by gentlesoul 29 Replies latest jw friends
I think HillaryStep brings up a good point concerning the definition of WHAT maturity means to various posters.
I'm going to start a thread on that subject, then I'm going to bed. Hillary....if you see this.......I expect you to give us the true meaning since your the one with the brains here
Gumby
Are we immature at times?
We sat thru hours of meetings sometimes on our hands so we wouldn't distract, we were forced to go to the homes of neighbors and school friends and preach "the truth" to them, we were allowed no friends outside our religion, no after school activities, no christmas, no halloween, no prom, no tooth fairy, no sports, we couldn't date without a chaperone or even think of the opposite sex until we were ready to marry, we were allowed no dreams of a future ouside the JW world...
So, maybe we are a bit immature, but I think we deserve to be from time to time...all that and a bit more for good measure!
The strongest argument I see on many exJW boards for immaturity is the unwillingness or possibly inability of many to look at an argument from both sides.
Many seem to take an entrenched position and just state, over and over again, what they wish to say.
Some even resort to ?foot stamping? when the other(s) will not come over to ?their side?
Being able to see what the ?other side? is saying, does not, IMHO, weaken ones position in the argument/discussion, it just gives an insight into the other persons thinking.
As an outsider (never a JW) this seems to me to be the biggest hangover that many have from JW days.
I realise, of course, that there are many in the world who also have this attitude, but if they are looked at critically, they always seem to come from a background of control in some way, or maybe sometimes, a position of some sort of (maybe perceived) power.
The religious tennants of the JW's can certainly hold a person back from attaining what I'd think of as maturity - it seems designed that way, it's harder to keep mature people fooled.
But that's not to say being a JW stops one from becoming a mature adult, would we think of Ray Franz as being a mature man while he was on the GB?
I guess, that I share the opinion of everyone else on this board. I feel that a lot of the witnesses are immature in the way that they look at the world. They have never been exposed to it. And rather than try to fix the big world problems that we all encounter, they are told that Jehovah will fix them. No need to get along with worldly people, no need to improve your career or get along with your boss, PG movies are bad and should be ignored. Sex and porn is openly talked about but will never be seen until you are married and then it must conform to witness guidelines. Please, stop with the control and let these kids grow up and make decisions on their own.
The strongest argument I see on many exJW boards for immaturity is the unwillingness or possibly inability of many to look at an argument from both sides. Many seem to take an entrenched position and just state, over and over again, what they wish to say.
Heh heh, Steve!
Your diplomacy just slays me sometimes.
Englishman.
Its true, when I was in school my parents always told me I wasn't going to college, so I figured why do good in school? I had a career in Gilead waiting for me! Where I work for NYC transit Jehovah Witness employee's are generally the worst. They do as little as possible, violate rules, and generally act aloof amoung co workers. When I find out a one of my guys is a witness and they does something wrong I simply ask them do Jehovahs Witnesses act this way, I hold you guys to a higher standard to regular guys! Then they respond as do all "religous" people on my job, "Im imperfect, thats why I go to church every week, the Lord is my Shepard!
I always tell my fellow supervisors that if a operator tells you he's a "preacher, teacher, Jehovah's Witness or Sunday School teacher" to keep three eyes of them! If a operator tells you he gets drunk every night, cheats on his wife and sniffs coke on the weekend, you can trust him!
I really like this question!!
When I think back on 1989, I was 33 years old and the Mother of 4 and newly DA'd and immature doesn't even begin to describe my level of development.
I had never made a decision, so I had no idea how to make one.
So I made some monumentally bad ones out of pure ignorance.
I was so immature I was at about fetus level. What life decisions does a fetus make?
Well that is where I was.
Deb
Of course; the WTBTS counts on it to hold theri followers in thrall; compare how they demonize ``independent thinking" to how society in general defines children as ``dependents."
I think naive may be a better word. I believe I grew to be a mature woman, but was extremely naive. I still am in many ways, but am learning that you can't trust everyone, that not everyone tells the truth, that not everyone means what they say, and just because you think someone is your friend, doesn't mean they are.
