Baffling comment by my JW parents about non-witness funeral

by joyfulfader 31 Replies latest jw experiences

  • joyfulfader
    joyfulfader

    Sorry. I am having an angry at the world day...perhaps my indignation is magnified for not seeing this for 39 yrs...

  • Tiktaalik
    Tiktaalik

    It is a sad but telling indictment on this cult that funerals are reduced to mere infomercials for religious indoctrination.

    Instead of being occasions to celebrate and remember a life and consol and comfort the bereaved, JW funerals are nothing more than a cold, empty and meaningless marketing exercise.

  • steve2
    steve2

    Today's memorial is brought to you by Watchtower publications. Before we start the memorial let us spread the word about Watchtower publications.

    Sister Toogood was a loyal witness. if she were here with us today, she'd be urging you all to examine your hearts and ask yourself,"Who else follow all the teachings of the Bible?" I am sure you will agree with me: No other religion does.

    At a time such as this, we are reminded about what truly matters in life: It is to fellowship with Jehovah's people. Worldy people have no such hope and members of the churches of Christendom have embraced the false comfort of babylonish influences.

    Sister Toogood will be missed greately by all those she visited to bring copies of the latest magazines and her fine comments at meetings will certainly be missed.

    Our sponsor, Watchtower publications warns that this offer will soon be invalid. The end is sooooo very close...you need to examine your heart and ensure you are actively involved with Jehovah's Christian Witnesses.

    Sister Brown, er I mean Sister McKenzie, er I've forgotten ..oh yes, Sister Toogood is assured a place in the new system of things. Unless you work as part of Jehovah's earthly organization, you will not have such an assurance.

  • joe134cd
    joe134cd

    Yeah I agree with the bizarre comments the dubbies say & how much sand they have buried their heads in. For example these are some of the replies I have got when I bring up the child abuse topic.

    2 comments= media hype

    1 comment = the watch tower society is open and transparent for that kind of thing to happen.

    1 comment = (my personal favourite) The New York times was influenced by apostates & that reading overseas papers was going to confuse me.

    Surprisingly not one has said "gee this is shocking and I feel sorry for the victim".

    Gotta love it don't yah.

  • jhine
    jhine

    do not know what country you are in Joy but in England I have never been to a funeral (non JW , and as a member of Cof E I have been to a few ) that has not had a nice talk about the deceased . Most vicars , priests etc visit the deceased relatives beforehand to find out about the person and to try and be able to present that person in the best possible light !The vicar who presided over my brother-in- law's funeral last week told us at the wake afterwards that he had another funeral that afternoon where his eulogy was going to be interesting , the deceased own daughters had described him as a lovable rogue !

    Remember that in mainstream churches even someone who had not been a church attender can have a Christian funeral . There are pros and cons to that I suppose . It may be argued that the a non attender should not be given a Christian send off , but then most Vicars etc would argue that we cannot judge a persons "status " in the eyes of God , only He can judge .

  • BU2B
    BU2B

    It is amazing how they sometimes say really shocking things about others. Shocking because they are guilty of the same or worse. They never look honestly in the mirror.

    This reminds me of how in talks about the condition of the dead, they go on about how those in "christendom" have no real comfort, and no hope!

    I always thought, even when mentally in that it is a more comforting thought to believe that your dead loved one is happy, and pain free in heaven, and you can join them later, and they are with you, still loving you. To me this is more comforting than the JW teaching that the dead are not concious, rotting in the ground, to maybe be ressurected (really re-created) at some unknown future date, and maybe you can see them if you listen ond obey the GB well enough! Yet JWs will go on and on about how they have the most comforting bright hope!

  • Newly Enlightened
    Newly Enlightened

    Every JW memorial I have ever been to, they speak about the person generically for maybe 5 mintues then turn it into a public talk, preaching at the 'worldly people' for the next 1/2 hour.

  • Narcissistic Supply
    Narcissistic Supply

    Phoney Bologna

  • rmt1
    rmt1

    "I always thought, even when mentally in that it is a more comforting thought to believe that your dead loved one is happy, and pain free in heaven, and you can join them later, and they are with you, still loving you. To me this is more comforting than the JW teaching that the dead are not concious, rotting in the ground, to maybe be ressurected (really re-created) at some unknown future date, and maybe you can see them if you listen ond obey the GB well enough!"

    Pre-apologies for the capitalizationitis, but it is a very subtle distinction I will attempt to make: This was absolutely one of my disconnects when I was 14 years old. The party line was that the person's person-hood, potential of conscious self, potential for continuity of memory, resided in some absolutely unspecified way with a deity, yet there was no immortal soul. Had there BEEN an immortal soul analogous to a data record, or a file, it would be no trouble to imagine that this soul was dormant, unconscious, in god's memory. But the JW line was that nothing continued of the person, by itself and in and of itself. ONLY god's memory retained the imprint, the impression, the reception, the notion, of their existence. But it was not THEM. But SOMEHOW, you were still supposed to get back the very same identical individual that died, yet who did not persist in some Independently Contiguous form of organized information like a soul. The JW version of resurrection defies common sense from an Information Technology perspective. A MEMORY of a thing is NOT that thing. If you clone yourself and you die, it is not YOU, the continuous conscious session of your own life experience. It's someone else who looks like you and talks like you. There are so many texts about this cloning or copying principle. I'd suggest Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow, The Prestige ( Hugh Jackman ), Moon (Sam Rockwell), Oblivion (Tom Cruise), Caprica/BSG (tv shows), to name the first things to mind.

  • Sammy Jenkis
    Sammy Jenkis

    "They stated they were horrified by the cookie cutter talk "

    They've never actually heard a WT funeral talk have they? That's about as unpersonalized and cookie cutter as a memorial service can come.

    Oubliette, your post knocked me on my ass- I didn't know the outline actually stated to not eulogize the deceased but instead focus on giving a good message of the truth. Wow!

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