[From ws 4/18 p. 25 – July 2 – July 8]
“Commit to Jehovah whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”—Proverbs 16:3.
As you readers know the Bible says very little about education and employment, certainly not about what, how much and what type we should or can have. It is left up to the conscience of the individual, as it should be.
“Why set spiritual goals”
“Once you start working toward spiritual goals, you begin building a record of good works in Jehovah’s eyes” (par.6)
But what are those good works and spiritual goals? The paragraph continues :
- “Christine was ten years old when she made up her mind to read regularly the life stories of faithful Witnesses”;
- “At 12 years of age, Toby set the goal of reading the entire Bible before his baptism”;
- “Maxim was 11 years old and his sister Noemi was one year younger when they got baptized. Both then began working toward the goal of Bethel service.”
Reading the entire Bible is at least a beneficial thing to do, but hardly qualifies as a ‘good work’. But as for “reading life stories”, “working toward the goal of Bethel Service”, and being 10 or 11 years old at baptism, where do any of these “good works” or ‘spiritual goals’ feature in the Scriptures?
For a full discussion on what good works are from the Bible's standpoint, please read James 2:1-26 and Galatians 5:19-23. These scriptures clearly show “good works” are things we do to or for others, consisting of how we treat them; not things we do for ourselves. Here is a brief summary of some of the good works mentioned:
- James 2:4: Good works are not having “class distinctions among yourselves and “ not becoming “judges rendering wicked decisions.”
- James 2:8: “If, now, YOU practice carrying out the kingly law according to the scripture: “You must love your neighbor as yourself,” YOU are doing quite well.”
- James 2:13, 15-17: “Mercy exults triumphantly over judgment...If a brother or a sister is in a naked state and lacking the food sufficient for the day, 16 yet a certain one of YOU says to them: “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,” but YOU do not give them the necessities for [their] body, of what benefit is it?” Exercising mercy to those who are suffering or in need of support is a good work.
- James 1:27 “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.” Providing for the poor and needy. More good works.
All these scriptures (and there are plenty more like them) have the same thing in common. They are all about how we treat others.
The article continues with its erroneous logic “The third reason for setting goals early in life has to do with decision-making. Adolescents have to make decisions about education, employment, and other matters.”(par.7).
This statement is only partly true as parents usually have to assist their adolescents to make such decisions. Why? It is because the adolescents usually do not have the wisdom to realize the implications of their choices. As a result this could be seen as a barely disguised attempt to bypass the parents, by trying to instill a strong desire in the adolescents to want to fulfill organization goals. Perhaps they hope the parents will find it difficult to oppose the decisions of such adolescents, even though they know it is not wise, because of what others in the congregation will say.
Paragraph 8 contains yet another side swipe at university education with the example of Damaris.
“Damaris finished her basic schooling with top grades. She could have accepted a scholarship to study law at a university, but she chose instead to work in a bank. Why? ‘I made up my mind very early on to pioneer. That meant working part-time. With a university degree in law, I could have earned a lot of money, but I would have had little chance of finding part-time work.’ Damaris has now been a pioneer for 20 years.”
Here is a prime example of the organization’s propaganda. Damaris refused a scholarship to study law, something she would have been more than capable of doing, otherwise she would not have been offered a scholarship. Also the scholarship would have meant it was at greatly reduced cost to herself except for the time invested. As for the reason given, the desire to work part-time, that is always possible if one has the desire and drive to make it happen. No doubt she could also have been of greater use to the organization today than she is as a pioneer. How so? Today the organization requires the services of many expensive lawyers which it hires to defend itself from the growing number of lawsuits for its decades-long mishandling of child sexual abuse within the congregation.
Even the comment “Many, though, are very unhappy with their jobs” made about the lawyers Damaris meets is the usual unprovable and unquantifiable comment. It is also negative. “Many” is not a majority, and it would therefore be equally true to say ‘many are happy with their jobs’ which would be positive. It is important to note that both the organization’s comment and my offered alternative are both just opinions and should be treated as such, not as facts. It can be equally stated that many older witnesses now regret that they followed the advise of the Governing Body and did not pursue higher education when they had the opportunity.
“Become Well-prepared to Give a Witness”
Paragraph 10 tells us “Jesus Christ stressed that “the good news has to be preached first.” (Mark 13:10) Because the preaching work is so urgent, it should be high on our list of priorities”. However, as discussed in reviews many times, the urgency was in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem (which came a few years later in 70 AD) as made clear by an impartial reading of Mark 13:14-20. As Mark 13:30-32 states in part “Keep looking, keep awake, for YOU do not know when the appointed time is.”
How many impressionable youngsters will be frightened into following the organization’s strongly worded suggestions because of fear? Jehovah asks us to serve him out of love, not fear. (Luke 10:25-28) Additionally, many Witnesses have feelings of being inadequate as JW’s and as a result they have the view that they only have a slim chance of going through Armageddon. This is due, in great part, to this continual pressure to preach with which they struggle to comply. This pressure is kept up as the next sentence adds: “Could you set the goal of sharing in the ministry more often? Could you pioneer?“ (par.10)
At least paragraph 11 contains some good ideas using the scriptures alone for assistance on how to answer a question others may have: “Why do you believe in God?”.
“As you have opportunity, encourage your schoolmates to look up jw.org for themselves.” (Par. 12) Why not encourage them to lookup a scripture in the Bible? Surely if "all scripture is inspired and beneficial" that would be the better course to take. (2 Timothy 3:16)
Should the organization's teachings take precedence over God's word? Should we encourage people to look to the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses for their salvation, or to the Christ?
“Do Not Be Distracted”
Paragraph 16 attempts to try to train the children to accept the authority and advice given by elders by using the experience of Christoph. According to the experience, he asked the advice of an elder before joining a sports club. It’s not mentioned as to why he didn’t ask his parents first, if he wanted advice. As it was, the advice about the “risk of getting infected by the spirit of competition” wasn’t that helpful as it didn’t affect him.
“In time, however, he discovered that the sport was violent, even dangerous. Again he spoke to several elders, all of whom gave him Scriptural advice.” (par.16)
Did he really need the advice from the elders to give up the unnamed sport? It raises questions, such as why did he and his parents and the elders not know it was a violent, dangerous sport before he joined? When I was a youth I played a sport for my senior school. After a few years it started to become violent with a win at all costs mentality, which it was not like when I started playing. As a result, I stopped playing that sport for the school, and this was done without needing the advice of either my parents or the elders. I find it difficult to believe that other youths are not capable of making the same decision on their own based on their trained Christian conscience.
“Jehovah sent me good advisers” (par.16)
- How could they be good advisors when the advice came after the problem arose and not before?
- Again, why did he not get the advice from his parents?
- What mechanism did Jehovah use to arrange the sending of good advisers as claimed?
- Why is the sport involved not mentioned?
- Is this not yet another concocted or manufactured experience?
It has all the hallmarks of a manufactured ‘experience’, and if it is not, it certainly offers poor advice. The scriptural advice to handle these types of situations and questions is found in Proverbs 1:8. For example, where it says: “Listen, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.” See also Proverbs 4:1 and 15:5 amongst others. There is no scripture I could find which clearly shows that we should seek the counsel and advice of elders, especially as a priority over our parents.
Finally, we find some good advice in paragraph 17: “Think of all the sound counsel you find in God’s Word”.
This is definitely where the best advice will be found. So when the article says “But youths who today keep focused on theocratic goals will well into adulthood be deeply satisfied with the choices they made” (par.18), that is also true but with provisos.
The provisos are that the goals that are held out to them are found or suggested in the Bible and therefore truly theocratic and are not those pushed at them by an organization that will profit from your pursuit of the goals it classes as spiritual goals and constantly puts before WT readers. (See Ephesians 6:11-18a, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, 1 Timothy 6:8-12).
Yes, by all means youths would do well to focus on spiritual goals and learning to be fine servants of Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. However they need to ensure that their goals come directly from the Bible and benefit themselves and others for the long term. If they heed the short-term vacuous goals set by the organization this can only leave them one day feeling empty and disillusioned.
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Comment by Alithia on 2018-07-03 00:51:53
What really gets my hair to stand on end is when the Org is quite prepared not to follow their own advice and uses readily available talent when they need it, or develop it for themselves when they think it necessary; being silent, not admitting or recognising the hypocrisy, obvious contradictions as to approval by Jehovah, and shamelessly without reference to any of the malarkey described in the past or present counsel or teachings such as in the study above.
As a case in point is my fleshly brother who being a couple of years older than me decided to go to university in the 80s which was a no no at the time, and study Accounting/Law. To his credit he did well at school kept up his ministry, and meeting attendance and had one bible study during the time he was at Uni.
Right from the beginning his talents which were practically useful (but not spiritual, in fact quite dangerous and a public display of wanting to prop up the world and its institutions not to mention make a celebrated name for himself to rival Nimrods) were noted and used, even while he was going to Uni he was assigned to collect the monies from the contribution boxes and keep the congregation accounts under an older servant.
After graduation he started to work with top accounting firms in his proffession and then started out as self-employed in his own business.
As he got older he became an elder as he was academically mentally able. In a short time, due to the flexibility afforded due to a good income and working from home he was able to often pioneer and eventually regular pioneer, with his wife, who incidentally was a legal secretary.
It was not to long before the call came and he was asked to be an in training relief C.O which he did for a short time. He was able to easily do this and at the same time pay off his modest home in a relatively short time too and so was debt free.
Then a most unusual request came to him in the middle/late 80s in the form of an invitation to Bethel Australia to work and head up the new Law department. My brother was not a lawyer even though he had studied major subjects in law, he was an accountant but nevertheless he was the closest thing (unquestioning company man) they could get in that regard at the time. The unusual thing was that he was given just 3 weeks to get his affairs in order and go to Bethel over a thousand kilometres away. Again to my brothers credit and due to the fact he could work remotely from home too he packed up his belongings had a massive succession of garage sales; out went the pot plants and all, and he scurried off before the dead line. As most can imagine this is mostly not possible by a regular person labouring as I was at the time looking from the sidelines in amazement at the ease and facility that these things could be accomplished due to a quality education and resultant job.
I remember thinking at the time, we were always told its not ability rather availability that matters and is used by Jehovah. Not personality rather spirituality that determines assignments from Jehovah!
Well in this case at least I was certain it was most assuredly abilities and personality that was the determining factors for my brothers assignments.
During the time that he was at the Bethel Branch Australia (5-6 years), he oversaw 3-4 of the branch leadership study law and get their degree. Also Aust Bethel would pay all expenses for, taxis, flights, and accommodation for a qualified lawyer from interstate to come to Bethel each weekend for years to help them with their studies and to help them get the required practical experience under a lawyer so that they can be be admitted to the legal association or as they call it here the Law Bar and practice as a lawyer in their own right. Not to mention the cost of a law degree each of around Aus $ 50,000. X 4 = $200,000
I challenged my brother as to the righteousness of the Org publicly condemning University degrees when at the same time discreetly and unbeknownst to most, the Branch leadership including the Branch overseer were in the process of getting a law degree? His response was an immediate angry retort that this activity did not in any way impinge on their theocratic activities and that they were able to fulfil these and study law at the same time! And in any case the motives were pure in that they were to be used to legally defend and establish the truth not to mention the numerous wills and estates that need to be defended etc. Little did I know at the time of the growing scandal of child abuse cases that were being dealt with. I had never heard that kind of reasoning from any assembly or congregation platform before! I will never forget this moment where I was stunned beyond description at the double standards. In truth it was correct anyone who is in the right circumstances could easily study a degree and attend all meetings go field service etc, especially students who still live at home and are supported by their parents! Little did I know this process was being repeated in large numbers around the world by the leaderships decree and blessing!!!
As soon as the leadership got their degrees and found their feet my brother was “re-assigned “back to where he came from. In a short time he was able to find a very well-paying job (triple what most labouring jobs paid) and got back on his feet.
This kind of double standard and seemingly condoning actions that speak of a weak faith in others (except where the leadership thinks not so when it comes to themselves) continues in many different ways with health workers and others who have skills or where skills need to be developed.
I think it is such hypocrisy not to mention the monies being spent liberally on acquiring these “unnecessary qualifications and experience that leads nowhere since this world is doomed to imminent destruction”. That it makes me sick. Tony Morris had the audacity to decry education and its effects on a broadcast VDO recently in a discussion that was so logically flawed that it is impossible to reconcile it other than with untruth coming from a ten year old trying to get away with something they are guilty for!
There are so many who have been robbed of the opportunity to better themselves and their families and to be in a better position to help others in general that it really is a sin to insist on the things being taught as coming from Jehovah.
I am sure there are many like myself who have witnessed the same thing where those who were better qualified were also able to extend themselves more and be used in "service "than the regular guy and at the same time care better for their families. The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming in that University education has no bearing on whether a person maintains his faith in God or not.Reply by Alithia on 2018-07-03 04:16:02
Unfortunately not for this one (my Bro) he is "more zealous than his fore-fathers"(Judge Rutherford) He is currently responsible for collecting and syphoning the money to "Mom" from Australia.
Reply by Leonardo Josephus on 2018-07-03 08:02:41
Fascinating insight to the web they weave. Scribes, Pharisees, etc etc
Comment by Alithia on 2018-07-05 07:17:19
By way of a mental catharsis I just want to add a little more here on this topic.
About 10 years ago when we were wrestling with our consciences as parents as to what would be the best course for our children to follow with regards to education and their future in general a WT came out discussing this very thing. In the article it made so many uninformed assertions and suggestions that were so far off that it was laughable. For instance it had a short list of good alternatives to a college/university education and included in the list was Hairdresser, Plumber, Carpenter, Electrician, seamstress, etc. (Probably a ready list of trades that the writer was only familiar with that he may have concluded would be an approved occupation since they were in abundance surrounding him, while ensconced and isolated from the real world in "Bethel Land")
The list was demonstrably a fail as at the time and still in Australia it takes 6 years to fully complete a Plumbing apprenticeship and thousands of dollars. (Only 3-4 years for a heavy degree) After which there is little chance on the experience one has you can strike out on your own and develop an income as a sole trader. Unless you have enough contacts and experience you are either in or out in trades.
The overhead costs do not allow one to work only minimal hours and expect to be left with a profit. Taking into account insurances, buying a vehicle, fitting it out, running costs, tax, accountant fees, maintenance and advertising you need to really get on the front foot to make even a reasonable living in an industry that is competitive, intermittent and volatile at best. It is either feast or famine in the building game, so a proverb would say if there was such a scripture you need to make hay when the sun shines. All of the above before you can afford to pay for a ham sandwich!
It may happen in "Drama Land" at an assembly but the reality is very different no matter how much anyone invokes or plays the "You will be blessed bountifully as demonstrated at the end of the Drama " wishful thinking card.
At the time there was also a visiting brother from the Empire who also thought the article was absurd as he knew first hand that hairdressers in England were renown for the meager pay they recieve and can hardly survive working full time in that profession because it is an unlicensed trade and every tom dick and harry does it for a few extra quid.Not to mention it is a hotbed of fashionistas and party type culture people that a young person would be exposed to.
I remember when I started my trade apprenticeship there was wall to wall pornography literally in the lunch mess room of the building site! And offered a ciggy on the first day!. Obviously Brother Morriss has never visited a construction site other than a Kingdom project, if he did he would not be so enthusiastic about exposing you men to this kind of environment. Let alone the talk and language as well including the aggression and general Machismistic attitudes!!!
There is nothing wrong with any of these trades or jobs in themselves , it just does not warrant anyone arbitrarily saying things on a world platform giving an uninformed one size fits all solution when each and everyone should decide for themselves what is best for them in the circumstances they find themselves and how they best think they should deal with them without coercion or having some artificial benchmark that others can then use to criticize or make people feel guilty like they are being disobedient to Jah.
The only thing articles like these are accomplishing is making the brotherhood that are wondering about things more convinced that the GBs are really in an ivory tower clueless as to what the reality of earning a living requires these days.Reply by Tadua on 2018-07-05 08:14:58
Alithia
You hit the nail on the head, as well as through the pipe and cable! and in more painful places for the GB rules.
With anything worthwhile you have to invest time and money before getting a good return. This applies to jobs as well. You can have a higher paying job and virtually never work overtime, paid on time or self employed and stressed out of your mind, working weekends and evenings and then someone refuses to pay you, not because you didn’t do a good job but because they never intended to pay, leaving you in severe financial trouble. No rules can allow for all the variances for all job environments in all countries.
Yet make a worldwide rule is what the GB have done.Reply by Psalmbee on 2018-07-06 19:02:54
I don't think they allow people in law enforcement, do they?
Reply by Psalmbee on 2018-07-10 11:00:24
I got a good laugh when you said: who wants a law enforcement officer around ,when your actually breaking the law ? ?. Good basic point!
Reply by Leonardo Josephus on 2018-07-05 11:45:09
Amazed GB did not recommend window or office cleaning, as that seems to be what a high percentage of younger ones end up doing to support themselves . Not quite so easy when you are older. Do they not have window cleaners in the USA ?
Comment by Alithia on 2018-07-05 18:34:26
OOps I have to do it again. I just watched a latest Broadcast VDO aimed a Young ones (And subliminally to older ones as parents). The VDO is called Trained as Safe ,Skilled Workers. It seems the Org is wanting to give the appearances that parents can be assured that should their precious children join Bethel work they will leave having been trained in some valuable skill set that can be transferable to other work when they leave and go back into the real world and have to make a living.
It shows various young people at what seems like Bethel factories etc giving testimonials of how many work related/applicable skills and how much practical knowledge they have developed in the time they were in Bethel, and there was the usual bombastic comments such as one young one was quoted as having acquired more learning in a week of Bethel training than a year in worldly training. One young sister held up at least a dozen certificates that she had acquired at Bethel. No details as to what they were of course, possibly gardening, laundry, security, cleaning, domestic room service, cooking and scullery, and you can imagine what other similar "valuable" certificates she would have been issued with.
There was also lots of talk of a tilt towards training programs around safety and technical training schools to ensure a safe work culture. Of course it was all very general and obscure as to what courses could be available or how much training or qualifications anyone actually received.
It was really misleading and specious when one brother speaking of the benefits for young people when he said that it is O.K to start leaning trades outside Bethel etc but asked the question, "why not let Jehovah finish your training"? I suspect he meant, if you are handy do not worry about finishing a trade we could use those skills here right now thank you very much!
What was obvious though was that mostly all of the comments and photo shoots seemed to be in a high speed high volume printing press factory environment. This is such a specialised niche' work that it is unreasonable to expect that this could in any way enhance ones ability or expectations to get a job anywhere in the world outside Bethel printing factories.
It reminds me of a return visit I had of a young man who was very depressed because he could not get a job after 10 years in the Navy. I asked him what work he did while in the Navy? I thought maybe engineer, plumber, mechanic, etc, the Navy and Army do offer genuine trade training that is very good, along with generous pay rates. His response was, he was a "Weapons missile guidance officer"!!! Well I am not 100% sure but I am fairly confident that even after 20 years experience as a weapons guidance officer, this will not get you a job in civilian world!
SImilar to the "valuble training" the WT proffessies to offer young ones, completely useless in the real world except for Bethel service. But this is their only concern. The interests of the ORG not anyone else's.Reply by Psalmbee on 2018-07-06 10:29:26
It may not seem like it, but I'm hearing you Alithia,
Comment by lazarus on 2018-07-06 19:35:27
Thanks Tadua,
Higher Education, well the society has taken its position on it very seriously. A more balanced approach would be better. In that environment,( Uni/college) many lose their faith, not only JWs, Christian youths from other religions and even Muslims, the debt for most youths is beyond their means and for most the Degree is irrelevant. Over the long haul is it really worth it? Yes and No. It’s debatable that’s for sure. Except for employment involving Dentistry, Dr, engineering and few others.
Anyway, I’m not against it, you could do short courses, which may be more specific to your needs. Each to their own.Reply by wild olive on 2018-07-07 21:43:23
Many people these days agree with you Lazarus, college education is no longer the best a person can do to make a living, in many western countries trades seem to give better opportunities for employment, this has turned out to be the case for myself, but even then the environment is no different to what exsists in university's , there are still plenty of pressures to behave the wrong way in trade environments, contrary to what the WT thinks.
Again speaking from personal experience. I work for three real estate agents handling their maintenance issues on rental properties, more times than I care to think I have arrived to perform work, only to find that the women there want to give you more than just a cup of coffee, even had offers from gay men! To think that somehow university is "worse" is ignorant at best.
As far as young people having spiritual goals, in itself is a good thing, I myself have benefited by this thinking, striving for spiritual goals as a young person in the org didn't do me any harm , in fact I would say it was a protection, it was when I got older and needed more spiritually that I realised that what I had bee taught had falsehoods and limitations that suited the orgs agenda.
I was fortunate that the ones that where my mentors "in the truth" where all men that sat on the fringes, they were not " exemplary " people, one thing they all had in common is they where all war veterans, two where ex waffen SS , one of them even had his experience published in the Awake,another ex Rodesian bush soldier, another ex RAAF , these were the men that shaped my view, and I would call all of them dangerous, not exactly what the org wants , but ime glad they were my teachers,and I probably wouldn't have got to know them if they themselves hadn't joined the org, so it's a mixed blessing.Reply by lazarus on 2018-07-08 02:08:13
I agree with you Wild Olive. Either way there are challenges. It’s interesting you bring up certain ones having an influence on your spiritual development. I encountered a few old timers who would recall the days they were called jehonadabs. These ones were independent thinkers. In fact I recall an anointed brother who was very much awake. Trying to help ones to see that we were all in fact children of God. So it was interesting talking to these ones. It reminds me of 1 Cor 3:6. Spiritual growth is not an accident. So Even within the walls of the Organisation God Still makes it Grow. I’ve benefited personally from the platform one can get as a Witness. That Being the Ministry School and the Ministry itself. Especially in business.I feel even those who are awake or waking up can still go about using this platform. Of course it presents new challenges with regards to Doctrines and prophetic teachings which one may choose not to teach. Jesus never said being his disciple would be easy. We can separate the Truth from the chaff even within.
Reply by wild olive on 2018-07-08 20:29:59
You make a fine point Lazarus, it is indeed God who makes it grow, in or out of the org. Your comment gives an answer to those who are awakening. Wether you stay in the org or leave isn't really the focus that's needed, the focus should be on am I growing into what Jehovah wants , the image of Christ, that can be done anywhere, under any circumstance, of course, as you say it's not going to be easy, but comfort and ease aren't what Jesus taught, Peter said Christ is a model, to suffer, not good times and ease, in comparison, a JW can basically sleep walk through the preset program, and believe it's all Gods will and plan, and come away from it feeling very righteous. How different it is to truly follow Christ.
Reply by lazarus on 2018-07-09 04:12:11
Very true.
Comment by Menrov on 2018-07-08 03:56:34
If you have the youth you have the future. I agree with Tadua about bypassing parents. One of my biggest concerns for people in the organization is the attempt to bypass the authority of the parents. Once a child is baptized, the elders take over control. When an issue arises, not only the child will be held accountable by the elders, but the parents as well. In my view, a very scary situation.
Regarding education: if you want to show the rank and file that "you know better" then you aim high and in this case, discredit universities. In my experience, the lower the education, the more chances that language/words used are at times very vulgair, opinions are not based on facts, entertainment is at times very questionable and the people are often relatively easy to be influenced, working in an environment where moral standards are often very different etc. Yes, also people with degrees can also practice these things but chances are less and are often far harder to influence. And that is the objective of this type of education: influence, control the crowd as the crowd gives them the license to operate. If the crowd is walking out and no longer "minister", then the organization puts their charity or religious organization status and all related financial benefits at risk.
Many very loyal believers (Abraham, Moses, David, Paul) were well educated. There is nothing in the scriptures that supports the view of the organization regarding higher education. Yes, there are ugly things in the world but unfortunately, there are many ugly things in the religious organisations too.
I work for a very large company where Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) are a top priority. This means a lot of resources are allocated to achieve the highest standards. All very well documented and reported on. Every quarterly results meeting starts with the HSSE achievements and addressing where things did go wrong, in particular if fatalities happened. If there were fatalities, the CEO or one of his teammembers will spend serious time to reflect on this. A sign of respect to humans who lost their lives while working for the company. Now, I have attended the meetings for some 17 years and not once HSSE was an item, not even on assemblees. And when someone who has been in the congregation for years dies, he is only remembered during the funeral session but not ever during the weekly meetings. It is almost they did not exist. It made me realize that individuals are not important in the organization. It is the collection of all that matters. Their overall reputation to the outside world.
I also noticed the double standards. During the ARC, the organization hired (expensive) lawyers from outside the organization. So, you condemn higher education but have no problem to make use of those who did those studies when it is in your benefit (same with doctors, dentists, medical staff, engineers etc). Even Jackson had a female lawyer supporting him. How hypocritical when women are not even allowed to attend a judicial meeting when it concerns their husband or a child.
All these items mentioned here became part of my "wake-up" puzzle. It is a large puzzle :-)
Comment by Leonardo Josephus on 2018-07-08 06:52:26
May I commend you brothers for balanced sensible thoughts. Your comment is true, Lazarus, that we can separate the wheat from the chaff from within, but it does not always make for peace of mind.
When I was younger, perhaps 25-30 years ago, I would hear accounts from an elderly elder about things that happened in the past. He could laugh about it in the 1980s.
Clearly he lived though days when there was more tolerance and freedom of expression. Now there are too many "Company men" who pick up things you say out of order, and too many publishers who will tell-tale to elders if you say things they think sound odd.
There are so many whose sole guidance is the publications rather than the scriptures. Didn't C T Russell say something like that ?Reply by lazarus on 2018-07-08 16:33:08
Yes, It’s true LJ, It’s happened to me, and a brother has stopped talking to me, after over two decades of friendship. I realise now you can’t speak freely, although I understood that to be so. But with those I have spoken to, mainly close friends, a Veil covers their eyes. It’s interesting.