In the 10/15 Watchtower study edition on pg. 12 is the article " What Kind of Spirit Do You Show ? " Right away this article starts drawing the line of demarcation in the sand between who has the right to make decisions within Jehovah's Witnesses and who does NOT have the right to do so. Also a difference is stated of who has the control in the congregations and who does not. Of course this has been printed before as many will notice - however - in this particular article it is pretty blatant.
It makes the statement on pg. 13 paragraph 4 that, " the worlds spirit " or " air " is manifested in, " the no-one-is-going-to-tell-me-what-to-do or the fight-for-your-rights attitude of so many people today. They constitute " the sons of disobedience " of Satan's world. " So right away the WT society is telling JW's that if you desire to insist on having personal rights - that you are from Satan and you are disobedient. If a JW wants to use their own mind and not be told WHAT to do by the elders or WT society- they are disobedient or they are from Satan. So immediately having " rights " or desiring " independence " is painted as a NEGATIVE thing to JW's. It's mind control which destroys their self esteem and makes them doubt themselves.
Then the WT ups the ante and illustrates what happens in congregations. Paragraph 7 states, " Obviously, such a spirit has no place in the Christian congregation. That is why there is a need for caution in this regard. Older men in the congregation are not perfect . Elders may make mistakes that AFFECT US PERSONALLY. If that happens, how innappropriate it would be for ANY member of the Christian congregation to react according to the world's spirit , vehemently demanding " justice " or that " something be done about this brother " ! Jehovah MAY CHOOSE to OVERLOOK certain MINOR failings. " O.K. I've got to stop here for a minute. Let's see if I get this straight. Elders can pick and choose WHEN to bring a rank & file JW member to a JC meeting, yet rank & file JW's CANNOT call an accounting for elders if they are acting unjustly ?? What if an elder fails to act on a reported incident of a JW child being abused sexually ? And the parents of that abuse victim who desire justice to be done and report the elders to police because they failed to act on the report of child abuse ? Are these parents showing a " worldly " or " Satanic " spirit because they desire justice to happen in the congregation ? And also HOW does the WT society KNOW that Jehovah has overlooked an alleged " minor failing " of an elder ? Does he drop down from heaven and tell JW's, " Oh, leave brother 40 yr.elder alone, he's served for so long faithfully for the WT society - I'm sure Jehovah forgives him . " The truth is WT representatives DO NOT KNOW if God forgives anybody. They presumptously TAKE and ASSERT that control.
The same paragraph continues, " Because of what THEY perceive as defects in elders, some individuals who engage in serious wrongdoing in the congregation have refused to appear before a committee of elders assigned to help them. This could be likened to a patient who loses out on the benefits of a treatment because he does not like something about the doctors. " O.K. We all know there are a good number of QUACK doctors on the planet. What's to say that WT elders aren't QUACK counselors themselves ? In my opinion- it doesn't sound like good spiritual medicine to be encouraged to honestly report your sins and then chance being cut off , octrasized, and shunned by your JW family for turning to the elders. It sounds like retribution and inhumane treatment destroying people's dignity in the process. As we know many have committed suicide by being shunned like this. Also - Notice how the paragraph uses the phrase " of what THEY perceive as defects in elders " - thus by that statement causing rank & file JW's to DOUBT their own judging of situations and once again to feel guilt for exposing unjust treatment by elders ! Really crazy.
It talks about in paragraph 9 how a Ministerial servant got deleted for playing violent video games. And because this person tried to write to the WT society about the unjust treatment by the elders and he talked to others in the congregation about it he was scorned and looked down on. The paragraph stated that, " It is really counterproductive , though , for us to jeopardize the peace of the entire congregation in an attempt to justify our actions. How much better to view reproof as a way to open our eyes to see weaknesses that we were not aware of and then QUIETLY accept the correction. " In other words, " put up or shut up " essentially. So it's good for us as rank & file JW's to SEE our weaknesses and accept them - but it's NOT good to report on any " PERCEIVED " weaknesses of the elders because according to WT society standards we are screwed up because we are just rank & file publishers and don't know the hell what we are talking about. Just my laymans interpretation of this alleged " counsel ".
Man oh man. If this doesn't smack of ultimate mind control tactics by the WT society- I don't know WHAT does ! I would enjoy hearing and reading what YOUR takes, observations, and opinions are on this article ! Is it any wonder many JW's continue to live restrained by fear and guilt ? As always- I eagerly look forward to your comments ! Hope you all are doing well ! Take care all of you ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper