Mineralogist,
signifies medicines which allay irritation
I can think of a great deal of "irritation" that needs "allaying" at the KH.
Cyber-sista,
Well said!
These articles divide the spiritually "strong" fror the spiritually "weak" and give those "strong" ones (judgmental ones) their continual ego feeding to maintain their feelings of superiority towards those "lesser" than themselves.
After 40 years plus of not seeing the Christlike the Bible talks about, I realized it was time to leave. Actions speak louder than words.
HadEnuf,
Good to hear from you. The WTS thinks if they say they are loving enough times it will make it true.
The reason why they are "inactive" and NOT attending meetings is exactly because they DO have a love of God in their hearts. Thus, they feel compelled by their conscience NOT to attend meetings because they know in their HEARTS that this organization has removed itself far, far away from true Christianity.
Leolaia,
Well, duh, if they were trying to lure them back, showing a negative attitude would not exactly work would it? Now if they had been disfellowshipped in absentia for falling away.....
Actually, isn?t that want Dfing is?.luring them back with a negative attitude. Many inactive JWs are "unofficially" DF?d all the time.
If shunning sinners were the Christlike rule, who could stand?
Heathen,
To them spirituallity is based on meeting attendance and selling magazines
That is because those are the guidelines the WTS gives them. It is easier to "judge" people by what they do outside then to see the person inside. Elders use the "national average" to determine if men should be elders/MS. As soon as they are appointed, their hours drop below the average.
Thanks, Scully, for that extra research,
Even Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats has been twisted away from tending to the lowly and the sick and the crippled of the congregations, into a message of fattening up the coffers of those who are supposed to be
shepherds caring for the flock:
Even more pointedly, doing good to the "anointed" of the GB. Reminds of how Jesus ripped the religious leaders about "corban."
Odrade,
All we ever got was "Where have YOU been?" and "Nice to FINALLY see you." Yes, emphasis on FINALLY, with a nice little sarcastic tone. We were so loved. *warm fuzzies* NOT!
I remember a sister who was met with such "loving" comments. She said:
"My mother (non-JW so it wasn?t announced) died; my dad (non-JW) has Alzheimer?s and we had to settle him into a Alzheimer?s facility near our home. My sister (non-JW) had back surgery. We had a flood in the basement and it cost $2,000 to get it fixed and our insurance did not cover it; if it hadn?t been for the neighbors taking up a collection, I don?t know what we would have done. Our only working vehicle broke down and we have had to catch rides with the (non-JW) neighbor. My husband just had foot surgery. We were sad wondering why no one called from the congregation to see how we were. Why didn?t you call; phone not working?"
Bluesbrother,
I know how hard it can be as an elder, to scedule it all in and shepherding is easy to let go of...but if ever there was a time of need I like to think that I would have been there
I?m not going to pick on the elders but?first remember that I was an elder?s wife, as well as the close relative of at least 10 elders.
It used to gripe my rear end when elders would tell me their woes. Most elders are only responsible for the sheep in their book studies, if balanced correctly, average between 20 and 25 people. Not too many people to remember their phone numbers of, many are family groups. How hard is it to notice that someone is missing out of a group of 20 to 25?
What usually happens is some elders totally neglect their assignment and the few elders with a heart get stuck with their assigned publishers and those of the other elders.
Willyloman,
This is the same organization that warns its members not to drift away for even a week or two because "there may not be time" to get back in before the end comes!
I read an illustration recently from the WTS saying that sheep that wander away from the flock cannot expect the shepherds to look for them unless the sheep bleat loudly. It is the sheep?s responsibility. Not quite what Jesus had in mind when he talked about leaving the 99 and looking for the lost one.
Scully,
This is something I mentioned to a JW relative not too long ago: We had been inactive for 8 years - EIGHT YEARS!!!
- before elders from our congregation decided to call on us. And it was 10 years -
TEN!!! - before any of our JW relatives broached the subject of our absence from meetings/assemblies with us.
I asked the elders that finally called on me how many meetings a JW had to miss before the elders noticed. That got me several sour looks.
Elsewhere,
Sounds like explicit instructions to the elders to STOP BEATING UP ON THE INACTIVE ONES. Elders seem to be in the habbit of threatening inactive people with DFing or DAing.
Around here they just ignore you. They have to hear a rumor that you are doing something "bad" before they waste time on you. Then it is not to "help" you but to CYA.
Klaus Vollmer,
Your idioms translate strangely?shoes to the feet?
Blondie, here in Europe its fine June. soon Ill be in France and have a look to the Atlantic, knowing that far in the west there is the USA with an active vulcano in Yellowstone. Give god that this caldera does not spit out a nation
I have been in that caldera several times. I?m not worried. I also live along a fault line where one of the biggest earthquakes occurred and I?m not even on the west coast. That caldera is not anywhere near the large population centers but it may shake up the moose and buffalo.
Skally,
Why are so many jws and their kids on anti-depressants?
An elder once joked that there were so many on anti-depressants in the congregation that a bowl of them should be set up by the front door so people could just grab some as they entered!!!
Ezekiel3,
Ezekiel3, I grew up as a teenager in the WTS. One thing I will say is that the parents fell down on the job. Teenagers saw their parents say one thing and do another. There was no joy in being a JW because it was motivated by personal salvation.
It was hard for the elders to come along and do the job of the parents.
Searcher,
After all, the org is well known for blaming the elders and throwing them to the 'wolves' in such cases, and surely, the elders will be nervous about taking the blame.
The WTS is already backing away from responsibility in abuse cases. By keeping their communication with the elders unwritten, by phone and verbally through the COs and DOs, it is almost impossible to connect the elders? actions with directives from the WTS. Will the elders sacrifice themselves on the WTS altar?
Blondie
