by og 3 Replies latest jw friends
Readers of this forum will recognize where most of the guidelines in my Field Guide to Bad Religion originate. My blog is getting kind of popular with alternate religion/atheist/agnostic types, so I'll probably be writing more like this. Feedback always appreciated.
cheers,
Angus
"Change your beliefs, change your world."
That's great. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, the witlesses fit these descriptions. Outside instruction is banned, you are supposed to waste all your time in religious activities, and pleasure is banned.
By contrast, the "secret society" I joined to slap the witlesses in the face is the opposite. I have read information from many other sources (including sites that describe life in monasteries, including sites that bash the "secret society" without adequately explaining what's wrong or by giving inaccurate or out of context information), without finding any of them enough to dissuade me from thinking something good about that "secret" society. I also accept that no "secret society", not even one that is sincerely trying, can be perfect--but as long as the good outweighs the bad and they are honest, I can live with any imperfections. Notably, if I do find a mistake, I am not required to believe or teach the errant teaching--rather, I can post the correction and anyone is free to (but not required to) adopt the correction or even modify it.
This "secret society" does not take a lot of time. It is more like a college class in its time commitment than a religion. You are not wasting endless time going door to door or attending endless meetings that provide little or no actual content. You do not have to turn in activity reports (unless you are getting paid--they actually have paid people to help instruct others, and the instructional material actually helps one to think on one's own two feet). You do not have everyone being required to do work in spreading it (and, the more you work on creating value, the more you get paid). Fact is, what they encourage is whatever brings value to society while enhancing your own enjoyment--learning. Try that with religions--what they encourage (and require), if everyone did it, would bring society to a grinding halt.
Pleasures being frowned on or banned? Hardly. Work is supposed to be a pleasure, as is learning. What makes it unpleasant is the stagnation traps society has set up. You learn in rote fashion. You have the look-say method forcing people to memorize each word separately, not the phonics that helps people to categorize them. You have the rote memorization method forcing extra work in learning your times tables. You are taught in disjointed factoids instead of fully integrated pictures--taking all the fun out of it, leading to heads-downs and paper airplane flights. And you work in highly specialized jobs, again robbing you of the fun. The "secret society" actually exposes this, and recommends that any members who choose to start businesses to get around this problem by having everyone learning to run "mini-companies" that eliminate this stagnation trap.
Plus, normal pleasures are condoned, not banned. Sex is supposed to be pleasurable, and fornication is not even frowned on (especially if a couple is serious in living together permanently). Porn is not even an issue, and neither is masturbation. Even such as homosexuality, incest, and bestiality is "you will have to accept the consequences of any volitional activity", not "we will punish you with extra guilt". As for drugs, the same principle applies--you will live with the natural consequences of taking drugs, but there are no sanctions against using them (including smoking). The music is "If a piece has artistic merit and you enjoy it, it matters not if the content is something you do not believe in". You are allowed to listen to anything you enjoy, and can enjoy anything on its artistic merit. Even Kingdumb Maladies are allowed (though I cannot see why anyone would see any artistic merit worth listening to that s***).
Sounds ideal, WTW.
