Are witnesses any better?

freedom96

As a whole, I believe most witnesses to be pretty good people. Misguided, sure, but overall, decent people.

What I want are opinions on how good they actually are.

For example, I went to a non-denonimational church recently. I looked around, and saw what I never did at the Hall, and that was people who actually wanted to be there. Paying attention to the speaker, and so on. As I looked around, I was wondering how many of them actually led a life according to what is taught in the bible.

The bible teaches not to have premarital sex. However, as I looked around, I really doubted that most who were not married were abstaining. Not judging them, but just I didn't think that was the case. But they were there, listening, etc as the speaker talked about that, among other things.

When it comes to Witnesses, they too are taught no sex before marriage. However, the penalty is quite severe if you do, whereas this church, no one would know.

Are the Witnesses quite as clean morally as they claim? If you were to take percentage figures, would the Witnesses be sexually more clean, would they cheat less, be more honest, etc than most people?

Texas Apostate

Well I know that in my case, I probably wasn't your good dub. I got baptized at 14 (what a mistake). When our group went out on service in the winter, I some times sat next to this baptized girl that was my age 15. Her mom would carry a blanket in the car because sometimes the heater would go out. So there i was with a big blanket covering the girl and myself in the backseat. Her mom was so involved in a theocratic conversation with the sister in the front seat, that she would at times completely ignore us in the back. And i'll tell you what ... It wasn't the blanket keepin our hands warm. How I look back and thank the elders for stressing the correct dress code for our young sisters. I progressively got worse from there.....

metatron

The Watchtower Society is an excellent example of
'unintended consequences' - for example, you fill the heads
of witness kids full of negative, judgemental crap, force
them into attending dead meetings, pressure them into participating
in an imaginary ministry and push them into baptism.

Result? kids that are often worse (and more messed up) than
kids raised in moderate Protestant religions! (I witnessed this
personally!)

Reason? The kids are pushed to such extremes of thought and conduct,
they rebel against ALL OF IT, even rules that encourage self
preservation ( drugs, wild sex, impracticality) Thus, the result
is often the opposite of what was intended.

As for adults, if a "more moral" standard exists, what is it's
price? I know an elder who is sly, dishonest - and part of the
inner circle of the congregation (i.e. invunerable). He kowtows
endlessly to his borderline psychotic wife ( her white bread
suburban parents were Satanists, you know ). Think of all the
unhappy marriages you know of, in the 'truth' (including Bethel)
and then ask yourself how practical any of this is.

metatron

Searchin50

Yes I would have to say they are, not that their better people

they just have that fear instilled in them & they must keep the

orgaznation clean otherwise they will be ousted!!!!

The image of W T S must be protected at all times

even if it is a matter of life & death,

So W T tells them just say no to sex, but it's o k to just go

ahead & get married at 16 & have a lot of little J W robots!!!!!!!!!!!

just my 2 cents

Searchin

CC Ryder

Back in Ct where I was from, there were 9 cases of adultery including my situation with my EX. All were Elders, MS's and Pioneers. The WT conductors daughter who pioneered had a child out of wed-lock. All within a years time. That was a major reason for me coming to the south. When I did...I found it to be just as bad here.

So are JW's more chaste...? I tend to think not.

CC

jws

I was thinking of posting a similar question.

My opinion is that JWs, for the most part, are very descent, honest citizens - at least outwardly and towards others.

Probably more so than other religions, every possible path of conduct is layed out for them. They have been coached on how to deal with all sorts of situations and coached on what not to do over and over, and they are afraid not to obey. Also hanging over them is the threat that word will get out and they will be in trouble. Whereas most people don't live with fear of judgement on many things, JWs are subject to a very strict rules and are judged by a subjective court of elders in closed door hearings.

There are of course, glaring examples (child molestors, adulterers, etc.). But on the whole, I'd say they at least act out the good citizen part. Whether they do it out of fear or from their heart is another matter. And that's a problem. A Christian should have freedom and choose the right course, not be treated like a kid with a list of do's and don'ts. Their view of a "Bible trained conscience" isn't really a conscience at all. It's merely memorizing a list of things to do or not to do. When presented with a new situation, they usually go running to their watchtower CD to look up whether a bunch of old men say it's OK.

But, bottom line, would I, for instance, trust a JW stranger alone with my possessions? I'd say yes because I know what they are programmed to think. I'd probably trust them more than a stranger I knew wasn't JW.

And I'm not saying this as some endorsement of them. They're just the only ones I've had religious experience with. Maybe I'd feel the same way with a Muslim or Hindu if I understood his beliefs and convictions.

But I also agree that many have pent-up a lot and are more subject to certain wrongdoings. Some of the JW kids went wild as soon as they could - more so than "wordly" kids. Further into drugs, satanism, sexuality than non-JWs who lived life and had things in balance.

-j.w.s.

breeze

Witnesses are much like the rest of the WORLD, there is very little difference.

They teach many things in the meetings but in reality the witnesses are just like everyone else, after all they are just human.

That is why so many that are here on this site have been in committee meetings being judged for their actions, many times sexual situations.

Different yes, better NO!!!

BREEZE

JT

Reason? The kids are pushed to such extremes of thought and conduct,
they rebel against ALL OF IT, even rules that encourage self
preservation ( drugs, wild sex, impracticality) Thus, the result
is often the opposite of what was intended.

###############

deep point

do you recall the point in the youth book about holding the spring too tight and lettign go it flies all over the place and yet they never realized THAT WAS WHAT THEY WERE DOING TO THIER OWN YOUTH how sad

JT

Probably more so than other religions, every possible path of conduct is layed out for them

###########

great point and your post was some good points to consider

in your avg congo of 120pub, most of the jw are folks who want to do what is right and love the bible,

when i think back to Sister Old or sister single parent with 4 kids who tried her very best to make it t the meetings

or the elder who really wasn't qualified even by wt standards to conduct a bookstudy struggle to do his best, or the family that was having marriage problems who felt

we got to stay together, despite the fact that they didn't love each other or should be married, yet they struggle and if one left they "knew" that jah would destroy them

as i look back at all the congo i was in, we had wild jw but the far majority were like Sheep just being lead around , never questioning , never objecting, just doing what they were told and WAITING ON JAH TO clean things out in his due time.

it is very sad to consider that we have wasted so much of out time doing much of the same thing

i beleive that for the most part those of us who left wt have changed very little, while some on the first couple of years out may go BUTT WILD, MOST FORMER jw in my exp are just down to earth folks-

wt for the most part didn't allow us to blossom and be the better person that we are today

and for those who are still in they too, if they leave would perhaps be much the same

the shy jw would still be shy, the out spoken ones would be the same as well

wt merely trapps your soul and mind as one guys says THEY STUNTED OUT GROWTH

A Paduan

If it were the case for me in my own experiences, then I wouldn't be here posting. So nasty was what I came across, that I became pro-active on my own, in investigating just what was going on - I have no relatives at all that are jws, nor have I ever personally known an active jw.

So I suppose my exposure is very limited - I'm sorry to convey that my experience of it so far has been as it has.

paduan

Are witnesses any better?

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