I was living in a congregation in Northern California when I was in my early twenties. In doing so I got to know this one family pretty good. They were the typical Self-righteous Witness, with a elder father and a Pioneer son and daughter. On it's own, these titles did not always mean someone was self-righteous, but there was more to these people that stereo-typed what I consider self-righteous.
1.They considered what ever they were doing in the religion, to be what everyone should be doing. Basically, if your dad was not an elder and your mom and teenage kids were not Pioneers. You were not doing enough!
2.They considered members of the congregation to be bad association. Meaning, that even people baptized and dedicated to serving the God Jehovah, were sometimes just as bad to associate with as the "worldly" children in schools and the "worldly" adults that they worked with.
3.They often placed themselves up as an example in talks and parts. It was not unusual at assemblies or meetings to see this family interviewed for what they did and how they lived. Basically, even the congregation fed their ego of thinking they were righteous.
4.Their views on certain rules and restrictions, often went a step or two beyond what the society even said. For example, instead of watching some PG movies, they only watched G rated movies. Instead of going to "get togethers" they only did small dinners at their home with people they considered equal or at least close to their level of righteousness.
In all, this family did not have a lot of friends. Yet they did not have a lot of people who wanted to challenge them either. As many people were afraid to go up against them, with all that they were doing in the congregation. By chance I was able to get to know their son, when I moved into the congregation area. I did not have many friends and getting to know someone, was better then knowing no one. The boy was just like his father, and basically he saw bad traits or lack of effort in everyone in the congregation. One day though I was sitting their speaking to him, about how this brother was not doing as much as he should, and I asked him a question.
"Do you think that Brother or family will make it into the new system?"
To which he responded, "YES!" So with this in mind I have always been perplexed with something. Why do self-righteous people act the way they do, when they themselves will admit that others considered "less righteous" will get the same reward as them in the end? I have come up with idea after idea. In the end though, I have concluded on a personal level that people who are self-righteous are actually some of the most insecure people I have ever met. I also think they have a compulsive disorder to only do what they are told and are concerned that any level of thinking that goes beyond what they have heard, will lead to them bouncing out of control. Basically, I think people who are self-righteous are mentally ill.
I looked into this family a year ago to see where they were now. The boy is a elder at Bethel and the father is a PO in a congregation on the Northern California coast. In all questioning about them, everyone I inquired to, responded in the same way.
"They still think they are the best and most righteous family in the country."
So I was not shocked to see that their mental illness has continued on at a healthy pace. I am just glad I do not have to deal with this sort anymore, as they honestly left a nasty taste in my mouth. After all, how long can you sit in a room with people who say 100% of the people in the world as not doing enough to serve Jehovah. When they only know about one hundred of them. As if six million Witnesses were not small enough group, these people wanted their God Jehovah to even narrow that down a bit more, to make them happy with themselves.
Edited by - whyhideit on 10 January 2003 19:19:21