by minimus 58 Replies latest jw friends
OH, thank god.
My sacred image of you is intact.
I really should have read it again before I posted which I usually do in order to keep from making an ass of myself. I still make an ass of myself anyway, it's just not because I mis read something.
Rosemarie
You're one of my favorite asses on this board.
Oh, NORTHEAST. This is very good. I must have known this about you; have you ever mentioned this before? Oh. Yes. In the very beginning when I started posting.
Okay, you once again have my approval.
Heck...I'm gonna write this anyway even if it puts me in that dreaded "unthinking one's" category.
When we were active JW's we generally liked most of the CO's. This was when they mostly stayed at people's homes and did have to live a life "out of a suitcase". I never got close to any CO's wives...they usually hung around with the "in" clique at the hall because they were the ones most likely to have the big bucks and needed to suck up to get their husbands up the org. ladder.
But the last CO we encountered who was part of the catalyst of our leaving was the CO from HELL!! He didn't like anything here. Our hall has a CO's apartment built on and it was very nice. But this guy wanted it remodeled and expanded. New carpet, fixtures, furniture, the works. He needed a fence put up around his little yard so he could grill out in privacy. He had a converted VW bus that they used for vacations and camping trips, besides the new car provided by the circuit. He kicked the elder's out of their elder "sanctuary" (the interrogation room/holding cell) so he could use it as his own private office. Kept it locked at all times. He was a weasel of the first degree. Lied to us many times. Haughty. Only hung out with the elder's who had $$$. Had absolutely no tact. Would pick on anybody (except those who supported him materially) with his rude remarks and sarcasm. He put new meaning in the word boring speaker. If I ever see him again I'm gonna slap his face and give him the evil eye!!!
And even if he hadn't been involved in the crap that eventually led us out of the org...I would have thought the very same thing about him.
Minimus is my hero. HadEnuf (Thoughts from an empty head)
Being a CO would seem to be a tiring, endless job. I would like to think that most of them do it because they feel it is the right thing to do. For those who do it for the power, screw 'em.
Ultimately, I don't think their lives are too bad. Many of the perks are listed already, and I think they are very valid points.
But, to answer the question, the CO's have given their lives for the corporation, not God. Sad, really.
Minimus,
I too, speak from experience. The experience of family members.
By brother was a CO and the “perks” certainly did not get him a life of ease. He had to go off because his wife could not take the strain. She became quite ill.
One of the brothers in my husband’s family was a CO then DO. He was, and is, a very humble, kind, loving sincere Christian. He is much loved and respected by our family, and not just our family, all who know him.
He was totally committed to the brothers in his care and wore himself out caring for them and his district responsibilities. Then when he could do no more, and had a complete physical and nervous breakdown, he was cast aside by the society.………as Swan said ……..like a used Kleenex.
[It really hurts when you suggest someone like that was on the take.]
The family looked after them as much as they could, but we are not a wealthy family.
The sad thing was that they had a rental property [mortgaged] before they went on circuit work. They had to sell that when they were on the district work to pay medical bills.
The society pays their medical expenses!!!! What a joke.
I did not suggest that there are not some rotten CO’s. I have known some personally, some I would not have in my house. But please don’t suggest they all like that.
I think you would agree there have been some rude, crude, nasty people on this board. Some have even been removed.
How would you feel if someone said “JWD participants are rude, crude and nasty”.
So what I am saying is,
Please don’t generalize. It can be very hurtful.
.
It's not all about the money, people. CO's are treated like Senators practically every congo they go to -- how much would some people pay to be treated like that? I'm not saying that power and prestige are their overt reasons for being in the work, but it certainly must be a covert, almost subconscious reason.
Besides the issue of retirement most COs and DOs are compensated financially for everything they do (in the developed world, at least). Let's just put it this way -- in some ways it is a sacrifice, in some ways they have it pretty darn easy. (My grandfather, himself an elder, often would say that their job is a "piece of cake" -- an exaggeration for sure) Certainly it is not the selfless course the WT would like to make it out to be.
Bradley
I agree with Logansrun. Power is an aphrodisiac. WHo wouldn't enjoy the smiling fauning greetings by a new cong every week. Yes the work is intense. And probably initially the incentive is to serve. At some point the Cos must realize that they are the circuit managers of a publishing corp. They have to recognise and dismiss this as soon as it hits their logic meter.. then zap turn that baby off quick. I think that there is a psychological term for this, cognative disonance?
In SanAntonio there was a couple getting into the circuit work, the wife was the one pushing for her husband to sell everything and serve the master. Linda and Dave Martin. They had one son who refused to have anything to do with the WTS and joined another church. The son who stuck around was useless BUT he married the DO's daughter. I'll never forget when one of Linda's best friends was dying how she still made service her priority. Really sad. I have no idea where they are now. But I do know that Dave was smart enough to eventually figure out who he was really working for, I hope.
That name David Martin sounds like a DO that we had yrs. ago in Mass. and suddenly just left the area without any real explanation.
