The elders in my last congregation were very instrumental in my leaving the Org. It was a small cong in a rural area and they were driving everyone crazy with their micro-managing every aspect of the lives of those in the cong. Certain ones seemed to be a special target for their attention...such as sister without a husband..or myself with an unbelieving mate. They had control issues and looking back I see they all had wives who were domineering or restricted them in one way or another, so I think this is the way they gained a bit of control in their lives. They played around trying to be marriage councelors, psycologists, etc and did a very bad job of it. When I questioned them on some idiotic counsel they were giving me over and over again one of them said to me "Hey were judges for Jehovah and when we make a judgement on something through holy spirit it is almost always right." This is part of the elder mentality that can become very twisted in their minds I have also found when I tried to search out help from other elders in other congregations they were very careful to not to make any judgements about the elders in my cong. Most of these other elders told me that they couldn't make judgements on the judgements made by elders in my cong, even though they themselves didn't believe those elders were doing the right thing..In otherwords they were all covering for each other. If it wasn't for the elders I may still be a drone today--I am grateful to them for showing their true colors--it was a painful slap in the face, but it woke me up--and here I am today....
That Elder Mentality
by Englishman 22 Replies latest jw experiences
-
-
slenderdog
'Tis all politics. These are men who are not allowed to pursue success in the wider world by their religious beliefs, but who can enjoy prestige within their "spirit directed" world. Elders are politicians unconstrained by normal political considerations thanks to the doctrines they purvey.
-
slenderdog
Franklin J, good point about the younger elders. An oxymoron, but the example of Timothy is wheeled out to counter the criticism that young men generally are not mature enough to guide other people's lives, which, like it or not, the flock expect. Young men, it seems, are appointed for political reasons--in Ireland, for example, they are appointed because a) they are Irish (not English), or b) there aren't enough elders among the 30 member congregation, or c) elder so & so likes MS so & so or is related to him or cleans windows with him and wants him to be an elder. All bad reasons to put a man in a position of authority. So much for spirit direction.
-
slenderdog
Not all elders are bad, though. Some are genuinely concerned for the flock, in my experience, and some even give good advice. But there seems to be a great rush to appoint new elders from the ranks of ministerial servants "reaching out" (straining themselves to be noticed by the CO). My feeling is that politically these men must be rewarded as they are "pillars," lest they lose interest, stuck on mike and magazine duty for years, and cease to be active. Thus we have a plethora of underqualified, overzealous elders, not appointed for their ability, but rewarded for their outward display of "faith." Much too much like worldly politics, where the best men don't get elected, the best campaigners do.
-
onacruse
Eman, you say you left before the elders came back? LOL...you are an old >insert appropriate Brit term<
In my experience, the whole thing started with the "new" elder arrangement in the early 70s...lots of young little tarts (read "sons of servants") being appointed...and then, especially, in the early 80s, when these slightly experienced little cops could start flexing their muscles to search out and purge all the dahum apostates that were running around.
A slight letup in the early 90s (as I recall), and then back to the hard-line.
Lots of decent fellows got twisted by all this...and a fair number did their best to have some human dignity.
-
Englishman
Eman, you say you left before the elders came back? LOL...you are an old >insert appropriate Brit term<
Yes, I left in 1972 and began a life of piety and self-sacrifice.
In my experience, the whole thing started with the "new" elder arrangement in the early 70s...lots of young little tarts (read "sons of servants") being appointed..
Umm....in the UK a tart is either a small pastry with jam in it or a prostitute.
Englishman.
-
Satanus
I know that the are asshole elders. I guess that i mainly stayed away from them, as most of my experiences w elders were ok.
Morph
Right - either on or off, no in between.
SS
-
trumangirl
Last year, before I left, I noticed our congo had 9 ex-elders - all good, mature family men as far as I could tell - but worn down by the quick-build hall preparations. The remainnig elders either really old, or young ministerial-school trained single pioneering replacement elders.
The elders who are really caring give it up, or suffer a breakdown. I feel sorry for the ones who care, weighed down with administrative work and talks, when they would rather be helping the flock in practical ways. No glory for the latter things though in the org.
trumangirl
-
got my forty homey?
I've mentioned this several times myself. It seemed that in the seventies the entire society was very laid back. But then the rules starting coming in and buy the eighties a bunch of wing tipped whirt shirted nerds came in and started interpreting the bible thier won way and enforcing the rules and corraling everyone into the seats at the hall.
I left in 1988 so I dont have the slightest idea what things are like now, maybe they eased up.
-
onacruse
Mike, as a matter of fact, the whole issue of little tarts (take it as you may ) being appointed as elders, in the course of the wonderful "new light" in the early 70s, prompted me to write a letter to the Society. I was in my late 20s, and though I'd been baptized for 20 years by then (and been through a few things), I still didn't feel like I was qualified to be an elder...and yet these young little sons-of-elders-that-didn't-know-how-to-wipe-the-snot-from-their-nose twerps were being appointed elders?!?!?!?
Well, though I offered a rather thorough analysis of the Biblical Greek concepts, needless to say (LOL, I just had to throw in that little JWism ), Merton Campbell (then in the Service Department) wrote back and said, in no uncertain terms, to mind my own business.
And that's elder mentality.