by sir82 111 Replies latest jw friends
I would like to respectfully say that Sir82 has made a VERY IMPORTANT thread on an important issue here.
It is far too important to be diverted by the troll.
The obvious facts are that they should have been intructed to help the person find real help - and they were NOT.
I have attended 6 other churches since leaving the WT, and ALL of them had multiple pastors and elder bodies. The pastor's WERE paid, and that was due to their full time service. REAL full time, not 70 hours a month. 40+ hours a week. If you want a full time servant like that, they need to be paid to live. It has nothing to do with greed, it has to do with allowing someone to give ALL their time to serve others. But JWs don't know anything about that. A FULL TIME servant works less than 2 weeks a month (70 hours).
All the churches I attended had a financial program set up to help those in need. What does the WT have? Worldwide work to build branches, kingdom halls, and pay CO's, DO's, and Spec Pio's? Why do you condemn PAID pastors, and the WT pays for these men?
All the churches I attended did not see the need to keep everything "in house". If there was a crime, it should be reported. If there is a need for someone to get help from a mental health professional, they were sent.
So according to my first hand experience, you Ethos, are lying.
Two close friends of mine, commited suicide, while been JW's. Both suffered severe depression...Now how come an elder, that the majority of them finished High School, and most of all don't have a clue how to handle people with mental issues, since if you wanna kill your self, it means that you need help from an expert, and that is a phsyciatrist, and for sure not someone who just follows a book written 3500 thousand years ago by some Nomads living in the desert in Middle East region...According to WT, the best medicine for all the issues that you might face is:
a. Attend to the meetings
b. Do more field service
c. Read WT's literature
Does this receipe makes sense?
It is far too important to be diverted by the troll.
I agree, but there are others reading this thread that also have the same misconceptions as Ethos does. They are told what "Christendom" does, and believe it hook, line, and sinker. Whatever the WT says about other religions MUST be true.
The 8/22/01 Awake recommends therapy and professional help for those with PTSD. There is no shortage of recommendations for medical assistance in the WT Publications anx I'm willing to give most adult men who are elders the benefit of the doubt, using just a little common sense, when it would be prudent to suggest/assist with providing professional help. There is a brother at my hall who usually makes off the wall comments who has mental problems. The elders have even accompanied him to the hospital and make sure he is taking his medication regularly; otherwise, he will not be called on.
Nevermind the fact that they do this WILLINGLY and without pay, unlike 90%of religious leaders today. - Ethos
Some things are best left to professionals...
The 8/22/01 Awake recommends therapy and professional help for those with PTSD.
I'm sure you know that most JWs do NOT read every WT and Awake. Plus, we were not talking about PTSD, we were talking about depression and suicide. Plus, you easily avoided all of the other objections about your post. Last week I argued as if I was still a JW. I used many of your techniques of answering questions that were not asked, avoiding the difficult ones, and creating strawmen to attack. Arguing was pretty easy as a JW! It was also...sickening.
Please tell me if the WT will directly pay for others that cannot get medical help. Please tell me if the WT will pay for someone to keep their house if they will lose it and be homeless. Please tell me if the WT trains licensed therapists to help others in need. Please tell me if the WT sets up its own food banks to help the hungry. Please tell me ANYTHING that the WT officially does to help the average rank and file JW to survive when going through a financial or medical hardship.
I can tell you of thousands of churches that do this thing. Why not Jehovah's Holy Organization? Why are they rich and most other JWs are in poverty? Why, at bethel, did they send many to College in order to support the organization, but rank and file JWs are not allowed to go to college?
There is no spouting of stories off the top of my head. Geez, I wonder when whenever I give my personal experience it has to be so thoroughly substantiated and I am branded as a troll, but others can post their life stories about Bethel rape and child molestation coverup and so forth, and they are not scrutinized and asked to be substantiated. I was raised a Baptist and have been to churches all over my state. I later became an agnostic and stopped going to church altogether. When you think of church is there usually one instructor/overseer or not? Generally speaking, of course.I didnt intend to turn this into a debate. I just wanted to inject more of a balanced viewpoint. I'll be saving the remainder of my 10 posts for the 607 thread.
I don't know. Is every passing reference to suicide something that requires a pastor to call the professionals?
Ethos says:
‘Obviously the elders can use their and recommend professional help. The WTS doesnt have to tell them every little common sense thing to do. I think the point of the video was illustrating how elders can use the Bible inffectively and perhaps pour salt on an open wound.’
Quite the contrary Ethos! I was told by several Elders who have already attended, that the reason for the video presentations is to have the school program given in a uniform, systematic manner worldwide so that all the elders in WT world are on the same page with Mother on how congregational situations should be handled. That pretty much rules out Elders being able to use their own ‘discernment’. After all Elders’ improperly handling of Judicial matters is what has gotten WT in so much legal hot water!
This school is all about damage control and keeping the Elders under Mothers’ thumb!
