"More often than not, the MOTHER carries the heaviest load."
Scully, and she should be happy she has that "privilege" because that frees up her husband to "reach out" to do more duties in the congregation. I have known many families over the years that fell apart because the husband was "helping" families in the congregation and never had time to "help" his own. While the WTS occasionally plays lip service to men helping their wives with the household chores, behind the scenes the message is that it is women’s work and beneath their dignity.
w02
11/15 p. 25 "Shepherd the Flock of God"God’s people are grateful for Christian elders and for the loving support these men
receive from their wives. Being supportive often calls for sacrifices on the part of such women. At times, they are at home while their husbands are caring for congregation matters or are making shepherding calls. Sometimes, carefully made personal plans are set aside because some urgent problem arises in the congregation. "Even so," said Michelle, "when I see how busy my husband is preparing for the meetings or making shepherding calls
, I keep in mind that he is doing Jehovah’s work, and I try to be as supportive as I can."Cheryl, also married to an elder, stated: "I know that the brothers and sisters in the congregation need elders to talk to, and I want them to feel that they can come to my husband anytime they need him." Supportive women, such as Michelle and Cheryl, willingly make sacrifices so that their husbands can care for God’s sheep. Wives of elders are appreciated for their supportive spirit.
Defd,
Be careful, you could sound just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day who strained out the gnat but gulped down the camel.
I am suprised to see all this swearing going on, ecspecially from the ones who claim to still love Jehovah God
Hi TheListener,
Time for the Listener to get beat into the ground for not being the spiritual head of the family
It is just your turn. The WTS takes turns beating into the ground every individual in the congregation. Just become an elder and you will be excused from leading your family spiritually. (see quote above)
Honesty
,
When parents actually treat their children like Christ treated his disciples, there is love. I have seen JW parents show that kind of love but in spite of the training at the KH. Where individuals outside the KH do the same, there is love in the family. And where individuals unknowingly apply the same principles, there is love in the family.
Good expansion, jgnat.
I also appreciated your comment on how families really worked
before industrialization. Everyone worked, everyone contributed to the family's survival. Of course, it is different now. Unlike the robins in the example, half our children will not be taken by a random predator. A wife can leave an abusive husband and survive with a combination of government and family support. Most of us will reach old age. Seniors don't need a half-dozen working children to support them in middle age, there are pensions and nursing homes. These changes has inevitably changed the social patterns. Couples wait later to have children, and they have fewer of them. We have more leisure time than we know what to do with. Do we really want to spend all that time sitting in a stuffy kingdom hall teaching our children to SIT STILL or the boogie-monster will eat them up?
Amazing what a basic history class (The Industrial Revolution) and a basic sociology class will reveal about life today. Many JWs fail to realize that in Bible times, no man went off to a job outside the home. Everyone worked from the home, including the children. Can they imagine that the average farmer managed to do all his work witouth mom and kids? Even farmer families today have to involve every family member to be a success.
DB1974,
designed to control minds with respects to the family and how it should operate within the WTS
Yes, how they would LIKE to operate. JWs have a long history of giving lip service to this picture. I can remember a family used for a DC demonstration discussing the day’s text. Now, I knew that this family never discussed this as a family and only the father did on day’s he had to take the group out. Yet, they were picked as a family who always did it, because they didn’t tell the CO they didn’t; he just assumed they did because he was the PO.
I can remember a new elder who reviewed the time cards and noticed that several brothers/sisters had unbaptized children living at home but were not turning in a family Bible study slip. He talked to all of them and "encouraged" them to start, offering to come over and show them how. The result? Not a single new slip was turned in.
Welcome, anewme,
And instead of singing during the intermissions we can get up and have a snack. I could even swear a little in the background in my own home and no one would know or be bothered! I could reprove myself and repent and forgive myself and feel better and be back in good standing for the next meeting!!!
Actually, many JWs call in on the phone to "listen" to the meetings, some can even comment from home. You could "attend" in your jammies. Have snacks during the meeting. Go to the restroom without disturbing anyone. Even go watch TV and come back in 115 minutes just to sign off with the brother handling sound.
Undercover
, good point, and happens in almost every article.
the WTS slyly substitutes God and his word the Bible with the F&DS and WT publications
That is because the WTS teaches that the Bible can only be understood using its publications.
w94
10/1 p. 8 The Bible—A Book Meant to Be Understood ***Even as Bible prophecy pointed forward to the Messiah, it also directs us to the close-knit body of anointed Christian Witnesses that now serve as the faithful and discreet slave. It helps us to understand the Word of God. All who want to understand the Bible should appreciate that the "greatly diversified wisdom of God" can become known only through Jehovah’s channel of communication, the faithful and discreet slave.—John 6:68.Hi lilbit,
Hope you feel better soon.
Remember Naaman, a Syrian army chief healed from leprosy by God? He did not get circumcised and become a Jew but returned to his home in Syria and continued to serve the Syrian king and still was able to worship the God of the Israelites. Proving that one did not have to be an Israelite to have God’s approval.
Heathen,
All it took was one family using corporal punishment to set an unhappy tone in the KH. I personally did not observe much spanking. All it took was one family out of 40 though. Spanking was more prevalent in the 50’s and early 60’s. But as enlightenment settled in elsewhere, I did see it reflected in the KH, especially new families coming in and the families of grown children of JWs.
I really think they need a day care center during meetings for the kids or some kind of sunday school that makes it at their level somehow ....
Some KHs now have what they call mother’s rooms where they can take children to breast feed and to calm down little children. It ends up being a defacto day care center.
The Bible Students have such day care centers and I haven’t observed that they diminish the parent’s responsibility to teach their children at home.
HI mrsjones5,
Remember that the WT is written by men who have no children and have no idea of what it takes to get a 3 year old to sit quietly for 2 hours. Even the school system knows that is not possible and why children don’t start public school until they are 5.
Good comments, Blondie
