"Fine Witness" diluted in latest experience

by neat blue dog 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  neat blue dog

  The latest JWdotORG experience starts very familiarly:

  Danielle, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Africa, found a bag that a customer had left behind in a coffee shop. Inside the bag was a wallet with money and credit cards.

  When the owner met her to get it back,

  he was greeted by Danielle and her father. They used the opportunity to tell him why they had gone to such lengths to find him. They explained that as Jehovah’s Witnesses, they try to live in harmony with Bible principles. That is why they are so concerned with always being honest.

  We've heard this at conventions and in print for decades: Worldling loses valuable, JW returns it, JW uses the opportunity to give a JW infomercial, you know, like they do with funerals. Here's where it takes an interesting turn:

  Some months later,
  . . . he discovered a purse lying on the ground. When he found the woman who owned the purse and returned it to her, he explained what moved him to do so. He had recently been the recipient of a similar act of honesty. He said: “One small act of honesty and kindness leads to another, making life better for everyone in the community.”

  There's a phrase for this that has nothing to do with JWs: Paying It Forward. The man wasn't a JW, the next person who pays it forward probably won't be a JW, and the man would've felt the same way regardless of Danielle's religion. This is probably a foreign concept that went right over the writer's heads, but: You Do Not Have To Be A JW To Be A Good And Moral Person, and they just unknowingly demonstrated that.
• 

  truth_b_known

  They used the opportunity to tell him why they had gone to such lengths to find him. They explained that as Jehovah’s Witnesses, they try to live in harmony with Bible principles. That is why they are so concerned with always being honest.

  Translation - We are pious people. We don't care about you, your bag, or even being honest. What we do care about is appearing good (i.e. better than non-JWs) and we only did this to glorify ourselves among our fellow JWs.
• 

  Slidin Fast

  It happened to me this week. I lost my wallet, stuffed with cash on public transport. In it were my cards, memberships, drivers licence, in short, my whole life.

  The next morning I had it returned intact. There was no fuss, no evidence of super-human religious intervention, just a decent person being responsible. This is by no means the first time, I am notoriously casual with my possessions.

  The lesson? There are loads of decent people about, there also some scumbags but JWs are by no means unique.
• 

  Pete Zahut

  Jehovah's Witnesses feel they have the market cornered on being honest. When a Jehovah's Witnesses is honest and good, he calls it being Christian but what do they call it when a Buddhist or Muslim does the same thing?

  From all indications, they'd call it a rare occurrence and they certainly wouldn't acknowledg the honesty or good acts of anyone but a JW even though it happens all the time.

  Virtue Signalers....who care mostly about how doing the right thing, makes them appear to others.
• 

  road to nowhere

  Same experience in news with Buddhist, moslem, catholic inserted.

  Bottom line is there are lots of decent people around.
• 

  WinstonSmith

  Two things:

  1: If the bag was left in a coffee shop, most people wouldn't rifle through the bag, they would leave it with the coffee shop owners.

  2: How do they know this bit happened?

  Some months later,
  . . . he discovered a purse lying on the ground. When he found the woman who owned the purse and returned it to her, he explained what moved him to do so. He had recently been the recipient of a similar act of honesty. He said: “One small act of honesty and kindness leads to another, making life better for everyone in the community.”

  Did the guy contact the borg and tell them? Did the borg track him down and ask him what changes he had made in his life since this life altering contact with JWs?
  
• 

  Sigfrid Mallozzi

  Winston, exactly! Great critical thinking skills.

  Now, I'm being shunned and hated because I don't go to meetings, but recently, I was checking in to a Hotel and someone had left his wallet that was very thick with money and cards on the check in desk but it was behind a computer monitor and could not be seen by the front desk clerk. I said to the clerk that someone had left their wallet and she called a room and the man came down and retrieved his wallet.

  This selfless act was done by a so-called "mentally diseased apostate".
• 

  Diogenesister

  Great catch Neat Blue Dog!!

  I’ve lived in my home for 14 years, now.

  Ive lost my bag - with purse & cash, debit and credit cards, drivers licence etc - on 3 occasions during that time.

  On all 3 occasions it’s been returned intact by, i’ll have it known, YOUNG people....those feckless loosers watchtower hectors so often! Twice I met them and on one occasion the shop keeper informed me who they were.

  Empathy moves people to do the right thing.
• 

  eyeuse2badub

  I'm with WinstonSmith on this. I call bullsh*t. How the holy hell did the wt organization possibly know what happened "some months later" to the man who supposedly left his bag in a coffee shop.

  Another embellished story.

  A jw was in a coffee shop----that part is probably true!

  just saying!
• 

  WinstonSmith

  Sigfrid Mallozi: Winston, exactly! Great critical thinking skills.

  eyeuses2badub: I'm with WinstonSmith on this. I call bullsh*t.

  Something just seems weird doesn't it...