Fruits of the Watchtower spirit
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.
Love means duty:
A duty to be expressed on a sliding scale, towards: firstly, the organisation which is de facto God, the brotherhood, one's spouse and children, other family, worldly relatives, ex-JWs, and lastly, to apostate 'persons' (not their deeds) in the form of godly hatred.
Joy means routine:
God being a god of order who 'has always had an organisation', means that JWs must attend five weekly brain-numbing sessions where they are instructed to be joyful so as to 'give a good witness'. When every meeting finishes, people are so relieved, and newcomers often confuse this emotion with Christian joy. At these times peer pressure makes even distraught JWs put on a 'kingdom smile'.
Peace means conformity:
All must 'speak in agreement' or else they are shunned as apostates. Fashions must not be fashionable, but should approximate the pictures in the Watchtower. People with ideas must suppress them and read from the paragraph, people without any ideas just read from the paragraph.
Long-suffering means long-suffering:
Putting up with their religion's leadership is crucial when Armageddon fails to arrive and they are living in trailers with no employment prospects or pension. The quality encompasses turning a blind eye, or covering up cases of pedophilia to protect the organisation's image. Also important is suffering the congregation idiot, who gets moved from group to group until s/he finds long-suffering acceptance.
Kindness means being nice:
There is no such thing as being too nice, so long as JWs are not nice to: apostates, ex-JWs (borderline apostates), their kids RE teachers, and about: clergymen, 'big' business leaders, politicians, scientists, doctors, …….ists of all shades, born again Christians, the UN, celebrations, Bovril sandwich spread, Smurfs, car-boot sales, antiques, Olin Moyle, Salter, Worldly people, and the world in general.
Goodness means giving generously to the Watchtower:
Also giving blankets to starving East-Europeans, so long as they are JW Brothers.
Faith means loyalty:
Loyalty to the organisation, pride in their spiritual 'heritage' (or rather the 'good' bits of it). It believes all things, even when those things are doing olympic flip-flops from year to year. JW loyalty is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the presumption that JWs are directed by earnest and competent bible students, who are themselves directed by holy spirit, which itself is directed by God.
Mildness means mediocrity:
There is no place in the local congregation for creativity unless it is channelled into magazine selling and delivering approved, scripted speeches. Creative people quickly decide they are 'anointed' and are soon disfellowshipped by jealous elders, or they live in spiritual limbo with Jacko and Prince.
Self-control means obedience:
Whatever your up-link in the WT command tell you, is direction from God. It has nothing to do with the self, self is just a stage of Christian immaturity through which a JW must pass. It also protects JWs from the evils of masturbation, namely, homosexuality, bestiality, broken homes, depression, drug abuse and low magazine placements.
philo