(hopefully, this will be on freeminds soon)
So what do you want to write about today? Do you have some time?
As I write this on a Sunday morning, I can't help but remember all the time, blood, sweat and tears I gave to this cult. The hours studying, travelling, are all part of the process which turns off your brain.
Do you need a break? I recall a CO saying from the platform that when we are tired, it isn't one's spiritual activities or "sacred service" that is the issue, it is the "worldly things we have to deal with, like jobs, school, and the like. I have to ask, does the Governing Body want one to believe that no one will be working in paradise, or learning? Or is it simply a matter of a leadership that doesn't understand, and doesn't care about the real life stress its flock is undergoing?
Simply put, being a Jehovah's Witness is a guarantee that there will never be time for you. If you have questions, you don't really have time for research, in fact, one is not allowed to go on the internet or express doubts anyway, so as to get answers. Now, that doesn't mean you don't "study", but you only get to "study" JW publications, study for the meetings, study for field service, weekly family study (usually out of the WT to be studied at the meeting that week) is always called studying as long as it is always out of a JW produced, JW approved publication that is obviously JW friendly. According to the self congratulating Governing Body:
*** w96 7/1 p. 21 par. 9 The Triumph of True Worship Draws Near ***
9 The table of showbread reminds the great crowd that to remain spiritually healthy, they must regularly partake of spiritual food from the Bible and from publications of “the faithful and discreet slave.”
*** w86 8/1 p. 27 Is Your Young Child ‘Growing to Salvation’? ***
We can see one reason from Peter’s words: “As newborn infants, form a longing for the unadulterated milk belonging to the word, that through it you may grow to salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2, 3) The exhortation to “form a longing” suggests that our children will not naturally have a longing for spiritual things. We may have to form, or develop, such a longing in them. Yet, as the text also shows, salvation is involved. Just as children have to learn to like healthful food if they are to grow to healthy adulthood, so they must learn to enjoy spiritual food if they are to “grow to salvation.”
*** w07 4/1 p. 22 par. 5 Loyal to Christ and His Faithful Slave ***
“On arriving” to inspect the “slave” in 1918, Christ found a spirit-anointed remnant of faithful disciples who since 1879 had been using this journal and other Bible-based publications to provide spiritual “food at the proper time.” He acknowledged them as his collective instrument, or “slave,” and in 1919 entrusted them with the management of all his earthly belongings. (just don't ask what they were teaching or believing in 1919, its practically all changed, because it was wrong.)
*** w07 4/15 p. 24 par. 17 Let the Congregation Praise Jehovah ***
17 Jehovah continues to use and support his congregation. He is blessing the composite group of anointed Christians on earth today. This can be seen from the rich supply of spiritual food that God’s people enjoy. (Luke 12:42) He is blessing the worldwide brotherhood as a whole. And he is blessing the local congregations, where we praise our Creator by our actions and upbuilding spiritual comments. There we receive education and training so that we can praise God in other settings, when we are not physically in the midst of our local congregation.
,,,,and the coup de grace
*** w00 10/1 pp. 19-20 pars. 7-8 Buying Out Time for Reading and Study ***
7 By and large, most of us can buy out time for study at the expense of nonessential activities. We might ask ourselves, ‘How much time do I spend reading secular magazines or newspapers, watching television programs, listening to music, or playing video games? Do I spend more time in front of the computer than I do reading the Bible?’ Paul says: “Cease becoming unreasonable, but go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is.” (Ephesians 5:17) Unreasonable use of television appears to be a major reason why many Witnesses do not devote sufficient time to personal study and Bible reading.—Psalm 101:3; 119:37, 47, 48.
8 Some may say that they cannot study all the time, that they need some recreation. While this is true, it might be good to consider the amount of time we spend relaxing and compare it with the time spent actually studying or reading the Bible. The result might be surprising. Recreation and relaxation, while necessary, must be kept in their proper place. Their purpose is to refresh us for renewed spiritual activities. Many television programs and video games leave a person exhausted, whereas reading and studying God’s Word is refreshing and invigorating.—Psalm 19:7, 8.
That's right, recreation that doesn't involve reading or studying about JW's will only exhaust you. Reading about JW's all the time is the only thing to really refresh and invigorate you. Makes total sense.....
It's Only A Matter Of Time
Jehovah's Witnesses are the only religion that I have ever heard of that tracks the amount of time you set aside for god. In fact, the Governing Body makes a distinction between the types of activities that you can count towards one's monthly report. While they are quick to note that your relationship with god is personal, thats about where it ends. Everyhing is to be known, reported, and measured.
Although a pioner is told that they are no better then your average publisher, try telling that to a publisher who barely puts in 5 hours of service a month while taking care of a young family at home, while having to see pioneers paraded all the time as better, simply because they put in more time in field service. You can't be an appointed servant or elder unless you at least avg 8 hours with an explanation, or 10 hours generally. Your wife and kids need to "set the example" by doing the same. But if they get tired, or you need to catch up on yardwork or homework? Anyone who has ever been a JW knows the answer to who wins that one, from the JW point of view.
Not that you will find one scriptural mandate at all for this. Yet, the bible does speak of time, and its proper use.
There is an interesting passage in Psalms 90 that the Governing Body uses all the time, simply because it mentions time. However, the context of Psalms 90 is all about recognizing that our time is limited, the oldest a man or woman will typically live is 70-80 years, and the Psalmist is asked to do something.... (from the NWT)
(Psalm 90:10-12) 10 In themselves the days of our years are seventy years; And if because of special mightiness they are eighty years, Yet their insistence is on trouble and hurtful things; For it must quickly pass by, and away we fly. 11 Who is there knowing the strength of your anger And your fury according to the fear of you? 12 Show [us] just how to count our days in such a way That we may bring a heart of wisdom in.
This is a most appropriate prayer. What is the wisest use of the limited time we have? If it is spent in propping up a cult whose sole aim is to insulate and perpetuate itself at the expense of sincere people who frequently come and go, then you are wasting your time, and your life.
Ask REAL questions, not the JW approved questions at the bottom of a WT. Remember, you weren't told all about this religion before you got baptized, and there is a good reason for that, from the Governing Body's point of view. But the fact remains, what they teach is wrong, it has changed, and much of it is a lie.
It would be time well spent to heed the warnings of those who have left due to conscience. Out of regard for those still in, many former JW's (who are the last thing from evil) simply ask JW's to see if these things are so. There is no evil agenda, just people scattered about who saw the same thing and were determined to learn a lesson: No more wasting of their time supporting a cult that doesn't care about you at all. No more demonizing of people who spend their time researching the real origins of Governing Body dogma, why the have changed, and why they will continue to change.
Or, you can continue to report your personal service to god each month like an employee of a corporation. It's up to you, and how much time you want to spend being honest with yourself.