A letter that I sent to my very PIMI mother-in-law a few years back.
"Sometimes
during my daily morning musings, I think about things that I have often
wondered about but not taken the time to really examine. I know that not
everyone sees things through my eyes, (and that’s a real good thing) but I
sometimes wonder if I’m the only one that’s noticed that we jw’s, from the top
down, seem to have an “air” about us, a sort of quiet yet subtle but smug
arrogance toward those who are not jw’s.
I long ago
realized that if any religion’s “truth" was based on supposition or
interpretation then it wasn't worth getting into an argument or debate about and
certainly not worth dying over. We jw’s have historically been very ‘hung up’
on doctrinal interpretations that have set us apart.
Did Jesus die on a cross or a stake? Are Jesus & Michael one and the same? Will
the people of Sodom & Gomorrah be resurrected? Who is the King of the North
or King of the South?
IMHO, the wt organization uses such unprovable
topics to convince the faithful that their leadership provides greater Bible
insights than the rest of Christendom; therefore, this PROVES that we, jw’s,
have the truth and ‘they’, other religions, don’t.
But to be fair and balanced, I know that jw’s have not 'cornered the
market' on smugness and arrogance. It seems to me that all fundamentalist
religions believe that they have the 'truth' and, as a result, have the same subtle
smug attitude.
I wonder if it
comes from being told repeatedly how "special and unique" we are,
that we are the “happiest people on earth”, that we, and we alone, have been “chosen
by god”? Is that why we sort of ‘look
down’ on ordinary, normal members of our community because they are not jw’s?
Is that why we label them with the unflattering label--- “worldly”?
To me, it
seems that any form of ‘love’ or concern that we show to non jw’s in our
community is conditional------ as long as they will listen when we preach to
them...otherwise we don’t have the time for them and we sort of view them of
little value...after all, they’re going to be destroyed during the big “A”, right?
A large portion of the information that most jw’s have come to believe
about the “world” is what we are told at the meetings and through wt
publications. We are told about the way the “world” is, thinks, behaves, etc.
The ‘having to believe’ everything we hear at the meetings gives many jw’s the
idea that we know more about non jw’s (aka worldly people) than these non jw’s
know about themselves, and because we then believe we know more, do we then
quietly and unknowingly take on a smug arrogance?
This air of quiet ‘smug arrogance’ is also, in a lesser way, demonstrated
by some within even within the congregation. If you are not pioneering, not a
MS, not an elder / elder's wife, not a Bethelite, not putting in at least 10
hours in field service, etc. then you
are sometimes viewed as sort of weak in the eyes of some jw’s.
As a jw, all you have to do is listen to gb members like Anthony Morris.
There doesn’t seem to be a humble bone
in his body. The zone meeting a year and a half ago he talked about 23 year old
men who are not MS's. He stated that these men are not good marriage material
for “theocratic” sisters!
Ever since I have personally relinquished all of my "badges"
and "stripes", otherwise known as "theocratic privileges"
as an “appointed man” it is very easy to see who I really am. I’m just a pile of dust and no better than
others. I have no intention to influence
or drag anyone away from their faith, i.e. what they truly believe of their own
free will. Choosing a life course should be an informed choice and not
something that one inherits from their parents. I know now that real ‘truth’
fears no inquiry and if we cannot openly question what we’ve been taught to
believe, why?"
just saying!
