by minimus 24 Replies latest jw friends
I agree that some of the JW's feel that if they look down on others, it gives them a sense of pride . Pride in that THEY are so wonderful, so good, and not as bad as so and so.
People who do this, are insecure. They will do all kinds of things to make you look foolish, point out minor mistakes, etc. as a indirect way make themselves look better. This goes for people in general, IMO, not just JW's.
my real name is not on here.. and although the picture is me.. it is not very clearly me. But they were already pointing it out as me long before my pic was here because I have a posting style (all my own) and they knew me from the JW boards...
and yeah.. I know.. D day is coming.. when I tell them all to go to hell
I think it's impossible to talk about all JW as a group or a generalization. When I was a JW, I sure knew a lot of people who thought that because they were witnesses they were better than worldly people. I also knew a lot of witnesses who thought they were better than a lot of other witnesses.
I think the Watchtower directly encourages this. Not only with their constant admonitions to be no part of the world, but also through the phrase, "bad associations spoil useful habits." How many hundreds of times do you think you heard that?
I honestly don't know if I ever felt that way. I don't remember feeling superior. If anything, I felt the opposite. And I think many, many other witnesses did not, in fact, look down on people -- they just wanted to help them in a misguided way.
I bet, however, if one conducted a cross-sectional study of any major religious group you'd find relatively similar outcomes in regards to feelings of superiority among group members.
They will do all kinds of things to make you look foolish, point out minor mistakes, etc. as a indirect way make themselves look better. This goes for people in general, IMO, not just JW's.
You're right on there. Witnesses are not the only ones who practice that. Lots of people do this, and don't even realize it. (myself included).
I would have to say, though, that witnusses are some of the worst offenders; it's like "the church lady" from SNL. Asking probing questions all the time; finding things out; going on assumptions; gossip; bad assosiation.
I cannot stress enough how truly bizarre I found this behavior. It was like you were out getting grilled by elders whilst working in service, rather than being upbuilt and saving people from satan, LOL! I would get asked about all kinds of my friends, what we do in our spare time, etc. I would give them answers that would give them more questions.
Example:
So, what do you like to do in your spare time?
Oh, I do lots of things. (evasive answer)
Like what?
Oh, you know, what everybody else does I guess. (evasive answer)
So, how is XXX doing?
Oh, pretty good. (evasive answer)
I heard that he/she has not been getting to many meetings.
Humph. I hadn't heard that. There's so much gossip going around these days, it's hard to know what to believe you know. (evasive answer)
Practice the above and you will have tedious long boring conversatins with your fellow "brothers and sisters" who are interrogating you.
Yes, because I did it.
Obviously, not ALL JWs look down on people but I do think MOST view themselves as truly superior to persons of a different view------otherwise, they wouldn't be Jehovah's Witnesses. Duhhhhhhhh.
1)- There are many that are aptly desribed by the statement "JWs Enjoy Looking Down On Others. It Makes Them Feel Good About Themselves!."
2)- There are other JWs who look down on others merely because they believe they are the only ones who have the "truth" and will survive Armageddon and live forever.
They always fall into one of those two buckets. IMHO.
I was in group 2 when I was a dub.
Love_Truth- honest, not revisionist, about the attitudes of JWs
Spiritually yea, I mean how can they not when they believe they are the only ones that are going to survive into the New System? How can they not feel superior with that type of belief?
I have met lots of nice dubs..lol I WAS a nice dub But I still felt I was superior to worldly people....I knew the true religion...I led a moral life...
Can't say though I enjoyed the feeling...I guess I enjoyed my "privileged" status as a true believer and one considered acceptable by God...but I don't ever recall gloating over the fact that I was going to live and they were going to die.
Yes Xena, that's exactly what I'm talking about. JWs DO feel "superior" to "worldly" aka "normal" ones!
It depends on the JW I think. There are many that feel bad for 'wordly' people. And there so much guilt that goes along with being a witness than one almost never gets to enjoy the fact that they belong to the 'only true religion' because they are too busy feeling inadequate.
Some of the more arrogant elder/elderettes seemed to enjoy the feeling of being better than other people but they looked down on other JW's too so that doesnt count.
flower
