Self-righteous JWs - how much a product of the WTBTS

by dozy 5 Replies latest jw friends

  • dozy
    dozy

    I was discussing the presence of unpleasant self-righteous JWs ( aka “jerks” ) within the congregation recently with a family member recently.

    My contention is that such individuals occur at least partly as a result of the influence of an organisation that stresses works above Christian qualities, encourages a defensive attitude and has a dogmatic , condemnatory attitude towards people outside the group and other religions. The family member contended that the WTS often encouraged followers to put on the “new personality” ,and condemned such a self-righteous spirit. They also mentioned the presence of many decent “Christian” (in the classic sense of exhibiting humility , genuine love & concern for others) JWs, including some that were jerks before they “came into the truth” but have now modified their behavior.

    Any comments?

  • wobble
    wobble

    I was 58 years in, I saw many people of all kinds come in to the organization.

    Some made dramatic changes to their lifestyle, but hardly any changed to a great degree as people, they just got good at giving the right impression when with other Dubs.

    Many changed in a negative way , becoming judgemental , and negative about all non-JW's etc.

    So these were a product of the WTB$.

    Some persons may have improved slightly as a result of being in the WBT$, but the negatives far far outweigh the positives.

    Love

    Wobble

  • SirNose586
    SirNose586

    They're self-righteous because they can't even trust people within their own congregation! One pioneer family in my former congregation was a good example of the rampant paranoia. The parents never let their kids spend any time at other JW kids' houses unless they were there to personally shelter supervise them. Comments were made from the aunt (the father's sister) about how certain JWs were going to be killed in the GT, all to the nodding approval of the P.O.

    The young people are constantly concerned about cliques. It's all about who's offended whom, who isn't worthy of certain invites, and so on. It's sickening. I'm constantly amazed by how non-cliquish all my newer friends are...

  • LouBelle
    LouBelle

    You are going to get those self righteous types in every single relgion - it is not soley Jws that have that trait. Any faith that teaches they have the truth, are right and that you have to conform to their standards/faith in order to be safe have self righteous gits in abundence.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    The problem is that they emphasize the "self sacrificing" spirit. Too many people take imitating Jehovah too far, and start emulating the ransom sacrifice by adding additional sacrifices to it. This happens every time you are told to sacrifice all your time, your health, your money, getting nice things, or anything else for the cause of getting people into the cancer or trying uselessly. So, they make the sacrifices, and expect others to also make additional sacrifices to continue trying to emulate that ransom sacrifice. And they do so in vain--not only was the whole idea of a "ransom sacrifice" for our sins a complete scam, but even the Bible blatantly tells us that Jesus' sacrifice is itself sufficient. Anyone trying to emulate that sacrifice by adding something to it is effectively rejecting Jesus.

    A spirit of intolerance is also dominant. So I want to listen to music. What the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger does is puts some restrictions down, along with a good dose of guilt and fear that people will die at Armageddon or get possessed by demons for not obeying. Of course, this means they are going to want to stay a long distance from the "edge". They are indistinct about where "the edge" is, so people don't want to venture anywhere near. So they get self-righteous, and then they expect everyone else to follow suit.

    This is present in the world, but the witlesses are very prone to self righteousness. If people viewed themselves as individuals with the rights to enjoy life to the full, without having to sacrifice anything to a "higher cause" or feeling bad for enjoying anything, they would also see others as having these same rights. People that view doing good for themselves and society as inherently moral are not going to have reason to be self-righteous (the more they adhere to it, the better off they and the world are going to be). Also, if people see doing what is bad for self and society as immoral and avoid that, they are going to be better off. The more people practice these forms of morality, the better off everyone is going to be, and the prouder they rightfully should be. Self-righteousness would not be a factor.

  • LongHairGal
    LongHairGal

    SirNose586,

    This kind of self-righteous, judgmental attitude is reaching a fever pitch lately it seems. This type of behavior directly contradicts their belief that they are in a "Brotherhood". Yeah? What kind of brotherhood is this??? I know this is a moot point because I am a 'fader', but this is precisely why I do NOT miss this religion or the so-called association.

    These are the types of conversations that happen behind closed doors: "Don't invite them over, they don't get enough time in field service and/or don't invite single women over".

    What I would like to know is: when is this phony brotherhood expected to kick in? When one of these self-righteous pricks needs HELP and their so-called spiritual friends are out of town??? I hate to say it but this kind of arrogance wouldn't even get them a 911 call. This religion is pathetic and all their talk about unity when time of persecution comes is just a sad joke.

    To the lurkers here: anybody who engages in such unloving behavior towards any other person in the hall had better not expect THAT person to help them if they are in trouble.

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