- A servant or whoever organizes seating was hell bent on me not sitting at the back. I told him "why would i want the front, it's not a concert." (he didn't see the humor) He said they were reserved but didn't say for who. I'm more comfortable at the back, (close to bathroom and exit.) but he wasn't straight forward with me about WHY I couldn't sit there. I didn't win.
If that particular congregation has a family known for its unruly children and/or a number of disfellowshipped people who attend, they will be more strict about saving the back couple rows than in other congregations. It is considered 'a kindness' to allow the back row for parents with children and disfellowshipped ones - it is not an official rule from the Borg - but local bodies of elders have discretion to enforce as they see fit at least until they're overruled by a CO.
- I was wearing a skirt to just above the knee, but I was also wearing boots up to the knee, so my knees weren't showing. 2 elders on their way to the stage made a point to look. Are they just perverts or am I breaking some rule I don't know about?
Boots are sexy. Short skirts are sexy. JWs aren't supposed to be sexy. Everyone is too repressed to be able to deal with it.
- Before the meeting i was talking to a girl who said her husband was in the car park taking off his bow tie. "WHY?" I said. She said it could upset someone and "sometimes the elders pull us back a bit about that stuff." WTF?
I had an elder friend who always wore bow ties. It was his signature style. I am sure it inspired a lot of gossip but he was too cool to give an ish. The guy at the Hall you attended has no guts. Someone mentioned something about it - probably to his wife and not to his face - and she nagged him until he gave in. Sad that not only can't they think for themselves, they can't even dress themselves.
- What's the deal with the high heels?! I was wearing flats and felt pretty out of place. It's like every woman in there except the elderly had a 4 inch or above heel on that they couldn't walk properly in. Don't get me started on the makeup...
This must have been in a relatively urban/cosmopolitan area. Most places I've lived, you'd get dirty looks for wearing any heel more than an inch unless you were at an assembly/convention or a wedding. Then again, next to your boots the high heels were probably viewed as tame by the local rank and file.
-Is the main enemy of this religion the Catholic church? Because they were brought up in a negative light all throughout the talk. Jehovah's witnesses don't get a mention in a catholic church, they're not even acknowledged as a religion. A destructive sect, yes. Oh, i sorta got schooled on not saying "church." "I thought you were a witness until you said church *fake smile*." Whats wrong with that word?
Some of the talk outlines are decades old and the updates provided for them are minimal. In the formative years of this religion - 70-to-130 years ago - the big enemy of "truth" was "Christendom" which was headed up by the Catholic church. Although the fundie wackos in this country have grown by leaps and bounds since then while the Catholic church has been fairly moderate, the Watchtower hasn't changed their rhetoric much. Frankly, they don't have anyone at headquarters anymore with the knowledge of the outside world who could write new rhetoric for them. If you haven't been locked away in there for life (or 'serving' in some foreign land full-time) then you have no gravitas at HQ.
As for the word "church," people they call 'true Christians' go to the Kingdom Hall. Only 'worldly' people of 'Christendom' go to church. It's loaded language. "Church" is a code word. It means "them" not "us." All cults develop an "us versus them" dichotomy in the minds of their members and have select loaded language words and phrases to indicate whether you're an 'us' or a 'them.'
- Not a question, but open to discussion. I got absolutely NO feeling from it. The songs were so dreary, and the talk on the platform was depressing (closing line: "Armageddon is imminent friends,be certain you've done enough to qualify for Jehovah God's new cleansed earth." APPLAUSE.) I didn't stay for the Wacktower session.
It is a negative religion with a negative message that they call 'good news.' They're too mind controlled to realize it and you can't tell them they're negative and unhappy either. It is obvious to everyone but them.