Awake 2016.2 experience

by nelim 22 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  nelim

  Hi all, what do you think about the experience on page 4 of 2016.2 awake?

  Maria, who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was publicly insulted by a prejudiced woman, who caused quite a commotion. But instead of retaliating, Maria calmly continued on her way. The other woman then felt bad about her behavior and sought out the Witnesses. About a month later, when she finally saw Maria again, ....
  

  What are the odds for this woman to "seek" out the Witnesses specifically? Wouldn't she look for Maria only, and then still, would she look for her at all? What are the odds of meeting again anyway? And did she know that Maria was a JW? It says "Maria ... continued on her way" so it was not the literature stand situation for example. Maybe in field service, but that's not often a "public insult" kind of situation. More at someone's door. But then she wouldn't see Maria again one month later (or this territory has really high rate of turnover).
  

  But after this it becomes even funny:

  Moreover, she correctly discerned that Maria’s mildness and self-control reflected
  her religious beliefs.
  

  Would anyone really "correctly discern" that religious beliefs motivates such "self-control"?
  

  The result? The once prejudiced woman and five members of her family decided to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
  

  And of course, a new bible study. Is it really Bible wisdom that one shouldn't start shouting back when insulted? Keeping one's dignity is hardly biblical wisdom.

  Or am I making more of this than it is?
  
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  sir82

  I would rate any experience written in the "literature" as about 25% truth, 75% embellishment.

  But even that is better than experiences related at assemblies, which I would peg at about 10% truth content.
  
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  ttdtt

  All these experiences are either made up BS or completely inflated or taken out of context to seem amazing!
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  jookbeard

  like the wife beating UBM who after subjecting his wife to such horrendous abuse for years finally became an elder due to his wife's meekness, another urban fable
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  ttdtt

  Sir82 - I know from my experience that many of the experiences you hear are distorted. I have been part of a number of them in which the CO made them actually change the experience to fit what he wanted.
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  BluesBrother

  Well. nothing is impossible .... In a worldwide organization strange coincidences are bound to happen. BUT ... Yes , I too have been a part of Circuit Assembly experiences and I know how they have to be told "the right way". One elder of my acquaintance refused to go on with his "experience" since he was being told to stretch it too far.

  He went up in my estimation after that.
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  breakfast of champions

  That seems entirely fabricated to me.
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  Lieu

  Kinda like changing real experiences to fabricated ones so they sound better at conventions. How one can stand there relating a lie is beyond me.
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  dubstepped

  Oh yeah, as kids both my wife and I had parts on assemblies where we were helped to make our stories "more encouraging" by embellishing and exaggerating. I don't buy much of their stories.
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  coalize

  I don't know, but even when I was JW, I never believed that experience (or quote with "the names have been changed") related in awake or watchtower was real. I always took them like an illustration, a drama, like in the theocratc school