Bible Study to Service: How Long?

by Cold Steel 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Cold Steel

  Someone agrees to a Bible study and it goes very well. The investigator answers all the questions correctly and shows a great interest in the message. How long does it usually take before he/she is urged to do field work? I've been interested in this aspect of the religion and also wondered where the notion of church members doing missionary work comes from? It was never required in the ancient church nor is it required in any modern Christian church that I know of.

  What if someone just wants to be counted as a member, but continues to see his/her "worldly" families for family reunions or keep the worldly friends he'd made before even joining the Society? Or suppose a JW met someone at work that shared his interest in, say, skydiving, hunting, target shooting, white water rafting and so forth?

  On another thread, someone said people with beards shouldn't be allowed to participate in certain meeting activities. I've also read where members also participated in skits. Is this something children do, or does everybody do it? If one just attends Sunday meetings, can he/she be formally disciplined, or is it simply a counseling situation?

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  Faithful Witness

  I was about to take the next step in my bible study, and "ride along" in field service, so I will answer with my experience. We were almost at the end of the "Bible Teach" book, when I began to become interested in observing the preaching work. I was a slow study.

  They use the verse Matthew 24:14 (the good news will be preached to every corner of the earth, and then the end will come) most frequently, when asked why they preach door-to-door. I was recently referred to 2 Timothy 4:2-4 (keep working, even through tough times), and James 2:14 (faith without works is dead).

  To become a member, you have to pass an 80 question exam, that qualifies you for baptism. Once you are baptized, you are considered a member of the Jehovah's Witness Organization, and then you are subject to their rules. They are very strict, and you are expected to follow every guideline. Worldly associations are discouraged. "Bad associations spoil good habits." Hobbies and worldly pursuits, such as sports and travel are also frowned upon. Members are expected to spend every Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon and any other free time they have from their jobs, out in the field service ministry. You record every hour in service, and every piece of literature you "place." These time sheets are turned in each month. They are required, from my understanding. The more efforts you can prove with your score card, the more "privileges" you get in the congregation. You can move up to higher positions, based on your service and popularity. Elders have power as "shepherds" over the congregation. There are overseers over them, at different levels.

  The entire organization (they claim to have over 7 million members) is under the leadership of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave," also known as the Governing Body. The GB consists of 8 men at the Watchtower Society headquarters. They make all the rules, and change their doctrines when they realize they made some error in the past. All communication comes down from the Watchtower, through the chain of command, until it is announced to the congregation, where all members are expected to accept and obey everything they are told.

  The "skits" are performed at big circuit assemblies, and are the highlight of the event. They are the only part of the assembly that is remotely entertaining, and they contain "real life" scenarios that JW's face. They attempt to help them deal with the world, as they follow the guidance of the "Slave." They are usually adults.

  I know a JW who has a beard, but I don't think he has any privileges in his congregation. We never heard about the beard rule, but know many JW men who have mustaches. The women dress in a very worldly fashion, with spike heels, short skirts and flashy jewelry. Lots of makeup, expensive shoes and hairstyles.

  You can attend meetings, and you will not be held to the same standard as a baptized member. Their primary goal is to get you baptized into the organization, so they can help you control your life. They will love-bomb you and make you think you have a loving family at the Kingdom Hall.

  As soon as you ask too many questions about the organization itself, they will start to panic. Our experience might be different, but the questions we raised were never addressed. They were always put off for "another time." When we asked direct questions that were not in the "teach" book, they were dodged and avoided. JW's are skilled at changing the subject and diverting your attention to a topic they like to talk about.

  Our bible study and meeting attendance finally ceased, when the elder who was teaching us, asked my husband, "Are you going to make some progress here? You are sentencing your entire family to death at Armageddon." Death threats? Really? At that point, we decided it was time to stop lying to our "friends."

  Funny thing... those people who "loved" us so much? The "friends" we made at the Kingdom Hall meetings we attended for close to 2 years? They never came around, after we stopped going to meetings. Conditional love is what you will get, and from what I hear, it does not get better after they convince you to get baptized. They have the strangest brand of "love" I've ever encourntered.

  Anyway, I'm sure someone will correct some of my statements. I was never a JW, so I only know what they told me. They are actually trained to lie to people who don't deserve to hear the facts.
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  WTWizard

  I was hounded in too soon after studying. That thing felt I was ready in 4 1/2 months after I got the first knock on the door, and wanted me doing some 20 hours a week early on. My first day out, I spent the afternoon--much of it in rotten neighborhoods. Then that thing wanted me out at 9 AM the next day, acting as if I agreed on it. All that knowing I worked evenings and was not home from work until 1 AM or later.

  That scumbag also insisted on the strictest interpretation of everything. It wanted my music thrown away under threat that joke-hova would destroy my home (an apartment that was damned anyway, and ended up getting torn down soon after I moved out). And, a single "bad" cut on an album would ruin not only that album but the whole discography. Thus, one bad Elton John song would ruin all other Elton John songs, even if they were not bad. Selling the "bad" records was not an option. It lied about Michael Jackson's disassociation date, claiming 1985 so it could get We Are the World in the rubbish (the actual date was in April 1987 and announced in June 1987).

  Beyond that, that thing wanted me wasting 6 hours rehearsing a Number Two Talk. (Which later was pared to 10-15 minutes with no loss of quality.) It wanted me taking my suits to a cleaner that did a perfect job but was way more expensive for cleanings (after a few minutes in the car, what would be the difference between perfect and almost perfect in a suit dry cleaning). The idiot insisted that I use liquid laundry soap (powder was better in those days; liquid has since improved dramatically). It basically had a mock Mosaic code for me to follow--pretending it was joke-hova and I was a Jew under it. To me, that was all hogwash.

  Going beyond that, I had to wait another 4 1/2 months to get baptized. That was because the Grand Boasting Session was at that time, and the Big Boasting Session was too close. During that time, the dingbat still wanted me doing regular pious-sneer field circus. It was pxxxed that I "only" did between 5 and 7 1/2 hours a week instead of 20, insinuating that I wasn't doing as much as it could have. Then, that thing ran out of time, moving out of the territory--and wanted me to move to the apartment complex it was managing to save "gobs and gobs of money so you can cut way back on your work and pious-sneer". Not yet baptized? The "gobs and gobs of money" amounted to 5 toilet papers a month off my rent, or about 20 minutes a week. Which would have been more than offset by much longer commute time. Good thing I refused that.
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  prologos

  Some "studies" were perenials, going on for decades even in barren territories, they loved the company, served tea to the pioneers.

  a great time to put in time.

  after baptism and service, did they ever forgive us for leading them on?

  in the RUSH, the HIGH before 1975 there was a "program" of

  the "6 month bible study" in that time service, meetin attendance was mandatory for more attention.
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  Cold Steel

  These are some of the most fascinating posts I've read so far, and too many people are telling the same story. At some point there is rebellion. At what point do they begin trying to control your life? And is it common that they try to interfere in aspects of your life like washing machine soap, where you have services such as dry cleaning and what sort of music you listen to. How would they know these things, anyway? Do they snoop? Doesn't anyone resist and just say, "Nah, I like this soap better," or "Nah, I like the way they starch my knickers at my place," or, "I found a way to copy all the songs to a CD except for 'Rise, Dark Lord and Do My Biidding!"

  Is there nothing they feel is beyond their ken? And if not, when does one go from investigator to someone they feel they can control? In other words, when do they start butting in? As far as I see it, no ecclesiastical group should ever seek such authority over the types of things people have told me about.
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  Faithful Witness

  And yet, when we would pose questions to our "teachers," about choices we saw people making at the Kingdom Hall, they would explain to us how these things were left for people to decide with their conscience. The double standard was so obvious, yet they couldn't see it. During our long examination of this religion, we really got to know a few of the local JW's. They sure are quirky and judgmental. (seriously? Warning us not to shop at garage sales, because the items could be possessed by demons?? Wow.)

  Some of the stories told by my 65 year old, born-in JW woman, about her childhood, were downright bizarre... yet she told them with pride. She displayed very strange behaviors sometimes, and her reactions to some things were comical. For example, she panicked when she saw pumpkins growing in my huge garden... (eyes wide) "And WHAT are you going to do with THOSE???" Hahaha. I thought it was funny that she was so scared of squash.
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  Cold Steel

  Why did you investigate it so long? I'm reading Kyria Abraham's book, I'M PERFECT, YOU'RE DOOMED, and finished another one, and both authors talk about how local leaders butted into their lives to incredible degrees. The JWs have ruined a lot of lives by keeping people from pursuing higher education and better jobs. Certainly they'll stay home tonight so they can see who Red John is!

  What really gets me, though, was the pressure to live in certain places, conduct business in certain places and be so judgmental in condemning everone but themselves to eternal death.
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  Ding

  Faithful Witness,

  I'm glad you saw the problems before making the baptism commitment.

  You're right about the "save that question for later" tactic.

  It's a standard way of dodging tough questions.

  The hope is that the study will become compliant and forget that they ever had those questions at all.

  Once you get baptized, those questions are "apostate thinking."
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  AlphaMan

  One of the things that always bothered me about the Jehovah Witness religion was how long it took a person to become baptized as an accepted Christian. In the Bible, people became accepted as believers in a very short time. The Watchtower relifion with their long drawn out WT publication studies, passing the baptism test, adherenace to WT grooming styles, and learning the ropes of Field Service always made it seem like an indoctrination & brainwashing versus a true conversion to Christianity.
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  Cold Steel

  They call the meetings "Bible studies," but the first thing they do is put a small book in your hand and then begin asking leading questions. There wasn't much Bible reading in it. I understand if you ask too many of the wrong questions they leave and never come back. I've even been told some dust their shoes off as a witness against you during the day of judgment.

  Is that where they get the saying of "dusting" someone?

  If I wanted to find out how JWs interpret a certain chapter or section of scripture, where could I go? Do they print commentaries?