by venus 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Any halfway useful illustration that was part of any JW talk I ever heard was usually stolen from pop psychology.
Buy another telly= happy marriage seems very simplistic and a but of a downer for a wedding talk, more like a wedding tisk tisk. Hardly Yoda or Dr Phil.
sparrowdown30 minutes ago30 minutes ago30 minutes agoAny halfway useful illustration that was part of any JW talk I ever heard was usually stolen from pop psychology.
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!
There have been so many bad or false ones used. Or totally made up and presented as fact.
That's because 99% of speakers are HACKS!
I took it very seriously and actually got professional training to be very good at it.
That turned out to be a waste of time and money now.
I remember looking up an un-named quote from a WT once and it was a TD Jakes quote - WTF!!!
All it said was it was a "well known preacher" but the quote was used as an argument for WT's position - double WTF!!!
venus
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Though most of the JW teaching seemed unsound and irrational, points in this marriage talk were amazing which helps me even now in all avenues of my life. [I don’t know all JW marriage speakers use the illustration and explanation because this was the only one I attended]
Looks like you were able to internalize some good skills on honing ones perception in dealing with others.
I liked the posters comment that perhaps a good degree of this was a measure of the man giving the talk and not any credit to JWs. That sounds likely.
I get what you are saying about the TV illustration too. It isnt at all about a "TV" it is about resolving the problem in a way that leaves both partners happy and the relationship intact.
My best thing I learned was the scripture (Proverbs maybe?) that there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.
That has helped me many times to be more of a team player.
I can't think of anything that couldn't have been learned elsewhere without the extreme negativity that came with being in a cult.
I got some very good lessons from being a JW, specifically from what they taught us. I was a born-in so sometimes the lessons I learned weren't what the converted would notice. But some of them very much apply to my life now and will for the rest of my life.
1.) I was not taught to be racist. I happened to spend most of my life in the Philadelphia area, which has a lot of immigrants. There was always a lot of diversity in my congregations which was also reflected in the publications. I'm not ignorant enough to think that there is never racism in the whole organization, only that I didn't experience it and I wasn't taught to be racist.
2.) I was taught to think about what I am doing and why I am doing it. I am a proud American and yet I have never pledged my allegiance to the flag and I never will. I took the time to think this through once I left the cult and realized that I think it is dumb to pledge my allegiance to any representation of my country because people can misuse a 'representation' of the country. This teaching didn't work in favor of the cult however, in fact it backfired. But it has been a very good lesson.
3.) I was taught to be strong enough that other's people's opinions neither sway me nor harm me. It sucked growing up being bullied for being different and always being on the outside because I couldn't do anything fun, or anything the other kids were doing. But as an adult I find that to be a really really good skill to have.
Diogenesister, millie210
Because what he said was an eye-opener for me, I went straight and sat with him during the dinner and congratulated him, and asked him: “You mean to say anger is the part of our very design by God—remember all religions teach it is one of the vices?” Interestingly, he wanted to be politically correct with his answers. He said: Let religions teach what they like—we are concerned with our practical life. I have found anger to be a mechanism within to keep us uneasy till we find out a solution. There are people who did this in large scale and brought freedom to countries with millions of population without channelizing their anger towards the aggressors.
Then he gave some more details on the second point which he said is connected with the first point. You have heard no man is in an island. Similarly, no action is an isolated action. Nothing happens without something preceding—there is always a basis for something to happen. Everything that happens is part of a flow. In addition, every action is influenced by many factors and forces which are often beyond the control of the doer. It explains why people behave differently in same situation because they are operating from their immediate background—such as coming in good mood or in bad from home. That is why in a traffic jam, you see some are yelling at each other, some are agitated, some are impatient, yet some are relaxed making use of the time doing something creative such as planning, reading, praying, doing breathing exercise … etc. In office world, management behaves very nicely with employees when company makes good profit, and vice versa, which means every action is the offspring of the time and circumstances. Person coming from such office atmosphere on to house may not be fully himself/herself.
