by jst2laws 181 Replies latest jw friends
Undecided,
Just wanted to check something: you said that you were an elder for 6 years and a PO for 8 years. Shouldn't that be the other way around, as I thought you can only be a PO if you are an elder. I know you can be a school overseer and still be a ministerial servant though. Just wondering...
Richie :*)
Wow, the old privileges list. Reading this thread makes my stomach churn. It brings back memories of the ladder at the JW Kingdom Hall. Any brother who didn?t make it up the rungs was a complete spiritual failure. Even little kids wondered what was wrong with a dad who wasn?t good enough to be an elder or even a min. serv? Yep, it brings back the good old days when there were the elders, the min. servs., their wives, the pioneers? and the others. Or, to quote one brother?s platform slip-up: ?those serving Jehovah whole-souled, and the mere publishers.?
So to all lurkers?be re-assured, you will not only be associating with misfits and lowlifes. Some here were of elder calibre, others did actually make it to bethel and, would you believe it, there are even some former COs and DOs. Print the latest list and post it on your bulletin board at the back of your virtual Kingdom Hall. You can feel safe now.
Watching NYPD I?ve sometimes imagined Andy having a discussion with a former JW elder. I hear it something like this : ?So you were an elder, that don?t mean dick-all. Thirty years huh, well it sure took you a long time to wake up, pal.?
jst2laws you sound like my 85-year-old dad who sees everyone in his little world as either someone with privileges or a slacker. But I forgive him. He?s 85 and he?s still a WT drone. Sorry to all who want their names up on the list but I agree 100% with Flower. I?m sad to see that some were part of the Lie for years, didn?t learn a damn thing, and want to carry on with their seniority lists. I?m not re-assured or impressed one bit.
I find it somewhat insulting to the long time female members who lacked the physical organ necessary to gain one of the precious titles yet who left after being much more spiritual( said by Flower)
I posted this before -but it disappeared..... I Have to say I agree with Flower here! I was 'ticked" when this thread started!!! I thought here we go again!!!! elevating MEN!!!!!
I was a Woman ( with out the special organ as flower puts it) But my phone rang constantly from sisters who couldnt approach the elders with their questions ( husbands forcing oral sex, etc etc) on them. Then the sister's who had unbelieving hubbies & because I had one -they felt I would be able to help them since I was an "elder"( OLDer!!!!)( with out the recognized organ)..
My hubby used to beat me many times after these calls- he thought THEY were elevating me!!!! Used to say "Mrs Know it all Knows Bugger all"
No one saw those times ( only GOD) but as you all walked aroung being revered -I walked around being one of the "lesser ones"
Sorry to sound off-Guess I am not that reverant of men any more ,,,,,,,NONE!!!!!!!!
Methinks some are overly sensitive! This has nothing to do with elders, but ex-elders. Surely that's the whole point of this thread.
So, come on now, be happy that so many who might have had good reason to stay put with their "privileges" had the courage to speak out and break free.
Now surely we can all be glad about that. If we can't be glad for people, well, we will have a long sad life.
Cheers, Ozzie (of the privileged few who are now free class)
Elder for 9 years, MS for 11 before that
Jim
jst2,
I see flower and mouthy's point here.
Why not add to the list pioneers and females who also worked at bethel. Just because females are not allowed to be elders, doesn't mean that they are not respected as leaders in the congragations. Just think, most of the best, most thoughtful comments you hear at meetings are often from women .
It seems that it is fairly well accepted that females do most of the preaching work. Wouldn't it be interesting to see how many of these former witnesses are now posting on JWD.
How many hours of service do you think the witnesses miss now that we have:
Blondie
Mouthy
Joy
Mulan
Princess
Lyin'
Flower
and so may others?
No, you're missing the point! It has nothing to do with male chauvenism, nor about who does or did a sizable amount of the work.
This thread centres on identifying those who were the official enforcers of Watchtower policy. Like it or not, in the WTS this did not apply to the women - well, not officially anyway!! there were some de-facto women overseers at Bethel, but that's another story. The thing is that there are many men who formerly were in the position of enforcing the Borg's policies, yet are now willing to stand up and expose the WTS for what it is.
Perhaps, we can clear this up with a co-ed list, for those women who wish to have their details posted?
For over a year I lurked as an elder on H2O and this board. For some time I feared I was the most evil appointed servant in the history of the organization for lurking here. Gradually I learned I was not alone. JW Elders reading this, you are not alone.
This is jst2law's purpose in starting this thread. He is making an effort to reach out to current elders still in the organization who perhaps might be lurking. It is reasonable to believe that if he, as an elder, lurked on H2O then there are current elders lurking on this board. And if there are, this is an attempt to reach out to them to let them know they are not alone.
I do not read this thread as an self-styled attempt to recreate the mysigionstic attitudes of the organization. This is a positive message, not an ego massage. I submit that if someone reads anything else into this thread, it says more about their attitude and themselves than it does about jst2laws.
Frankly I think most women would have made better elders than 80% of the men I knew. Certainly the child abuse problem would never have happened, if sisters had been appointed elders, nor would many of the family problems in the congregation get swept under the rug. But again, that is not the point of this thread.
Chris
