i can`t believe the tidbits i`m finding out about the changes ,dumbing down of the meetings i used to attend and participate in up until the late 1980`s ...
Sounds like the boredom level of the religion has mushroomed exponentially.....
So newbies will never have the joy of explaining the mathematical arrival of a time, times and half a time arriving at 1914......or Nebuchadnezzar's dream image and us poor clay feet....
at one assembly(tm), i was asked to relate an 'experience(tm)' which i did.
however, during rehearsals, the geezer in charge elder or co or some such title, told me that i shouldn't tell it the way it was.
i did a 're-enactment(tm)' with another 'brother(tm)'.
I always hated them and tuned them out. Even if they were true or real they were designed to make you feel inferior, less blessed and/or privileged. I recall one totally bizarre one...the female relating it appeared less than plausible....she was kidnapped and screaming "Jehovah" from the trunk of a car and was miraculously saved. Context totally undisclosed.
The most high disciple of this wicked system!
i hear rumbling about the rank and file not having the same zeal they had when new.. lets see: door to door at the time least likely to find someone.
waste of a whole morning.
isolated.
Well...when newly converted there is the excitement and anticipation of a new life...all problems solved....hence the "zeal"of the honeymoon phase. Then reality sets in. The routine...the repetitive rhetoric....and the dangling paradise carrot...jumping at every perverse occurrence in the news as a sign of the imminent Armageddon....and gradually this all becomes a muddled miasma.
Loss of enthusiasm? Anyone who doesn't lose it has serious reality vs fantasy issues....
asking 4 a friend.
Yes...it was "making wise use of unrighteous riches".
Borderline criminal I always thought. If you can hustle your arse door to door you can get a job and support yourself. In fact, having a job is simpler in many ways....you go to the same place and do basically the same thing daily. That field service thing...unknown day by day where you go and what you have to deal with.....I'm talking back in the day when they really did give sermons, try to relly spend 100 hours a month meaningfully.... Anyhow....there were way too many that had absolutely no work ethic and wanted a free ride. And the hate the old world...world passing away and so is its desire thing only served to shore up their self centered laziness.
as jehovah’s witnesses, we were regularly told how awful a college education is.
i’m no longer associated with the religion but i am not so pro university.
it’s not because i think you are better off without a degree.
Rubadub makes good points. I worked with a woman in the process of getting her MBA....in her class were a couple individuals for whom english was a second language. Unfortunately she was assigned a group endeavor with one of these. The group was significantly thwarted by having to backtrack so much and spend so much time explaining and revising. It was quite frustrating. I am all for education and intellectual development, but in these situations I do believe the language in which the course is taught should be mastered first.
the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.
if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.
the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.
A course in marine biology opened my eyes to the evolutionary process.
we had our first family thanksgiving gathering this last thursday with our youngest sons family.
before we started to eat we went around the table saying what we were thankful for.
what our granddaughter had to say brought tears to our eyes.
Beautiful!!! Cherish every moment together...life is so precious.
holy shit!
i went to the meeting on thursday night to hear my grandson and my daughter give their "talk" on the misery school!.
the very first part on the next meeting that follows the misery school was a 15-20 minute part, with a video of course, on the many ways to donate money to the wt!
All those litigation costs adding up ...and paying out those settlements....plus, got to keep the papal group comfy up there in snow country....
as jehovah’s witnesses, we were regularly told how awful a college education is.
i’m no longer associated with the religion but i am not so pro university.
it’s not because i think you are better off without a degree.
High school education in the USA has deteriorated badly. Kids graduate with a bachelor's degree from college and in some cases are no more educated than a high school grad from the 60's. I have first-hand experience from my work history...seeing reports from college grads who had poor grammar, couldn't spell or add columns of numbers. That is simply appalling. However, if the education from kindergarten thru high school does not prepare kids for the work force and adult life, college becomes a necessity.
I do not believe college is the best option for everyone though. I am a strong supporter of the trades...very good livings can be made in plumbing, electrical, construction, etc. And the physical labor is something many prefer and thrive doing.
As for the liberal thinking promoted...part of a good education is opening your mind to all ways of thinking....critical reasoning and coming to grips with personal beliefs. Narrow-mindedness is a form of ignorance...and when acted on produces poor results.
