Lies, Damn Lies, and "Experiences" (page 3)

misspeaches

Ah I was one of those gullible types and fell for it all.... hook line and sinker. oi!

I wouldn't dare to tell a lie on stage in an experience (all 2 of them) for fear I would suffer divine retribution from the almighty Jehobah!!!

I remember being young around 10 years of age and being stuck with a sister in field service. She was giving me the whole inquisition thing and eventually asked me what did I want to be when I grew up. She looked at me with this expectant smile on her face. I knew what she wanted to hear so I told her. I want to be a pioneer. Then to add to my lie I told her my sister (ScrappyKat) wanted to be a teacher. Which in fact is what I really wanted to be. I have never forgetten that lie. It just bugs me no end.

gdss

misspeaches, thank you for sharing that! I has similar experiences where elders would ask me what spiritual goals I had. I gave them the same cookie cutter answers: get more privleges, work to being appointed an MS, more hours in the ministry. Oh how my answers would warm their heart!

misspeaches

I has similar experiences where elders would ask me what spiritual goals I had. I gave them the same cookie cutter answers

Erk does it still bug you too? Seriously it seems so inconsequential but I guess it was because way back then I knew that I had to say these things or get in trouble. Be a clone or else.... I don't know. Poor us...

Sunspot

So are you guys telling me that the experience of the sister in Africa that walked 10 miles 1 of which was thru croc infested waters holding her books and a change of clothes above her head so they wouldn't get wet, just so she could go to the the book study. Probably is greatly exjagerated?!?!?!

Oh NO, Loosie! THAT experience was true, at least the way I see it! There were just too many of these true-life examples of all these downtrodden individuals to not be true!

You forgot to add that once they arrived at the KH (which was an open-air and wall-less hut) they then had to sit on wooden crates fanning the moths and mosquitoes, and trying to keep the little ones in check, as the meetings proceeded according to proper WTS schedule.

Once over and having the sheer "enjoyment" of being with their bros & sis', they then faced the prospect of traipsing home through those croc-infested waters once again. Didn't these experiences just warm your heart? Didn't you wonder why the WTS didn't see fit to provide them with more adequate KHs, maybe some mosquito netting, and most importantly----some kind of transportation for these folks?

Did we ever hear of a CO and his wife having to travel over the same treacherous paths to get to the same KHs for his visit? Don't be ridiculous, Loosie! (LOL!) (my very poor imitation of Desi!)

On a more personal note, my (then) son-in-law (in the mid 1980s) was an MS and had a part in one assembly in Syracuse. We were all so proud! Turns out that within a few months after his short-lived stage appearance, he was DFed for a long habit of smoking! (who knew?) My daughter turned him in to the elders. She had told me she had, and was quite proud of doing it-----to keep the congregation clean dontcha know!

Life is funny though.....for so many years we shunned him and thought the worst until he was reinstated. A few years later he upped and left my super-fine perfect-pioneer daughter and she had called to tell me she had NO IDEA why he would do such a thing! This was in 1998.

Just recently, it all came to light that he had caught her cheating on him but wouldn't admit to it, and he left. He had been told by his workmates and had taken steps to "check it out for himself". It has all been proven that he was right....and he has "left the trooth" forever because of all he saw and how she was favored during all this nonsense due to her "status". I saw him in September when he was home to visit his ailing Mom, and we had a long talk. He was able to fill in the cracks of so many things that I could never figure out on her behavior. I actually like him more than when we were both JWs, we are such different people now! I would welcome him into my home a lot sooner than I would welcome my lying (to and about me) daughter.

So to bring this all into perspective----the "models" that we were all trying to be and what we thought we had to "be" as JWs, has all been stripped away and for us DFed abd DAed ones---we are genuine people now, not under the "writ and rule" of a sham organization that thrived on and insisted on acceptable "appearances". Nice change.

ICBehindtheCurtain

Loosie, I read about that experience of the sister in Africa, I think at the beginning of this thread, that she and everyone from her village, crossed that river on a regular basis to get groceries and such, so no big deal, no big sacrifice there, just everyday commuting. Incredible aint it? we all bought that Sh*t.

I remember one experience a couple of years back, this brother was the PO in my KH, very arrogant both he and his wife, they went on stage and after relating how they had always remained faithfull to Jehovah, that they had always put him in first place in their lives bla,bla, bla, well, they went on to say that they were so thankfull that their children had grown up and were faithfull servants of Jehovah, my husband and I both looked at each other, because their son was df'd at the time. What bull!

But all this really shouldn't surprise us, Russell- aka the Laodician Messenger, Rutherford- The Judge, Franz- The Scholar Bwwwahahahahahaha! yeah right! If you know one for Knorr- you can add it on. The leaders serve as teachers with their blown up and misleading titles, what can you expect of the followers, it's not about truth, it's about getting people to do more, and more, they will only feel like doing if they think others are reaching these high standards.

IC

luna2

That's true, ICBC. The organization itself is fatally flawed. It thinks nothing of printing false information, fraternizing with the "scarlet-colored" UN, cozying up with "false" religion on occasion, hiding and defending child molesters, etc... The most important thing to the WTS as a whole is appearances and control. Truth appears to be an abstract virtue and not something they worry about very much. If truth serves their agenda, fine. If it doesn't, they seem to have few qualms about discarding it. Is it any wonder that JWs, at all levels, from the Governing Body members to the lowliest single-sister publisher, reflect this attitude?

The WTS doesn't care if you are a genuinely good person; someone who's honest, trustworthy, spiritual, and loving; they only care that you look that way...oh, and that you treat the Society as a god. Its all a game of pretend. By their fruits you will know them indeed.

tall penguin

What really saddens me about all of this is how discouraging these experiences are for the average dub to hear. It's just another reminder of how they don't measure up. "If sister single mother with 4 kids can pioneer why can't I?" I remember how often I and other sisters in the congregation would be in tears and enter a depression for a couple of days after every assembly, feeling unworthy and inadequate. Realizing that no matter how hard we tried what we had to offer was never good enough.
And all those life experiences in the magazines too. I couldn't read them. They just set the bar so high. I think the one I and everyone else hated the most was that of Lauren Nisbett, that sister who "stayed faithful" while in the iron lung for many years. I mean, really, how hard would it be stay faithful while in an iron lung? You'd get all these wonderful, encouraging visits from brothers and sisters. You wouldn't have to deal with the bs that goes on at every meeting; not to mention dealing with the real world everyday. And everyone would revere anything you could possibly do to serve jehovah.
Experiences like these, true or not, were unrealistic, unreasonable and unattainable. I knew very few jws who ever felt encouraged by them. So sad.
tall penguin

2112

Hi all,

Thanks for the board, this is my first post.

I have to say the most blatent lie I heard was at my last assembly.

It was said during a talk that "We have no broken homes in our organization". When I heard that I blurted out "What a bunch of crap!" which did not sit well with my father who was an elder at the time. I was asked "What was that about?" to which I answered "We have seven in ourcongregation alone." Of coursed I was corrected by being reminded that in each of those cases that someone was given the boot. Silly me.

tall penguin

Welcome to the board 2112. When you're ready, start a new thread and introduce yourself. Glad to have you here.
"It was said during a talk that "We have no broken homes in our organization". When I heard that I blurted out "What a bunch of crap!" Good for you! That's one assembly I would've liked to have been at.
tall penguin

AlmostAtheist

"We have no broken homes in our organization"

I think we have a winner! (Welcome to the board, 2112)

Wow, can you imagine saying this? The mind boggles...

Dave

Lies, Damn Lies, and "Experiences"

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