i am pimo, but now have 40+ years of being a jw as i was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as i can.. for the vast majority of my time as a jw, the meetings were the central focus for all jws to get teaching, association, information and so on.
nothing was more important than being at the meetings!
over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the weekly book study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized.
Another thought, that has also been discussed recently in the light of Zoom Meetings during the pandemic.
What will it take to make the transition away from meetings? Again, for 20+ years the meetings have been specifically made less important by the org. As Millie210 mentions, what you hear is that the meetings are very important - hard to rationalize the distinctly different messages/realities.
To me it would seem like organizational suicide to stop the meetings....
i have known many elders who were much more into the idea of being an elder and getting all the old ladies to tell them what wonderful talks they give and the power then really being a believer.
i had one elder tell me that when he became an elder he was on top dog on top of the heap.
i knew some who were really all about the religion and following the cult.
cofty
They look out for the congregation by caring about individuals in need of encouragement or practical help. They try to lead by example and encourage others to exercise their own conscience. Elders of this type often end up burned out and disillusioned - as do their long-suffering families.
Many of these are still in the org. but are no longer appointed men. Having realized that doing what you described well is simply going to leave them ground up in the gears of the org. I would put myself in that category and as I commented above - there are simply too many others that could care less about helping people in a practical way.
have you heard many elders complaining about selling out of kh and having a online religion?
i mean many elders have put years of visiting meetings and sitting there to have it all taken away now.
reaching that position of elder for nothing .
I have only heard elders saying they are happy for the break they are getting during the coronavirus pandemic. Sad to say that it took this for them to get a break. You may want to check out the thread on meetings being reduced in importance, similar topic.
i am pimo, but now have 40+ years of being a jw as i was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as i can.. for the vast majority of my time as a jw, the meetings were the central focus for all jws to get teaching, association, information and so on.
nothing was more important than being at the meetings!
over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the weekly book study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized.
Great comments. As some have suggested my life is a spaghetti bowl related to being a JW all my life. Even though I am fading my life is still largely entrenched within the pasta bowl.
A PIMI elder friend who is very astute and gives attention to policy/direction made the comment about all of the online content being created and why there is so much being produced, how could you possibly consume all of it, etc. The PIMIs realize that the meetings are a thing of the past but can't bring themselves to realize what has happened.
i am pimo, but now have 40+ years of being a jw as i was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as i can.. for the vast majority of my time as a jw, the meetings were the central focus for all jws to get teaching, association, information and so on.
nothing was more important than being at the meetings!
over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the weekly book study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized.
I am PIMO, but now have 40+ years of being a JW as I was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as I can.
For the vast majority of my time as a JW, the meetings were the central focus for all JWs to get teaching, association, information and so on. Nothing was more important than being at the meetings!
Over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the Weekly Book Study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized. If the meetings are so important (which is what we have been told for years) why are they no longer the go to place for information? Why is much of the "important information" now shared online in hours and hours of video presentation and the same information may never be shared at a meeting. Or if it is shared only in very brief forms or by reference. It would seem that if you want people to value the meetings then they would remain the place you get all your information (mostly) but that is no longer the reality.
Not looking for a solution obviously, but curious as to what some others may think on this. Like many things related to current org. structure and actions there is no logic, no plan, etc. This one seems like a big one given the central role of meetings in the orgs. history.
NOTE: I am starting to notice a great deal of replies and comments on this site that are simply one-line "JWs suck" or the "Borg is bogus" type of posts. I have been coming on here for a number of years and this site has been very valuable to me. There didn't seem to be as much troll-like behavior in the past. Sad to see a lot more of that now. If all you have to offer is a one-line joke or snide remark that is of no value - definitely not what I am looking for here.
i have known many elders who were much more into the idea of being an elder and getting all the old ladies to tell them what wonderful talks they give and the power then really being a believer.
i had one elder tell me that when he became an elder he was on top dog on top of the heap.
i knew some who were really all about the religion and following the cult.
LHG
Many of the Elders that care and want to do what is right to help others are butchered by the many losers that are described well in this thread. I was one for many years and eventually gave up since the rest of the body of elders in many cases has zero interest in doing anything to really help others - beyond disciplining them constantly.
when i was looking at prepping back in the 90s i was told by several elders that we needed to just rely on the org and jehovah and not prep.
i started to put away vacuum sealed bags of rice beans and spices anyway.
now they have this go bag crap.
In short, the go-bag idea as promoted within JW Land is ridiculous and illogical.
Assessment: The WTBTS comes up with things like this and applies a "one-size fits all" approach because they have little of value or interest to share with current JW members. If those in hurricane zones might benefit from a go-bag, then everyone needs a go-bag! Go-bag hysteria has replaced predictions like 1975, the selection of all 144,000 by 1935 and the generations predictions. Since WTBTS has largely abandoned or given up on making specific predictions they have to replace it with things like go-bags, volunteering for disaster relief and watching an ever increasing amount of JW produced streaming content.
As Sir82 mentions, the go bag "need" was a result of U.S. hurricane evacuations that caused mayhem for millions of people on the southern U.S. coast during the last 20 years. For anyone that might have to evacuate with at least some notice - the idea is valid and a smart thing to have some basic items ready to go. For hurricane evacuations this is likely something that makes a great deal of sense.
For 80-90% of the rest of the world, the idea that you will be able to grab your go-bag...get in the car...and just leave with what will fit in even a large hiking backpack is ridiculous. Also, many disasters are not evacuation events...meaning you are likely not evacuating to another part of the region or country. How many people do you know that have had to evacuate on short notice and that having a go-bag would have made it possible? I don't know anyone.
during our family worship tonight a thought popped into my head while watching this weeks video on demon influence.
why is does jehovah not like certain things?
like why is homosexuality wrong?
Tim207
Great question, many years ago I started to say to PIMI people I am close to that as a JW every possibly human act is categorized as either the commission of a sin (you are doing something wrong by JW definition - so called Bible standards) or is a sin of omission (you should be doing something, but you are not - does not matter why).
Commission Sins: Many of the things you mentioned and the list is really long. Basically anything JW thinks are wrong then you are committing a sin. If it is something good like talking a walk on a nice day and you do it often....then it is still a sin since "you should be more balanced and devote some of that time walking to doing spiritual things".
Omission Sins: As a JW this is mainly things like - you should be doing more of the following: bible reading, field service, meetings, volunteering for extra work at KH/AH, you should be an MS/Elder, you should study more, be a Aux/RegPio, comment more at meetings and the list goes on and on into many personal things as well.
My experience as a PIMI JW for many years is that the organizations goal is to constantly keep everyone in a state of uncertainty as to what is right, wrong or okay for one to do. There is not a course of action that will ever be the right course by JW standards. If you think you are following the right course at some point the JW org. will change the rules and you will be wrong again. Which is why I am now PIMO.
co is coming and expecting to zoom it in july.
also there is no talk about starting to slowly go back to the hall.
like having 1 group at the hall and the rest on zoom, etc.
Wakanda, Thanks for the intel...have not heard that yet but we do have a CO visit coming up.
a hunch has just struck me.we get frequent accounts in the literature and videos of people whose dysfunctional lived have been turned around by studying with the jw's and coming to belief in the org (sorry, jehovah).
evangelical type christian groups also use similar testimony stories.here's the hunch:the purpose of these is quite different among jw's compared to other religions.other groups use these testimonies primarily to persuade non-believers.the jw's use them to reinforce the beliefs of those already in the "truth.
"any thoughts?.
I know first-hand of specific experiences that were given to encourage but the person the experience was about was no longer a JW. They left and wanted nothing to do with the organization. But the experience was still given due to how they came into the organization, etc.
