I was an elder for 5 of the last 6 years I was in the cult. It was drummed into my head at a young age, starting at age 4 when my mom, then my dad, got dunked, to "reach out." I was 21 when I first was appointed MS, but 34 when I was appointed an elder. So I had life experience....but no real life experience (ie, outside of Dubland).... and I was just as obnoxious as many.
I have told many of my experiences on this board, and am (slowly) polishing off the total story now for FreeMinds......suffice it to say, that I hit many of the steps on the so-called Theocratic Career Ladder (auxiliary pioneer, regular pioneer, temp bethel, MS, elder, MTS grad, Patient Visitation Group member, and other activities that were not as visible). I did not do these things because I thought any better of myself; quite to the contrary, I couldn't figure out why I kept getting the positions. As I say in my story, I often had the rug pulled out from under me by others in power who were jealous of my meteroric rise and stalled me a couple of times. Each time I "humbly waited on Jehovah" and climbed the ladder again....and again...and again....
...it was never about power for me...it was about helping others and being of use to the Organization (thus a help to Jehovah, or so I thought). Yes, as someone else wrote, being secretary was all that and then some..and I liked being "in the know" but I also liked staying in the shadows....in any organization, the real power lies with such positions, not the headliner (...side note...does anyone really think Obama has any power? or Bush before him? No...it was the underlings in the background that have been in DC for years, decades, that are the real power brokers).... it is true in politics and it is true in the Society.
When I realized that, as a whole, elders were doing more harm than good, I realized it was time to quit fighting the prevailing winds that were trying to oust me and let them. December 2006 I was removed as an elder...I had grounds to fight it and would have won...I knew the game and how to manipulate the system in my favor because of my MTS training, but why?
As to the OP....I respect your right to your opinion...but the disrespectful tone toward Jeff shows a serious lack of understanding and lack of class. I do not know how long you lurked before you signed on back on the 2nd...but you had 27 days to think about your maiden post.... if you had read Jeff's posting history, you would not have written as you did. I'd like to see you come back online and engage Jeff properly.
SnakesInTheTower (Rich, of the "thank goodness I am not an elder anymore" Sheep Class)