Ray Franz wrote in ISOCF p.195/6 with all his usual astute observation
"Heavy Loads"-Why Heavy?
Jesus said of the religious leaders of his day, "They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."9 "Why a burden." Many of the traditions involved simple things such as washing of hands, of plates and cups. Others simply called for not doing certain things, such as refraining from specific acts on the Sabbath that traditional rulings of the religious leaders categorized as "work" or labor.10 What, then, was so burdensome about washing one's hands or refraining from certain work?
It was that their righteousness was being judged on this basis. It was not the mere doing or not doing that produced such an oppressive weight. It was having to conform to the standards of imperfect men, standards imposed on them by ecclesiastical
authority. It was being made constantly aware that failure to conform would result in their devotion to God being placed in question,would result in their being viewed as lacking in faith and righteousness, as being fleshly, unspiritual persons. If they were
at all conscientious this would be painful. The effect was a hobbling and straitjacketing of their exercise of conscience. It placed them in a man-made harness as to their service to God. By submission to this, service which should have brought joy became a wearisome load fastened upon them, one from which they never seemed to gain relief. The burdensome factor lies in the significance that the organization attaches to these things, the way they are used as indicators of the genuineness of one's devotion to God.
He then went on to say 'In more recent times, the incredibly dogmatic viewpoints presented during Rutherford's time are rarely stated so brashly, in such crass terms. Yet the same basic idea is regularly expressed in a more subtle, sophisticated manner. The ultimate effect-of imposing a sense of guilt on those not complying with
all organizational arrangements-is still achieved. He then explained it in a fine way. Doing further research I found this,
'Suppose we find a person associated with the witness organization for publishing the Kingdom and he falls victim to self-admiration. He does a lot of publishing and has good records and fine accomplishments to show for it. He looks the congregation over and is tempted to think: "Well, now, I am something. I'm a pretty good publisher. I'm actually better than everybody else here." At the end of the service month, in his overflow of feelings, he forces comparisons by asking another: "How many hours did you put in, in field service this month?" The modest answer is: "I put in fifteen, and made a few back-calls." With an
air of triumph, our vainglorious brother overwhelms his fellow publisher by saying: "Well, I put in twenty-five hours" Secretly in his mind he says: "I am somebody," He circulates around the whole company. All comparisons favor him. The temptation increases upon him to think: "No joking; I am the best publisher in the whole company. Really I am, for didn't I put in more time and make more backcalls than anyone else?" And by outward facts and figures he is the best publisher in the company. But what is the trouble with this publisher? Why,
he is boasting, not on his own account, but in comparison with his brethren'. WT49 3/15 p91
BuyOuttheTimeDuringWickedDays WT 69 1/1 p27
WhyshouldChristiansvaluetimehighly? [the question]
Whatcounseldowethereforedowelltoheed?[the appeal]
InwhatwayscanJehovah'switnessesusetheirtimewisely? [the command]
Doestheproperuseoftimeallowforrestandrecreation? [soft talk but back to Christian legalities]
Howcanuseourtimeevenmorewisely?[MIND]
Whatifyouhavefailedtouseyourtimewiselyinthepast? [guilt trip]
WhatshouldbetheoutlookofdedicatedChristianministers?[CONTROL]
Howcanuseourtimeevenmorewisely? WT69 1/1 p27
Those who are Christian ministers can use their time even more wisely by improving their effectiveness in the ministry. They should not be 'beating the air.' (1 Cor. 9:26) As they become more acquainted with the Scriptures and more skilled in presenting the truth to others they will become more fruitful and so make better use of their time. After all, they do not engage in the field ministry just to report hours, but to do good, to help people see God's truth and thereby get on the road that leads to eternal life...
Whatifyouhavefailedtouseyourtimewiselyinthepast? First of all, do not waste still more time by brooding on past mistakes. Why let such worries rob you of peace of mind and contentment? Rather, call to mind that Jehovah is truly a merciful and loving God and that he will freely forgive you if you sincerely repent,
WhatshouldbetheoutlookofdedicatedChristianministers? They should always look forward to improving their worship, their Christian ministry; if not by devoting more time to it, at least by improving the quality of it.. Each one of us should want to forget the bad things that are behind.... Making wise use of the present time,..... With time running out, it is truly the time for us to be molded by God's truth so that we will bless him daily.
Don't need to point out the contradictions and mind control contained in that lot.
Just a side point, one of the positive points one can say about the org is that the proof reading was always very good, the odd grammatical miss here and there, but this one stood out, as a subheading, [Howcanuseourtimeevenmorewisely?] the writer could have put an I there, and added, I could stop writing this time wasting crap, its off the cd just wondering if the print was the same. FF