Yadda, don't go by views, go by whether it represents you. Sometimes, just one person you help makes it worth it.
(Yeah, I took a couple of years off, so feel free to disregard what I just said. )
starting to feel my time is wasted on here lately and its time to move on.. some of the best, meaty stuff only gets a few hundreds views and as soon as the posts dry up a bit the thread is soon forgotten (usually in a few days) under the constantly falling snowflakes of new threads (many trival) continuously being created and popping up as 'active topics'.
the same core jw related subjects then keep reappearing over and over again as new threads without getting a thorough treatment at the time (eg, there must be at least one 'are jw's a cult' thread started each week on here; 'new light' topics get about 20 new threads started with the quality of analysis spread and diluted over all of them.).
anyone else tend to feel the same way at times?.
Yadda, don't go by views, go by whether it represents you. Sometimes, just one person you help makes it worth it.
(Yeah, I took a couple of years off, so feel free to disregard what I just said. )
what scriptures do the elders use to say they are in a position over you and can judge you and can make you go to them for reinstatement etc???
.
There is the scripture that Paul (the real Christ of modern Christianity) talks about being obedient to the ones keeping watch over your souls. Thats what the NWT says. I think its Hebrews. Happily, I haven't read that shit in years, so my memory is happily faulty.
my dad heard from the co who heard from a do that heard from his brother-in-law that heard from the friend of a governing body's wife, that the gb is getting very concerned that "the friends" are losing sight of the nearness of the panda-petting paradise.
many of these friends are also looking too critically at the "spiritual food" provided by the "faithful slave class.".
don't tell anyone else, but i hear that the gb has begun testing something new on some of the sheeple.
With apologies Billy.....
NEW GOGGLES FOR MINISTERIAL SERVANTS AND ELDERS! If you're a Tier 1,2, or 3 appointed servant in either class, these glasses are for you!
TIER 1 MS: If you are 17 years old, or 92, swear up and down that you love Jehover, claim 10 hours in FS or more a month, and are actually seen at meetings for FS, (oh yeah, you have, or used to have, testicles) then these are for you. Because there is no chance that you are ever going to be appointed an elder anytime soon, so the only thing you need to see are the schedules on the information board for your work assignments, and the answers to read out of a WT or KM.
TIER 2 MS: If you are in your mid 20's and up, and have at least 2 years of MS experience, and have shown you can read the information board and the answers directly out of the WT or KM, you get to step up to these bad boys. These are special, because they direct you on which elders ass you need to kiss, which you need to avoid, and which slothy elders you need to gossip and complain about "have a discussion about" with one of the elders on the Circus Committee to make yourself look better. Only given to MS who think they would make GREAT elders and definitely "do things differently" than the elders currently on the body.
TIER 3 MS: If you have been a career MS, and feel that you've been passed over for being an elder because the BOE hates you, YOU'RE RIGHT YOU PAIN IN THE ASS SELF RIGHTEOUS MS! To avoid being deleted in an elder inspired power play because you forgot which elders ass you need to kiss, these Tier 3 models will help you shred every last bit of your identity and self esteem. Soon, your whole mission in going to the KH and out in FS will be to show just what a company man you are. And even though technically you do need testicles to serve in an appointed position, the BOE and the Holy Spirit would just as soon that you put those things away and nod your head "yes" to everything they say. (Note, these goggles are esp good if you have totally indoctrinated family members putting pressure on you as to why you aren't playing ball yet. Just put em on and be done with it. The elders are always right, unless they're wrong, in which case, they're still right, cuz the holy spirit was just checking to see if you all were awake!)
FOR ELDERS
TIER 1 for ELDERS: For newly appointed elders in search of their first publisher to disfellowship, these goggles are esp helpful in looking for members of your flock that have low self esteem, need help, and is open to "temptation." In short, they're ripe to screw up! Get involved early and condemn them, but don't really help them. Being in on the action first bumps you to the front of the line to be in on your first few JC's, where you can act like a wild monkey on meth and get away with it! (Or Alec Baldwin on a commercial flight)
TIER 2 for ELDERS: Trying to figure out how to get be a circuit or district level elder? Would you like the added prestige that comes from building KH's with the RBC as a department head? Would you like to help the GB kill patients who need blood by joining an HLC? Then these glasses are for you. Although they are designed first and foremost for elders who pretend to pioneer, any zealous sounding elder who can give a green handshake and a good steak dinner to a CO will do. In fact, there whole purpose is to help you to see the path to A) Get the COBOE on your side, and B) Know how to ask for a privilege without really asking. The CO will not do a thing for you if you ask directly. But if you tell him that "you're reaching out", "would like to do more and have experience in building/medicine/reading the back of a first aid manual" then you very likely will be put on a list when these positions become available. Be careful, sometimes, these goggles can fog up when the CO once again starts to enjoy the smell of his own farts.
TIER 3 for ELDERS: Although these look like those crazy 1950's era 3-D glasses, they have a red and a blue lens for a reason. It's for the point that all elders reach when they have to decide between the red and the blue pill. Whether to just stay with it no matter the damange to themselves, their families, and real people, or stick around because of what they can get out of it, and the fantasy land that is in their head. These are the worst glasses in a sense, because one way or another, the red and the blue fade to perfectly clear glasses, where you can see the truth. You just have to decide, are you going to leave the rot, or perpetuate it?
science shows that humans have been living on earth more than 6000 years (contrary to ot chronology).
again inconsistency is pointed out in nt too which says jesus who did countless good worksincluding control over forces of nature and even death itselfyet people killed him, just like killing the duck that lays golden egg!.
despite such inconsistencies, a single verse in the bible can solve all our problems: don't call anyone on earth 'father,' because you have only one father, the one in heaven.
I have learned to be skeptical of "one idea" that works for everyone, except for the Golden Rule, because it's harmless and helpful.
Having "one father" is being a hair away from "one boss". Been there, done that.
now that enough time has passed and i've moved away, i think i'm overdue to share some of the stories from my fade.
i've mentioned some of this before, but i think it deserves its own thread.. we all would like to be able to freely ask questions about jw beliefs and get our family and friends to really think about certain questions.
however, when you're a baptized jw, you really can't ask any good questions or you'll get the "apostate" label slapped on you!
Billy, I really enjoy these posts of yours. I am not this clever. When my give a damn broke, I mentally was flipping everyone off so much I could barely hide my disdain. My last talk as an elder, I caught myself laughingly scoffing at the audience a couple of times. Just because I checked out mentally.
This is a great resource for people who need to negotiate a fade to be able to talk with out tipping their hands....
.....said the exiting jw.. this jw saw it all, the games, the politics.
oh, and how this quality of "humility" was used as an anvil to keep, not just your actions in line, but your thoughts and feelings as well.. the leadership of jw's is an extremely talented bunch.
they know exactly how to reframe concepts to their own ends.. so, once you have your awakening, and you leave, and you remember how often you were symbolically on your knees all the time, you say "never again!".
DoC, BINGO! In addition to the propaganda, you get fed this ridiculous line every week.... "YHWH wants YOU".
Same thing as an MS, Elder, Pioneer, Bethelite, Gilead, YOU WERE CHOSEN....
I used to like that thought. My last conscious memory of this sickening mentality was when Losch said our assignment to Africa was definitely done under Jehovah's supervision.
6 months later, I laughed my ass off at the thought of THAT!
.....said the exiting jw.. this jw saw it all, the games, the politics.
oh, and how this quality of "humility" was used as an anvil to keep, not just your actions in line, but your thoughts and feelings as well.. the leadership of jw's is an extremely talented bunch.
they know exactly how to reframe concepts to their own ends.. so, once you have your awakening, and you leave, and you remember how often you were symbolically on your knees all the time, you say "never again!".
.....said the exiting JW.
This JW saw it all, the games, the politics. Oh, and how this quality of "humility" was used as an anvil to keep, not just your actions in line, but your thoughts and feelings as well.
The leadership of JW's is an extremely talented bunch. They know exactly how to reframe concepts to their own ends.
So, once you have your awakening, and you leave, and you remember how often you were symbolically on your knees all the time, you say "Never again!"
Because if that's what humility really is, they can bite me big time!
But that isn't what humiity is all about. It's easy to say, and even easy to agree with, but the humility that JW's teach to their flock isn't humility at all. Just for the record, here is what humility is defined as:
"the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people" "freedom from arrogance"
That's it. There is NOTHING wrong with this. Why? Because whatever you think and decide, it only has to be good for you. I especially take this definition to mean that you can't judge a book by it's cover. Yes, some states of mind and actions ARE better than others, but that doesn't mean that the PERSON is of lesser quality, one way or the other. A good smart, and yes, HUMBLE person, when presented with evidence, can change their mind and their ways... if they're humble. And sometimes, life will humble you, causing you to change a less desireable mindet, even if it takes years.
So you're smart, successful, good looking, rich, influential. That doesn't mean you're BETTER than me. (although I would be jealous as shit....) And if I am that person, it doesn't mean I am BETTER than you.
That's the trouble with the whole JW mindest. It encourages people to think that they are better. What other sane reason would you have to stay? Because you are in a better organization, and everyone else is going down.
So when you leave, sometimes you feel like you have to over compensate. You act confident. (you're totally not) You pretend to know. (It takes time to learn and educate yourself). You have been spiritually and emotionally abused, so you won't allow anyone to "treat you badly". (all they're doing is disagreeing with you).....
It goes on and on.
Real humility is a relief, and something I think could help former JW's in their moving on.
Being humble allows you to acknowledge where you came from, knowing that everyone else isn't better than you, or even ahead of you, just because you were in a cult.
Being humble allows you to take the good from your JW experience and use it as wisdom, and maybe even for job/career skills.
Being humble allows you to listen to different points of view without needing to argue (this point was a BIG lesson I needed to learn) It can help you to realize, there are always going to be differences of opinion, so why sweat it?
Being humble allows you to just BE. After all, it stands to reason, if you aren't better than anyone else, no one else is better than you either. So you don't have to worry.
Being humble allows you to grow and improve and educate yourself, because you can't do any of those things if you think you are perfect and done where you stand. But this growth and improvement doesn't come from insecurity, it comes from security.
I could go on. It's a great little study if you want to read up on real humilty. Far from what the GB taught on the matter, true humility, that freedom from arrogance, is a real asset in your post JW life, and can you save a lot of mental and emotional turmoil in the process.
because if you just read it then its plain that all should partake of the emblems and go to heaven etc.
they get around that by saying it only applied to those when written who all anointed and then a small group today.
so they take away the bible for the average witness.
Liverance and Bowens made this comment repeatedly at Gilead. It's a core teaching. it also has as its main benefit to the GB the psychological reinforcement of their authority.
Logically, this idea isn't worth the can of Alpo it's been packaged in.
these guys are real company men when they have mass lay off of older bethelites tossing them to the curb and making the congregation they are assigned to carry some of the load, so that the watchtower corporation can cut costs of providing for these nolonger young people who have devoted theirs lives to the corporation.. they are heartless bastards aren't they?
i wonder what kind of undercurrent this is causing at headquartes?.
Sadly, no one is entitled to anything, ESP in a cult.
When I realized at Gilead that they go through 56 people per class, and that it is nothing more than a numbers game for the GB, I checked out. I knew not to trust them.
thankfully, I didn't believe their lies and I feel bad about the ones that did. They got screwed.
for the last year or so, the opening lyrics to gloria estefan's "always tomorrow" have been howling at me.. i've been alone inside myself, far too long.
never really wanted it that way, but i let it happen..... .
(btw, the message in that song is great for former jw's, if you want to think about the lyrics that way....).
Also, I will get to your very cool PMs soon. Hopefully tomorrow. :)