by SwampThing 15 Replies latest jw friends
Swampthing:There's a lot of local variation at the cong/circuit/district level.
Just as urban legends abound, there are a pile of "oral laws" that prevail and spread.
There truly is no end to the lunacy...
XQs:
The braidless crusade was started by a freind of ours, I assume because he did not like his grand daughters spending money on extentions more than it being a biblical command.
How old are you again?
Another "gray area" I've noticed among JW's is firearm ownership. In some states of the U.S. (e.g. The entire mid-west, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, etc.) it's fairly common.
Even though the JW parent organization officially says that JW's should never use a firearm for self-defense, there are congregations where that idea is pretty much written off as a maiden aunt's fancy.
The last congo I attended was in a fairly upscale area where the JWs were much more involved in mainstream life--kids in college, many had careers and were more socially integrated than in the recent congo I attended. The last congo I attended was very puritanical--still suspicious about anyone who sought a higher education (some spoke totally against it). Men were counciled to wear solid color shirts only and members of the congo were extremely uptight about any social contact with the world outside of the KH walls. This hall lost most of its young people and was full of social misfits. I would never have become a JW if I was at first contacted by the former congo. It seemed like a totally different religion to me. The whole unity is worship thing is so totally bogus. Congos and elders in differerent cultures and different areas make their own rules and regulations and claim it is all through the direction of the holy spirit. The elders believe that they are being lead by holy spirit in their decision making process when it is nothing but their own strong feelings and judgements about things.
Of course the Org gives some pretty specific directions (at many times called suggestions) and there is so many grey areas and double think/double speak going on that JWs in general are a confused lot.
Thank you all for your contributions to my education. I see clearly now that there are many shades of grey in JW-land. One would think that as these people meet up at conventions and made comparisons of what they were being told, that the questions to the elders would start to fly. It?s a true wonder that this organization has held together as long as it has. Generally speaking, once the proverbial cat is out of the bag, people can see the truth for what it is. I know that if I were told I could not wear a beard, and then saw others with beards, I would require an answer. Oh well, I guess I?m not one of the 12 million...*smile*
Thanks again for your help, everyone. I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
Swamp Thing
TD , you amaze me.. Here in little old England, nobody holds guns (except a few shotguns held by farmers) I had always believed that the 'no gun policy' was strict throughout J W land. The idea of a gun totin' minister of God is just alien to us.
I had always believed that the 'no gun policy' was strict throughout J W land. The idea of a gun totin' minister of God is just alien to us.
I'm from the South and even though I grew up a JW I also grew up with guns. Rifles, shotguns and handguns. Learned to dismantle, clean and reassemble. Learned firearm safety. We hunted some, but not a lot. Living out in rural areas, we did a lot of target shooting. Most JWs I knew owned at least a rifle. Later when we moved to a bigger city, I learned that most of the city JWs did not own firearms and they made a bigger stink about owning them. Just another example of different areas enforcing rules differently.
