Unwritten, congregational 'rules' (page 4)

Fadeaway1962

And not to be a regular at a pub if bar person knew your name and your drink waiting for you on the bar

StephaneLaliberte

I have to say tnat most ( not all) of these would be news to me.... Are you sure we were in the same religion ?

For me, its the oposite. I've observed most of the things reported here! There were soo many unwritten rules!!

StephaneLaliberte

Your watchtower magazine needed to be underlined. If you were really spiritual, personal notes in the margins were to be visible.
It was considered spiritual to talk about the daily text with others. If you did not know what the daily text was, you were likely weak spiritually.
You should buy a new dress/suit for the memorial.
Who ever left the hall last was the most spiritual
The Saturday service arrangement for the Circuit overseer was mendatory.
Spiritual brothers had a big square briefcase containing a lot of literature.
Sisters could not have bracelets around the ankle
Any body piercing other than one hole in each ear for women was considered blasphemous
Not allowed to have a shirt that named a company or sport team on construction sites
You were expected to follow in the bible during talks. I would often get side track reading the context of the verses referred to and was counselled because of it.
Only elders and people identified to have severe back pain were allowed to stand at the back of the hall during a meeting.
Talking about any old teachings (20+ years ago) was considered border line apostasy.
If you organized a party, it was a good practice to invite elders to supervise the event

tiki

Oh yeah....I remember the gift giving one. No little card attached to indicate who the present was from.

Also toward the end of my cult incarceration a dear relative died. I sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers to the hall where the memorial service was to take place. When we arrived it was nowhere to be seen...I questioned an elderette I knew and she went panic stricken, ashen...gasping that we don't have flowers in the hall...some WT directive that they were banned at funerals because historically they were to keep decaying corpse odor muffled and demon possession somehow figured into this. The beautiful bouquet sat out in the hot summer sun parking lot. I was appalled. A funeral with no flowers......

RubaDub

This thread is giving me the shivers (or shits maybe).

It is all too real.

Rub a Dub

LoveUniHateExams

If you are a male and cleaning the women's restroom, someone needs to stand at the door way to warn any sister you're in there (also true for women cleaning the men's room.) - much as I loathe to agree with the WTS, they've actually got this one right.

Here's a petty, ridiculous rule my old congregation had: no sideburns past the ears. (Obviously this only applies to brothers and Spanish sisters.)

RULES & REGULATIONS

I think I'm the only member who has ever been counseled on this ''unwritten rule.'' This photo shows your typical congregation meeting. Everyone carries a briefcase/field service bag. Not me! I never carried a briefcase because I felt like a nerd. For 30 years I carried only a Bible, songbook and only reading material that were needed for that meeting.

( Most members carried briefcases that felt like they carried bricks inside )

One day after the Ministry School, two Elders approached me and wanted to know why I carried all my reading material in my hands. ''WE NOTICE YOU DON'T YOU HAVE A BRIEFCASE?'', said one Elder. '' YOU NEED TO HAVE ONE IF YOU WANT TO REPRESENT THE ORGANIZATION'', said the other Elder.

I had my wife buy the cheapest briefcase as possible. To me they stepped in ''unwritten congregational rules.''

FedUpJW

I never once saw anybody vote against a resolution.

This was my "go to" way of letting them know I was not going to dance to their tune any longer. EVERY resolution that came up was one that I voted "NO" on. The account servant forgot the file on the library table one mid-week night and I managed to get my hands on a number of resolutions that had only a notation of In Favor: ALL at the bottom and I photocopied them. When I was finally called aside and questioned about my continuing "NO" votes I pulled them out and asked, "Why was my vote not recorded properly? Not everyone was in favor. I WASN'T! And furthermore written direction from New York is that ONLY baptized publishers votes count. So why is there no record of the number of BAPTIZED persons in attendance who voted? This resolution is not worth the paper it is printed on, and THAT is why I do and will always vote "NO" on EVERY resolution from now on!"

slimboyfat

30 seconds per comment is definitely a rule, but written down somewhere too, I’m sure.

What a stupid rule, designed to ensure that no body ever gets to say anything interesting or original. Other religions are not like that. Many other religous groups actually have open discussions where people have genuine exchange of ideas.

Not allowed on platform without jacket.

No white socks.

No walking too far between calls.

No dating for longer than 2 years without getting married.

No independent study groups.

Vidiot

Anna Marina - “How democracy will flourish when they take over the world...”

Realizing that the Org planned to run the world forever - and just what that would entail - actually contributed to my fade.

Unwritten, congregational 'rules'

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