purpose can hardly be anything else but keeping Debbie, Mary, and all Jehovah's Witnesses in a constant state of guilt. This makes them so much easier to manipulate.
As we all know, life as one of Jehovah's Witness consists of a desperate struggle not to fall back in the “service,” not to displease Jehovah, and to do anything to “survive.” This imaginary struggle created by the illusionists in Brooklyn is a real rat race, a race you’ve got to win or be slaughtered by this bad tempered, homicidal Watchtower God. In this race, self-preservation seems to be the dominating force. Joy and happiness are absent. When you observe Jehovah's Witnesses in those little moments when they forget to act, when they forget to put up the usual façade, you see how frightened, unhappy, and dead tired they are.
It is indeed sad to behold what a success Brooklyn has had in conning people into believing that the distribution of totally worthless drivel in the form of Watchtower books and magazines is the ONLY way to serve God. But they are good at it. The only thing I can recommend is "Let Us Also Put Off Every Weight" by throwing off the evil yoke of the Brooklyn slave masters and become free men and women.
Norm.