Ever met a "deep" JW?

educ8self

My guess is probably not, or if they were they weren't that much of a JW or their perspective isn't so relevant to JW thought - I trust those that have been out a while understand what I mean, hindsight and all.

What I'd like to do is draw out a contrast that some may have by way of their personal experience, maybe a "worldly person" or other non-JW that is an example of someone that has a great and helpful perspective on life, vs. the JW one. There may be people from this board, but I think even a specific telling moment with a simple thing could be good or even better.

JeffT

Such a person doesn't stay JW for any length of time. Being a good JW requires simple acceptance of whatever is in the last Watchtower publication. Real thought will soon lead one away from JWism one way or another.

LearningToFly

One individual comes to mind for me, this man was an elder, fatherly like, a friend, a mentor, and a very intelligent man. He has passed on now, otherwise I would still keep in touch, as I can't think of many others I had such deep respect for. Even after my leaving, this man did not stop looking out for me, and through the years even after moving away he called just to see how I was doing. I imagine to myself if there was anyone who could truly be called a shephard, he was. The judgement, and conditional exceptance that so many live by in this religion, was not part of his character.

He was a devout JW and well respected elder, but more spiritual than anyone I have met so far. It always impressed me the library he had on religious topics and history books both JW and others. He never did hide this, and encouraged deeper study, always doing so himself. Looking back now, I wonder why this did not cause him trouble within the church, but for some reason it didnt.

It was reflecting on his attitude later in life that pushed me to research religions on a deeper level.. and think with open eyes.

Thank you for the topic.. it brought up a nice memory of life way back then..

Tyrone van leyen

My dad for one. He was university educated before he became a witness. He is endlessly reading and studying. Anything he reads he applies to the witness perspective. He is an insomniac, and after the meeting, when most people have forgotten what the talk is about and just want to got to bed, he rehashes the whole thing in his mind, over and over again. He analizes words very carfully and takes the religion more seriously, than few I have ever met. My brothers and I have come up with things to stump him, or catch him by suprize and we have never succeeded. Very frustrating indeed.

educ8self

Thanks for the responses so far guys. I would think one thing might be that someone who is a deep JW might be one for humanitarian reasons in a sense, as clearly the rank and file are not like that. I can remember one CO that's kind of like that, didn't know him that well being that he was a CO but - I guess the bottom line is there is the religion and there is the person.

onacruse

I knew many. With all of the below-mentioned I had many a deep discussion about, and oftentimes in contradiction to the doctrines of, the WTS:

Brock was a good friend. He disappeared after his wife walked away.

Tom is still an elder, having survived similar family difficulties.

Alan was an elder till the day he died; he and I had many a discussion after the book-study that he held in his home.

Don is the former CO of a congregation in the Tri-county area, and he, though not what what might call an "intellectual" fellow, was a good friend, and we related on a deeper level, having been through many similar experiences.

Several CO's, each of whom (including some who stayed as guests in my home) had their own peculiar abilities to relate to my concerns, and two of which were instrumental in delaying (though not defeating) my df'ings for apostasy.

As an aside, I recently had opportunity to talk with one of my college instructors, and in the course of that conversation she mentioned that she had a couple of students who were JWs. I informed her that I too was a JW when I went to college, and she expressed considerable surprise. Her words: "Craig, you're one of the smartest people I've ever met; how could you have ever been part of such a religion?"

""Smarts"" has nothing to do with it (double quotes added deliberately).

educ8self

Yes, maybe I should qualify the word "deep" more. It's certainly not in terms of any intellectual understanding, but more along the lines of really understanding life and the human condition. While someone may be a fine human being, sympathetic even it is not particularly deep in that sense if they don't see the limitations of the teachings of the society.

Tyrone van leyen

Well in that case. I think I would have to make a bit of a retraction. IQ and EQ are two different things.

onacruse

educ8self, I would like to ask (considering that you've been posting a fair bit in just this last 3 weeks, and your screen-name suggests that you invite such questions):

What do you know about having been raised in a JW environment?

What do you know about sociology?

What do you know about epistimology?

What (getting back to the first question) do you know about conditioning?

changeling

Yes I have, and it's proof to me the cognitive dissonance is real.

changeling

Ever met a "deep" JW?

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