Observations at a District Convention

truman

I finally got my piece to post about three entries down

Look below, please.

truman

Couldn't get this to post so am trying this method...

truman

I am trying to copy and paste a piece of writing from WORD to the board, and it will not show up. What am I doing wrong. It is rather long, and I don't want to have to type it all over again. Help?!

truman

One more time......

I went to the Sunday session of the District convention last weekend. It was the first meeting of any kind I have attended in nearly three years. It was a very interesting experience.

I went because I had been telephoned by an old JW friend in a nearby city who suggested we get together for a visit on an assembly day in her town (where my old cong. has to go for their conv., too).

We had not seen one another since before I did my fade out from the ‘troof’. She did not know I have left. I wanted to see her and her husband, but I knew that if I told them my current status (inactive, not df’d) and views (apostate, all the way), it would have meant the immediate end of our friendship. So, after some soul searching about the ethics of such a choice, I made the decision to attend incognito, undercover, so to speak.

I arrived at the convention arena in a dress purchased for the occasion, notebook and lunch bag (not too much food, wouldn’t want to get sleepy in the afternoon, and no glass containers) in hand. I was not expecting to feel threatened or much disturbed by the experience, and I did not. I have made my peace with my JW past, and I view it as something I apparently needed, to learn what I must learn in this life.

The fact was though, that rather than being an uncomfortable encounter, it was rather like slipping on a pair or old floppy bedroom slippers. They’re unsightly and don’t really fit anymore, and you know every scuff and rip in them, but your foot slips right into the old well worn groove. There was an easy familiarity about it all, even a strange sensation of hominess. It was an illusion, I know, but it was odd to feel it.

I arrived a little late, so it was lunch break before my friends and I got to talk. I realized that there is a sort of unwritten ritual that JWs invoke with each other when there has been some significant passage of time since they last met. It is a subtle reconfirmation of one’s status in the ‘troof’. It reminds me of an old Star Trek episode about a computer controlled culture, in which they could immediately detect whether a person was ‘of the body’, that is, still under the mind control.

Anyway, it was at this point that I had to lie outright. She asked me if I had gotten in my other two days of assembly, since this was the last one for the summer. I said, "yes". A couple of other questions about my congregation and it was over…I had passed, and we could progress on to other things. This was not done maliciously or even with suspicion, it is just something JWs do.

I spent my time in the seat taking notes and really trying to pay attention to what was said….from a distinctly different viewpoint than I had in the past. I discovered some fascinating features about the material presented. I noted several instances where directly contradictory statements were made. I can only assume that this is a psychological tool and the mental confusion it creates, somehow reasserts JW convictions. That’s my theory anyway.

Example:

Talk: Guard Against Abandoning the Straight Path

"Well maintained trust will fortify us against the effects of opposers and apostates. Hot the person, but the teaching is the danger.

Never allow curiosity to lead us to look at the teachings of opposers on the internet or other places.

Our thinking ability helps us plot a straight path through this system of things."

While this sounds like typical JW stuff, I was struck by the juxtaposition of these two statements. On the one hand, they are told to stifle curiosity and maintain unquestioning trust, and on the other hand, they are instructed to use thinking ability. The double standard was so stark.

Another talk entitled Youth Walk in the Path of Righteousness, had some very interesting comments. My notes:

"Young ones, do you know what propaganda is? It is a story told by an enemy to have you believe something that is not true.

Jehovah hides nothing from you, unlike those who would lie to you.

The world tells you that there are no consequences for behavior. You can drink, smoke, commit immorality, and there are no consequences"

Lies, lies, lies….this is not an accurate description of propaganda, there is much hidden among Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the world does not say that there are no consequences for one’s behavior.

This was followed by several demos featuring tired scenarios of parents indoctrinating their pre-adolescents in the art of giving elaborate reasons why they do not celebrate birthdays or salute the flag.

Also included were the obligatory first person testimonies from ‘exemplary’ young persons about how their parents had raised them so well. One young woman said of her JW peers who had ‘fallen away’, "Their parents were not as strict as mine, they were lenient in just little things, and the kids eventually fell away." Yikes, I would hate to be a JW kid after that assembly.

I also noticed several times that the phrase ‘raised around the truth’ was used instead of ‘raised in the truth’. Is this one of their progressive language adjustments, like calling themselves ‘Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ instead of ‘Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’ in official correspondence?

Another example of contradictory statements was found in the afternoon talk called, Walking With God Brings Blessings Now and Forever.

"No parent would let a toddler just learning to walk out to roam around alone. A good parent would be there to help their child, even all their lives.

Have you felt like you need someone to guide you in life? Jer. 10:23’ It does not belong to man to direct his steps’

Man doesn’t have the capacity to guide himself, or the right to do so, not even a ‘step’.

We can walk with God as our guide.

What does this NOT mean? It is not literal, and it does not mean that we are robots, unable to think or reason for ourselves."

Again, we are told at once, that we are like babies learning to walk, needing constant help, but then we should use our reason and thinking ability. Which is it? Dependence, or self-sufficiency? It creates an highly circumscribed enclosure of control, while at the same time presenting an image of competency and freedom. And cognitive dissonance.

The Watchtower Study

I did not have a current WT, so listened carefully, and what I heard at one point made me ask my friend if I could see her WT to confirm my ears. It was in paragraph 9 of the 8/8/04 issue of the WT.

"We do not use guilt, fear, or shame to coerce people into obeying Christ as his disciples. Only wholesouled devotion is acceptable. Morbid fear would be a wrong motive for obeying Christ."

Again, a statement so at odds with the JW experience. I wrote in my notes, "What are the implications of this? What does it mean if you do feel those things?" Every JW knows fear, guilt, and shame to some degree as elements of the coercion they experience. I certainly did. I hated living with the fear and guilt. So, they are told at the DC that fear and guilt are not used, and yet they feel fear and guilt. Shame is also created as a result of this contradiction in perception.

The final talk of the day was given by (drum roll, please) Theodore Jaracz. My friend was very excited when she heard his name announced. A GB member speaking there! That’s only a little less than having the apostle Paul himself there on the platform, isn’t it? She got her note book all ready, and whispered to me, "don’t nod off now!" No, indeed!

I began with the idea of taking down most of what he said to analyze later, but after a bit, I gave up. Even my friend eventually put down her pen and closed her notebook. His talk was to be the review of the assembly program of the three days…presumably plus whatever exciting tidbits he might have to share with his eager listeners. The Brother Mr. Jaracz proceeded to deliver a most pedestrian and banal speech, covering each day of the conv. In an almost bored manner. Hre said things like:

" Grow in accurate knowledge, and remember to apply what you have learned at the assembly.

Produce the fruits of the spirit.

God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our roadway.

To safeguard our spirituality, we need to pay attention to what Jehovah is teaching us.

Pay attention to prophecy.

Marriage is important….mates should STICK to each other. And they should stick to a wife, not a partner of the same sex.

Have respect for sacred gatherings."

He did have a couple of interesting comments later in his talk. This about the evils of not being poverty stricken:

"We should safeguard ourselves from materialism. If we are financially well padded, we are walking by ‘sight’, not by ‘faith’."

And this about that old demon the internet:

" Don’t abandon the straight path. Some get on the internet and engage in chat, and then they BOLT. They get infected by the wrong kind of information and just bolt. Some have done that to their great sorrow and their great regret."

Well, that was the end, except for the ten minute prayer by Ted Jaracz, when we all just wanted to get out of there. I survived. I visited my friends. I realized that I had lost mst of the connection I had with them. A little sad. I think I may need some chat.

UpAndAtom

This is one of the best posts I've seen in a long-long time. Thanks for sharing.

Gadget

I see nothing much has changed at the conventions then...... I'm glad you managed to meet up with your friend again, even if you did have to go through this to do it. Are you going to meet up again?

Thirdson

Truman,

Very interesting observations. I'm glad you got to meet your friend and thanks for sharing.

Have you felt like you need someone to guide you in life? Jer. 10:23? It does not belong to man to direct his steps? Man doesn?t have the capacity to guide himself, or the right to do so, not even a ?step?.

What I observe from this is that the Watchtower says not follow men and instead asks JWs to unthinkingly follow the Watchtower's version of guidance written by men interpreting a book written by men. Since the Watchtower's writings (books, magazines and assembly program scripts) are not inspired (they claim no such thing) they are simply "men" directing "man."

3rd

patio34

Truman,

Thanks for that well-written account of your day at the convention. It was like reading it in Newsweek or something!

I loved the example of well-worn slippers that were no longer useful. Good way to put it.

Them and their "thinking ability." It means anything but thinking ability.

I'm glad you survived it so well and laid it to rest. Every once in a while I wonder what it'd be like (it's been 3 1/2 years for me), so now I know. I think I'd do it just about the way you did.

Hugs,

Pat

ozziepost

Truman:

Thx for posting this.

Observations at a District Convention

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