Post Convention Euphoria

by Phoebe 40 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Magnum

  Doubtfully Yours: "Really liked it this year; very entertaining."

  I guess that is indicative of a big difference between me and you. I was never entertained as a JW and never intended to be. I was one because it was a serious matter to me. I truly thought (with some nagging questions and doubts) that the end of the world was imminent and that billions of lives were at stake and that it was my duty to share what I thought was the path to survival.

  JWdom has really changed. It is so shallow now, so lacking in the seriousness it once had. It really is becoming more and more about entertainment and its own preservation - no longer really bold and seemingly strong and confrontational.

  You can have it.
  
• 

  Magnum

  Phoebe: "They are all fairly young people, 40ish and under. They weren't around for 1975 and most of them have not had one obstacle in their lives to overcome. I'm wondering what they'll feel like in 20/30 years when the end hasn't come and they are scraping by. I was them once...I thought the end was imminent. I didn't worry about tomorrow. You give up everything and then they tell you it was your fault you did that and NOW the end is imminent and so the cycle goes on, wasting the lives of generation after generation. This religion is cruel."

  Amen, sista! Suppose they're 40; then they were born in '77. That means that not only do they not remember all the 1975 stuff; they're probably not even aware of the 1994 ("generation" expiring") issue.

  And I'm a living example of what it's like 30 years later with no end as promised. I scrape buy working a hard job with no retirement prospects. The religion is, as you said, cruel, and it's also cold, heartless, and perhaps even evil.

  "Then they tell you it was your fault you did that." Yeah, my mother told me that what I did (giving up everything for JWdom) is what I chose to do. I told her that I did choose to do it, but I did so based on what she and the religion taught me.

  I used this illustration: Suppose your doctor tells you that you have a bad problem with your right arm and that if you don't get it amputated, you probably won't live but about six months, but if you do get it amputated, you'll live out a normal lifespan. You choose to get your arm amputated. Later, you find out there was nothing wrong with your arm, so you go to the doctor and tell him that you had your arm cut off based on what he told you and that he was wrong. He tells you that what you did was what you chose to do - that you chose to have your arm cut off.

  Well, yes, you made the decision. But you didn't just want to have your arm cut off. You did it because he told you that your life was at stake if you didn't.

  So, just as I wouldn't cut my arm off without good reason, I wouldn't choose to sacrifice my life without good reason. I didn't do it just because I wanted do. I did it because I was taught the end of the whole world was coming any minute.
  
• 

  Dunedain

  Every assembly, was/is, the "best assembly ever". Its a joke. Honestly, with this new breed of younger JW's, and the social media age, and the Borg, accepting ONLY JW approved social media, and content, its the new way to "show" how "spiritual" you are.

  It used to be, "I am a pioneer", see how "spiritual" I am. However, once the preaching work was no longer financially profitable, and the Borg emphasized it less and less, the new way for these young, brainwashed, JW sheep to show how "spiritual" they are, is to put up a bunch of clichéd, one liner, hashtags. Its honestly, just more of the same, but with a modern spin.

  Throwing around a bunch of buzz words, and telling each other what they THINK each other wants to hear. In the end each one of them is hoping that the biggest Elder in their congregation, or whoever they want to think they are the most spiritual, will see those stupid hashtags. Hoping they will say, "My, my, look how spiritual little Jonny, and Jenny are", "Such great examples of the youth in our org".

  Its a bunch of bullshit, and the scary thing is, these people are to brainwashed to see it.
  
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  stuckinarut2

  GREAT illustration magnum!!

  I wish I could give you two thumbs up likes! (But with an arm cut off, I'm only able to give you one!😉)
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  dozy

  On a certain level , I used to enjoy the assemblies / conventions - it was good to see old friends , go out for a couple of nice meals etc - in fact , probably it was the best part of being a JW ( which overall is a pretty crappy existence ). But that was all it was - just really a social occasion - basically a short holiday. It very quickly fades away.
• 

  Phoebe

  Magnum

  that was a brilliant illustration, I'm going to remember that one. Hear you, too. I'm 64 and until my husband got too sick to work, we were cleaning for a living and scraping by. Husband was a pioneer for awhile, too. We brought up 3 kids and had no money for pension plans. Now, we're still working albeit doing something different, but still working 7 days a week, just to keep a float. We've been told we work because we're materialistic but we have nothing nice. No holidays. Old car. We just pay the bills. Work is a sin in my congregation. I left school at 16, no qualifications. We were encouraged to pioneer, the end is right around the corner. You won't see middle age. It just saddens me to see the cycle continually repeated.

  dozy

  Conventions were the social occasion of the year. Much planning went into convention outfits! It was a chance to meet people. We never listened to anything, we were there to have fun. If you volunteered you might miss all the talks! I once spent the entire convention slicing tomatoes for sandwiches. It was great fun!
• 

  Pete Zahut

  Most of the tweets and posts made by JW's on social media (especially after an assembly) can be classified as "Virtue Signaling"

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling
  

  They all make the same superficial and Cliche' public expressions, in order to appear virtuous in the eyes of their peers.

  #BestAssemblyEver...# BestLIfeEver.... translate to "Look at how theocratic I am everyone !".

  They probably don't even remember what was said at the assembly nor do they think it was any better than the last one. They are more interested in how they appear to the others in the group and how virtuous they get to feel when they make these proclamations.
  
• 

  GoneAwol

  Doubtfully Yours - "Really liked it this year; very entertaining"

  Since when is unadulterated bullshit "entertaining?"
• 

  Moster

  dozey - Phoebe

  The only thing I liked was volunteering. Got out of my seat and away from the boredom.

  That and having the regular meetings cancelled the week following!
  
• 

  ToesUp

  "translate to "Look at how theocratic I am everyone !".

  You just described some of our "theocratic/spiritual" family members. If the cameras are out and they are up in New York with the WT rock stars, we all get texted the photos. A true photo op. They look wonderful to the JW on lookers but can't function in the real world. I truly believe they would have a melt down if they had to live our everyday lives. All Jw...all the time!!