20 minutes....

Scully

A JW I used to know died recently. She was almost exactly the same age as me - we were born just days apart. She had battled cancer for almost a decade. She is survived by her husband and two children.

She pioneered from the time she left high school. She was one of the sweetest people I ever knew.

I found out today that ~~the Infomercial~~ her Memorial Service™ at the Kingdom Hall was all of 20 minutes. TWENTY EFFING MINUTES is all they could muster for someone who devoted almost 30 years of her life to the WTS.

I am so livid over this right now. She deserved so much better than that. Her husband and children deserved better than that too.

To my friend: I'm sorry they did this to you. I know this was the life you chose, the life you felt was the best way to live. For all you sacrificed in order to live the life you believed in, you deserved more than 20 minutes. I'm sad for the way you were cheated out of this life, and the way you were cheated out of a decent celebration of your life. I'm sad that we never got to say goodbye. I'll remember you lovingly, and 20 minutes won't even begin to cover it.

jgnat

Tell me more. Here, minutes are free.

Stealth453

Another fine testament to the watchliar sociopath society.

SirNose586

Was that song and prayer included?

Even it it wasn't...wow...what a rush job. Maybe the guy wanted to get it over with so he could go back to hounding young people.

JH

This is indeed sad Scully.

It usually takes longer than 20 minutes to go to the hall and come back home.....

flipper

Scully, our condolences to you over the loss of your friend. Mr & Mrs. Flipper I had a friend a buddy who had faded, then died suddenly four years ago. Fortunately his "worldy" family had control of the funeral at a funeral home, and those of us who were close friends, non witnesses and some witnesses got to eulogize his good accomplishments and character. Witness memorials suck , because they are as you say just infomercials plugging for the church. Peace and comfort to you my friend, Mr. Flipper

Lady Liberty

20 MINUTES????!!!! Unstinkingbelievable!! But I believe it!! How did you find this out?? I am so sorry for the loss of your friend!

Sincerely,

Lady Liberty

Scully

I can't really go into more details without taking a chance of inadvertently identifying my friend and the person who disclosed the information to me. I wish I could.

Thank you for all your kind thoughts. They are greatly appreciated.

SnakesInTheTower

Scully...

very very sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. cancer sucks... of all the things to die of, this one scares the hell out of me...I

Shakes you up when it is someone close in age to yourself.

She was almost exactly the same age as me - we were born just days apart

.....cancer a disease that literally eats you alive. I hope your friend didnt have to suffer a lot of pain during that decade.

I had a friend, a sweet older JW, die of cancer 5 years ago...at the end she was incoherent...once it accelerated it went fast.....I spent a lot of time at the hospital, not as an elder, but as a family friend...often hours upon hours....being there for her and her 3 adult daughters, non-JW husband, and all the relatives. No local elders ever showed up for long....despite her decades of service in the congo.....almost like they just made the obligatory trip a couple of times....nothing else,,,,,except for the service overseer/pioneer...since he could count his time talking to the non JW relatives at the same time....

TWENTY EFFING MINUTES is all they could muster for someone who devoted almost 30 years of her life to the WTS.

as for the 20 minutes...that really is bad.

I thought you (and everyone else) might be interested in something I found related to this last night... I was cleaning out old JW elder files (prepping for my bonfire ) and ran across the so-called "Funeral Discourse" (5/88 editition) I noticed that a) there are no times on the outline...unlike a normal public talk outline... and b), the "REMARKS REGARDING THE DECEASED" introductory section is all of 4 lines:

"Details regarding age, birth, when married, and so forth" "By whom the deceased is survived" "Dedication record, including privileges of service" alt and "Exemplary qualities displayed by the deceased (Eccl 7:1)

....after that, its nothing but a FU*KI*G Watchtower Publishing Corporation Infomercial!!!! (including this line: "while living, make good name with Jehovah God"..2 lines later... "One way is to take zealous part in witness work, if qualified." ...just cant leave that little poke to guilttrip the witness into "doing more"...

Please note that it says, in part, at the bottom of the outline "Instead of eulogizing the deceased, use the material in this outline to give a fine witness concering the truth. Good balance should be observed in this respect. Doctrinal points can be presented as beliefs of the deceased, which served as motivation for him. Purpose of talk is to uphold Jehovah God as a God of love and mercy and at the same time bring comfort to the bereaved...."Oh, and the last line: "The talk need not exceed 30 minutes." (underline mine)

Your friend got gypped.....but I am sure they would have only ran on another 10 minutes with the Infomercial instead of "eulogizing the deceased."

What the hell is that? I had never given a funeral talk and only briefly glanced at the outline when giving it to brothers to use.

I will be soooo glad when I am finally free of this sh*t....soon...very soon.... I'm sad thinking about it and I did not know her.... again...sorry for your loss....

SnakesInTheTower (of the "shaking his head incredulously" Sheep Class)

uninformed

Scully,

Sorry for your loss.

The funeral talk is an outline. Leaves under 5 minutes to discuss the person and their accomplishments, the rest is devoted to trying to hook people who are attending to begin attending meetings.

It is simply another sales meeting.

Brant

20 minutes....

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