Are elders' children given a longer leash in Jehovah's impartial organization?
Are elders’ children given a longer leash in Jehovah’s impartial organization?

Jehovah’s Witnesses pride themselves on having overcome all social barriers. But there is more to this claim than meets the eye. This is the story of how I discovered the subtle and little-known class distinctions among Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I was born into the so-called “Truth.” My parents were old-school missionaries in South America and Northern Africa who graduated from Gilead School in the early seventies; my father served as Presiding Overseer of our congregation for over a decade and was one of the guys calling the shots at district conventions and circuit assemblies.

My aunt and uncle have been working at the European headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany for nearly half a century; they were sent around the world by the Society to assemble printing presses. So, in a way, my family is Jehovah’s Witness royalty.

I hated it growing up. Ours was a small congregation, there weren’t that many kids, so all eyes were on my brother and I. In short, everybody expected us to do big things. What with the parents I had, the sky was literally the limit (I was quite sure from the start that I wasn’t anointed, the no-sex aspect of heaven was a deal breaker for me!).

At every convention, my brother and I were told what great parents we had and how much our spiritual brothers and sisters were looking forward to see what we would accomplish in the organization.

My brother, who is four years younger than me, never really spoke about spiritual goals. But as for me, I soon decided I wanted to go to Bethel. You see, I had virtually grown up with Bethel.

The Watchtower branch office located at Selters, Germany
The Watchtower branch office located at Selters, Germany

Semi-yearly visits to Selters in Hesse where Germany’s branch office is located were quite the highlight for young boys like us. We got to tour the Bethel facilities privately with my uncle who had access to all areas. I loved the printery. I have fond memories of getting a first-hand look at the production of Jehovah’s Witness literature.

For those not familiar with Germany’s branch office, it is quite a large campus facility. Different from Brooklyn Bethel and similar to Google and Apple headquarters, the German facility is located on a hill above a small town in a rural area, about 40 miles from Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital.

It is a gated community, sealed off from the environment and practically self-sustaining (I remember my uncle explaining that the branch office could survive doomsday-like conditions for a few months). Pretty much what Warwick is supposed to be. It was a very exciting place to be as a youngster.

I am not exactly sure why I wanted to join Bethel. I have given it a lot of thought and it boils down to these reasons:

•    It was a very exciting place to be as a youngster
•    I knew it would please my parents if I went to Bethel
•    The older I got, the more the feeling grew that I would be safer spiritually in the confines of Bethel rather than among the “temptations of the world”

But first and foremost, I believed it was expected of me. I was quite vocal about disliking the preaching work, so a pioneer assignment was out of the question, which just left me with the Bethel option. My career path was laid out pretty clear: Baptism, Ministerial Servant, Elder, and then either Bethelite for life or Circuit Overseer. That was my future. I hated it.

You see, I knew all along that I wasn’t the best Jehovah’s Witness. I believed it to be the Truth, of course, and I was pretty sure it was the best way to choose. But I was scared stiff that I wouldn’t be able to live up to the expectations, that I would fail, that I would disappoint everyone who knew me. I felt like the member of some royal family that would rather be an insignificant civilian than the valiant hero. I felt really sorry for myself.

A while back, a former Jehovah’s Witness and I talked about our youth in the organization. When I finished telling the above story, she just smiled, shook her head and said: “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” or words to that effect. And then she told me her side of the story.

She grew up the daughter of parents who were run-of-the-mill Witnesses. Her father and her mother were both members of the congregation but lived in separation and were considered “weak,” or not very strong spiritually. She, despite her best efforts, was considered bad association on account of her parents. And when she reported to the elders that she and here mother had been beaten by her father, the elders didn’t believe her. And why would they? Her family wasn’t very prominent and she was the child of “weak” Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“In contrast,” she said, turning to me, “you and your friends, all kids of elders, basically had a fool’s license. You could do whatever you wanted. If you desired a privilege in the congregation, you got one and didn’t have to prove yourself first. I was a girl so that was out of the question anyway, but my brother wasn’t even allowed to handle the roving mics when he was in his mid-twenties!”

“When I did something wrong, I got a shepherding call. When you guys got into trouble your fathers spoke to you in private or just straight out turned a blind eye. Screw the expectations you were suffering from. Being an elder’s kid is the equivalent of a diplomatic passport!”

And she was right: Being the son of an elder was a get-out-of-jail-free card for my friends and I who were all children of elders from surrounding congregations. No matter how much we partied, cursed or got drunk, so long we did it among ourselves, Elders and other Witnesses didn’t bat an eyelid.

Nobody dared to speak out against the sons of elders. And if they did, then one of the fathers would speak to us quietly, telling us to cool it down a notch, and that was it. Even that one time I got caught on a date with a worldly girl by the family of an Elder, nothing happened. His wife(!) told me to be more careful and maybe think about the course I was on and meditate on what Jehovah would think of it. She neither told my parents, nor the elders.

Another time, my friends and I (all children of elders), went to a camp site that was notorious for parties of Jehovah’s Witness kids. All of us got drunk, and made out with young sisters. Of course, word got out, and other Jehovah’s Witnesses who were there complained to the elders of our congregations. Again, one of the fathers sat down with us. This is the conversation that ensued:

Elder: “There were some complaints following your camping trip. Anything I should be aware of?”
Us: “Well, we did have a beer too many and we were a bit loud.”
Elder: “What about girls?”
One of our friends who was a ministerial servant and just happened to be the son of the elder questioning us: “The sisters slept in separate tents in a different plot.”
Elder: “Good. Be more careful next time. I was young myself once. Just take care who you party with.”

That was an elder seriously telling us to watch our association before behaving like bad association. Brilliant.

The former Jehovah’s Witness I was talking to really had a point: While I had been all whiny about my terrible lot as an elder’s son, it had actually been my protection, my Jehovah’s Witness diplomatic immunity. That was when I realized that there was class distinction among Jehovah’s Witnesses.

My father is a humble man who never cared about the position he had. He sincerely believed that the higher you get on the Watchtower ladder, the more you have to serve. When another elder schemed against him and tried to stage a coup to take over from my father, he resigned as presiding overseer for the sake of the peace of the congregation. He would have been the first to step in if he had known that his son had leveraged his position in the organization on numerous occasions. The fathers of the other kids? Not so much.

Before Jehovah’s Witnesses now pick up their torches and pitchforks, by no means am I saying that this problem is unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses. I am actually pretty sure that it is worse in many other groups including the Catholic Church, where there is a literal hierarchy on paper.

Class distinction is only human, I guess. But Jehovah’s Witnesses like to claim that they are immune to these kinds of social problems as a group. They write: “Jehovah’s Witnesses […] recognize that social classes have no meaning in the eyes of God. Thus, they have no clergy/laity division, and they are not segregated according to skin color or wealth.” In fact, the article where those words appear is even one of the top ten search results when you google “class distinction.”

While the second part largely holds true, I have to disagree with the first proposition. In a court case, a counsel acting on behalf of the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses testified that they ruled from the top down, saying: “We are a hierarchical religion structured just like the Catholic Church.” (click here for more details) While there may be exceptions, my experience is living proof that there is indeed a kind of class distinction among Jehovah’s Witnesses.

 

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Read Misha’s follow-up article on Taze.co by clicking here!

Misha is the Founding Editor of Taze.co, a website about Jehovah’s Witnesses and Cult news, lifestyle and entertainment from an ‘apostate’ perspective. He was disfellowshipped in 2003, and has authored a German-language book about his experience titled “Goodbye Jehova!

122 thoughts on “Why class distinction among Jehovah’s Witnesses is alive and flourishing

  • June 30, 2015 at 5:10 am
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    Nice article. I agree, there is a rather strong class distinction. women vs men, rank&file of “good” reputation vs those with a less than good reputation (as judges by the elders), ministerial servants vs. elders, elders vs circuit overseer (CO), CO vs head office representatives and all vs governing body.
    Agree, no formal class distinction on social class and race. I say formal as I noticed that in social gatherings there is some class distinction.

    Yes, they claim a lot but actually are just any other group in many aspects. Sometimes worse, and sometimes better.

    • June 30, 2015 at 11:07 pm
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      I would disagree on the race thing, we went to a need was great congregation where there was a literal line down the KH Black versus White. Two elders (Black/White duo) had been brought in to mix it up, it was that bad. No one went from house to house, you took the White calls, they took the Black ones. no studies among cross racial lines. That was in the 80’s and not ancient history, it does exist. My final congregation was the same, just English speaking versus the Spanish speakers, yes it was supposed to be an English speaking congregation. Again they brought in Black elders/pios to break it up, so then it split Black/White/Spanish speakers. I am interested in this issues so perhaps I notice it more, or have been in more mixed situations? Good points though.

  • June 30, 2015 at 5:41 am
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    I was the only daughter of the typical elder and submissive wife of a mother. I noticed these distinctions years ago. There was the ‘fatherless boy’, the sister with the unbelieving husband, etc. Anything less than the picture perfect ‘spiritual’ family had a stigma attached. What a miserable life it is, trying to attain perfection among your peers and never being good enough.

  • June 30, 2015 at 6:01 am
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    Like Carrie Bee, I too was born into the same circumstances, however maybe it was because I was female, but unlike the sons of other Elders, I was certainly not given any leeway.

    In fact the congregation thrived upon casting up to my Elder Father any of my short-comings, even if blown out of all context.

    It certainly made for a very unhappy existence.

  • June 30, 2015 at 6:24 am
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    I’m going to offer up a different perspective. I am an ex-elder and as a father raising a family (at the time my two daughters were teens and rather strong willed) had to deal with my life ‘under a microscope’. I was subject to a continuous stream of criticism and rumors/reports of my girls’ bad behavior from fellow elders, in general either single or childless themselves, and other busybodies in the congregation. This all came to a head during a CO visit. During the elders’ meeting with the CO he accused me pretty much of encouraging my daughter to get her navel pierced. Not that there is a problem with that in reality, and as a father I had spoken with my daughter about it and was satisfied with her response that she had researched it in the pubs and decided, based on her 18 year old conscience, that it was acceptable. I personally had no issues with it and commended her for at least trying to find ‘god’s’ viewpoint on the matter. This had been reported to the CO sensationally as my having commended her for having it done. This erupted into a shouting match during the meeting with the CO using language that I had never previously heard in a Kingdom Hall let alone during a meeting. He concluded his apoplectic tirade with admonition to the other elders that they ‘had to do the right thing’. This, based on similar comments made during previous visits, meant that they had to remove me. My daughter suffered for years feeling that she was responsible for the whole affair. This whole incident positively convinced me that the only spirit involved with this hypocritical, unloving organization came packaged in a bottle. I sympathize with all those who feel that they were treated badly since they were stigmatized by background or circumstance but these class distinctions come in all shapes and sizes.

    • April 28, 2016 at 12:15 am
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      I want to get ahold of John. I need to understand what it is he felt. I related to his experience.

    • April 28, 2016 at 1:33 am
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      I want to get ahold of John or any one else. I don’t understand all what is going on. I tried my whole life to be a decent person. I have failed at times. Then just like the paparazzi who get word when something becomes public knowledge by you being in continuous public display from constantly being watched when all eyes are on you, you are ostracized if any word gets out that you have failed failed or are having difficulty with ANYTHING. I was disfellowshipped once and I am still marginalized. I can smell it when I am around people there. Their body language tells you when they go out of their way to not even make an effort to talk to you. They don’t bother with me for one moment nor go out of their way to even want to see my face unless it is a convenience to them as long as I am front of them at a worship setting. (Matthew 5:47) I don’t want to leave Jehovah. I never have wanted to. But I am tired of having to live others constant scrupulous depictions. (Romans 14:4, 10-13) (Matthew 7:1-5) Having to walk on a a constant tightrope and always having to walk on egg shells then they wonder why you withdraw from having to made to feel uneasy dare it appear you are struggling with anything. So much imposed religious moral fear of failure that stifles you out of life and out of your worth and self confidence that you are left to always second guess yourself. Having to live the scrupulosity of others definitions they make of themselves and often transfer onto you. It makes you fear yourself out of life having to always live your life through the eyes of others. It introverted me so much since I have always been an extrovert. I felt so shut down. The anger from feeling disconnected. Not having any emotional connection with anyone. Then dare i be distraught or depressed I was somehow this punitive contemptuous category that slapped onto me and attached to my character. It doesn’t feel good to have your character constantly micromanaged. I felt like I was living in solitary confinement. Always on edge. It drove me to suicide. I don’t know how I am still here. I had no emotional support and still don’t. Nobody bothers with me. I have reached out so many times and wouldn’t matter what i say or how I say it. I have to shut up for another to be okay. If I say nothing they don’t bother with me. If I show my displeasure or discomfort or unease or they stigmatize me and pigeon-hold me for that too. I have to suffer in silence and have even tried to hang myself many times. If I told anyone I would be treated like a nut case and further marginalized. THey just drove me away from so much undermining, second guessing, berating and insinuating that I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I could not even feel comfortable within my own skin because their obsessive overbearing scrupulosity and hypervigilance always made me feel afraid of myself. I might as well have been frisked. I had to take on their constant brow-beating, interrogating, their constant speculating, their suspicious paranoia, and anxious distress and fear they always imposed on me dare I showed any distress in my voice,dare I beared my soul. They made me feel like a constant felon or criminal if I told the whole truth and everything i felt inside whenever I tried to just be vulnerable with them. They were hardly approachable. I would reap constant disdain dare I bled. Imagine the prodigal son being ripped apart or fatherless child or widow. I felt constantly condemned to death anytime I was broken down and grieving or toiling something that went wrong. Even my Dad’s death. I had to be this ideal person my Dad was who was an elder for many years. I know what you mean by “royalty”. The only thing is, I am a male and never got any free pass or was cut any slack for being an elder’s son. I never had that privilege. I had to be this extension of my father even though he is no longer here. I couldn’t fall or make mistakes. I was told I only have myself to blame for any set back I had. Apparently everything wrong that was not self induced was something I brought on myself. I was told I “should not feel” or “should not have problems” and if I was at all the meetings I “shouldn’t have problems” even when i was afraid to come from feeling so hemmed and always left to feel alone all the time without any connectivity. Then when i tried to bear my soul to the same set of elders, I was told “dont’ micromanage”. Who is micromanaging who????? I read last week something that said, what people say about another is often a reflection of how they think of themselves and in direct proportion to themselves. I don’t even use the world “micromanage”. That was his word, not mine. They assign their own thoughts to your head. It so easy for others others who are married to speak when they aren’t having to live as a hermit shut out from life. Or the ones who have money who talk to you or tell how it should be when you are financially challenged. Apparently to the elders, my life is only 4 walls in a Kingdom Hall and need nothing else. The widow in the widow’s mite would be be dead here. She would not survive being at the mercy of those around me. She would be disfellowshipped. I am not disfellowshipped but always treated like I am if I don’t measure up to someone’s projections or depictions of me. I don’t understand so much of the misdealings and injustices in the organization. THEY are the ones who constantly “micromanage” everything. I have to take on another’s compulsiveness. I am not their thoughts but have to live their constant cynical thougths and depictions daily. I have to go to bed with their thoughts and wake up with them. I am constantly at the mercy of them. My health is suffering not to mention my spirituality from being constant brow-beated and deflated. Why is okay that they do what they do and get away with it. Why is okay they can injure someone already injured and play with someone’s head. Why is it ok they can go beyond Law yet nothing is EVER done? There is so much injustice. We think this is a spiritual safe haven or utopia and it’s the “world” that is only crappy? There is more depression in my congregation than in a psyche ward then they tell you they aren’t doctors but judge you anyways. They expect more of themselves than they do of me. It doesn’t feel good to be manhandled when one is depressed from being pushed out of life and constantly contained and compressed and shut down let alone shut out and made to feel like they are a loser if they aren’t on the upswing with everything or not this or not that. You are always defined by your status or “standing” and by your observed tasks and nothing else they ever care to see. They never care to see the greater good of you other than what you aren’t doing enough of in “tasks” or “procedures” within the confines of the worship setting. (Galatians 6:4, 5) They invalidate Jehovah’s Word constantly. They say but do not do according to Jehovah but according to THEMSELVES. They talk about other religions falling by the wayside but they think they are infallible when they oppress their own people. And any grievance you have becomes about THEM and their own untarnished shiny image. Any suffering be it physical or emotional or both becomes some kind of weighty obstacle or threat to them on the JW image. You have to suffer in silence, keep things inside, always bottled, the injustices, the misgivings, the undue care, the disregard, the indignation or they think you are some “complainer” or apostate if you are lost and confused by so much mixed messages or contradictions or strangeness. Then they wonder why you are depressed and losing your mind????? It pushes me back and keeps me in a constant tail spin. I need to understand what people like John, the elder above commenting on his daughter who had to get heat for his daughter’s naval ring. Why in God’s earth is a “naval ring” a crime when if its in your naval but yet not when its in your ear? Like forbidding smoking but not forbidding junk food or sprayed foods laced in chemicals they even facilitate if they are farmers. We don’t define or poison people by cigarette smoke but in other ways its okay apparently. I am not sure how to deal with all of this oddness because I felt the same odd cultural norms or idiosyncrasies that get turned into “rules” or commands of God like Matthew 15:6-9 says. I am not sure what all melodramatic ideals are for. People who take things to the extreme or impose their own consciences onto others in the name of God. Imposing their own dogmatic ‘black or white” rules or misdoings on their own accord rather than adhering to the LAWS that they make according to themselves. I don’t know why an elder would have to endure the rebuke of him by his daughter’s choice to have a naval ring. It seems like you have to walk around having to be infallible. Where is the love, yielding, mercy, and forgiveness? Why is it that people are made into invalids? I am not sure why a girl who made a personal “conscience” decision to wear a ring on her naval is somehow like MURDER! They are overly scrupulous and overconscientious over EVERYTHING just as Ecclesiastes 7:16 says when it says “do not become righteous OVERMUCH”. I related to his EXACT experience. Imagine if you are restlessly unhappy in despair when constantly feeling alone, confined and hemmed inside, from constant social alienation EVEN IF YOU ARE NO EVEN DISFELLOWSHIPPED but STILL become stigmatized or shunned for it dare you show your plight or emotions. How can one redeem themselves when they are constantly anchored? Feeling hemmed. Imprisoned. Having to be immune all by the depictions or projections of others. All eyes on you. Your visibility only within the confines of a worship setting is all equal to your spirituality. They expend or forego any good attributes over your visibility or being seen doing tasks. You can be torn up inside, with medical challenges or just broken down and if you aren’t seen doing tasks you are labelled as something “weak”. That means apparently as long as you are visible in the congregation and your face shows up at the hall you can still be a lousy person secretively as long as you are “visible” and show your attendance. You can hide who you are as long as you put in time and do tasks. It’s apparently about your image, how you “appear” to others, not who you actually are. It seems that’s how you are defined. By your religious tasks and activities, nothing else. Religious over-scrupulosity seems to mean you must be quietly immune even if you are suffering inside in quiet desperation while hemmed or imprisoned dare you flinch or show any slipping in any way or form. You have to be this constant spiritual gladiator that is lined with gold or you are marginalized. I might as well be disfellowshipped all over again because that’s how I am treated anyways even when I am not. You are not anyone or worthy anything unless you are seen amongst those 4 walls in a Kingdom Hall. Anything good about you is just foregone or expended. Your needs or voids foregone from constant suppression, repression, or pacification like a doctor telling you to just take a pill and call him in the morning. They just go around or elude and evade your plights, disillusioning you by their dismissive denial tactics to keep you pacified as if to tell you that wearing a Bible around your neck ONLY will make you all feel good and wonderful. Try telling someone who is in a hospital room suffering from a life threatening disease to just read their Bible more and do more theocratic activities or even blame them for not doing enough. See how well that goes. Apparently all the people who are medically and emotionally ill need to just read their Bible more and they will be problem free. That means my own father’s heart disease should have cleared up from being an elder. That is the kind of messages that get sent. Dare you are hurting, or feel empty, down and out, distraught, and feel sad, alone, and afraid, you are somehow “slipping” or “falling away”. You get the pigeon-holed catch-all dismissive cliche to negate your needs or suffering to “maybe you are not doing enough”.

      • April 28, 2016 at 3:37 am
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        Douglas I wish I could have a face to face conversation with you. Maybe oneday we will. You have poured out your heart and soul to us who are in fact strangers to you but friends nevertheless. You have articulated what most of us if not all of us have gone through in this most painful awakening journey. Just try, try not to be so hard on yourself, because that is a victory to those who hate you. And they do, they would have glee inside them to see you fall that is a bald fact and some of us have really understood that ,with the help of this site. Now this site has strict rules on not evangelizing so I must respect that but what you must have seen from many comments, some of us have gone through the forest fire and come out stronger in faith, belief hope and destiny. Can I say I do not believe one single jot of what jws teach but I do believe in the truth god heaven and the bible (all lower case so as not to confuse religion and belief). You cannot see it now but you are a strong person because you are here to vent your anger and disappointment at the wasted time . We all go through this but we survive. You came into the world alone and big grown up thing is to realise all the growing you do is a lonesome path. Some seem to have people around them , but do they really grow.? Douglas you have strength you have not tapped into yet but you will I am sure . Final thought no one likes to be deceived or lied to but when you find that out you are step one on the liberation path. best wishes ruthlee

        • April 28, 2016 at 3:59 am
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          Hi Douglas

          Ruthlee has said it all and I thank her for the very wise words, my 10 cents is – hang in there bud, stay strong and focused, you will make your way out of this mess, focus on your future, building genuine friendships and most of all enjoying life!

          Cheers

  • June 30, 2015 at 6:26 am
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    For me it was a nightmare. With my father not being in the “truth”, I was considered a “fatherless boy” from a “divided household”.

    All the elder sons flew past me to be first in line for any and all privileges. Funny how JWs throw that word around…anyways.

    I always resented how hard I had to work to get any of the available “privileges” and as well to keep them – never miss any service, always answer, shovel all the grannies driveways…ugh.

    Fatherless boy…always hated that term.

    • June 30, 2015 at 7:33 am
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      My experience is closely related to Jerome’s, although I’m sure that the others here are equally valid.
      I found that because I didn’t have a father or uncle to speak up for me at the secret elder’s meetings, I was the last one for any ‘privledges’ or parts. (This is very important to any Jehovah’s Witness male as it gives you prestige, self-worth and a much greater chance for a mate). You are taught to believe that Jehovah God himself selects the men who will “serve” in his organization so if you aren’t getting these ‘privledges’ then God doesn’t like you.
      It was very hard and depressing. Much like any class distinction.

      • June 30, 2015 at 7:39 am
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        Exactly JJ, that is a great point. Privileges or lack there of, affected a young male in ways that could have lasting consequences.

        So grateful to be clear of that toxic environment.

  • June 30, 2015 at 6:44 am
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    Do Elders children “enjoy” a longer leash ? Absolutely, no doubt about it ! Really , a rhetorical question . I could relate examples, but time and space do not permit. Lets just say everything was different – from dress (above the knee), extracurricular school activities, sports teams, higher education , special parts at Assemblies, to discipline (when others their age were df, they rec’d private reproof). On the other hand….
    these children also almost never saw their fathers because they were so absorbed with the congregation. No excuse for bad behavior, however if they spent more time with their children , perhaps no leash would be necessary.

  • June 30, 2015 at 7:04 am
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    Great article, Misha. And, recalling my experiences as a JW years ago, I have to agree with your observations. The JWs have all of the social sensitivity and dynamics of “Downton Abbey”.

  • June 30, 2015 at 7:32 am
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    Hey Misha…
    Nice article..just read your book a few days ago …i actually read it twice already..in German..im glad I’m better at German than English..
    I went just like WOW..this guy is amazing..it felt like 98% of my childhood among jw’s..the way you describe it
    Same age(nearly,I’m one older)..
    I remember when my dad was an elder…it’s true that you have got a kind of immunity..When I was 17 he lost his privileges…things changed a lot..long story ..there is definitely a kind of 2 social class among jw’s..like in every org.led by men..
    I’m not a jw anymore..never felt like a good one my entire life..it’s hard to get rid of the fears you grew up with…just like you describe it in your book..
    Would have got more to say but…
    Thanks for your courage

  • June 30, 2015 at 8:37 am
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    At least 50% of people in the congregation don’t have any say-so about anything in the congregations: females.

    The whole idea that there is no hierarchy is struck down simply by paying attention to how any female is treated at any given time:

    • cannot speak (teach) directly from the podium.

    • have to cover their heads when any male is present during any bible-based anything

    • even if married, the males in the congregation have more say-so about her appearance, her speech during casual conversations, her attire, makeup and footwear. God forbid she makes eye contact or is caught speaking alone with any male somewhere, even when in the middle of a crowded auditorium.

    • cannot wear pants. Think that’s not a big deal? Well, i hope it doesn’t get down into freezing temps in the wintertime where you live, because pants are not an option. Which also goes to show that Anthony Morris 3rd has no idea what spanx are for. Idiot.

    • women have zero upward mobility.

    • and being a young woman means that you’re merely a temptation for the males around you. They’re not personally responsible for the dance happening in the crotch of their pants. Personal responsibility/accountability? Applesauce. In fact, that young high school girl who gave a speech in front of her class mentioned how elders cornered her and forced her to confess that her and her friend’s bikini photos were sent to their male friend in order to “tempt” him. Lordy. Good thing that young man isn’t responsible for his own penis!

    And here’s an interesting take on how females are viewed (China baby girl reference)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdHvHony9YA

    Funny how there’s no hierarchy… and yet there most certainly is when they exclude females (approx 50% of total pop.) from any position above being a wife and/or child bearer.

    Being the son of an elder is one thing. I’ve seen many daughters of elders being pushed to super-polished image status, which they simply cannot live up to. Is it any wonder that so many young people walk away from being a JW once they become of legal age to live on their own?

  • June 30, 2015 at 9:32 am
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    Like John, I too am a former elder, and my experience was much closer to his. Because of my position, five children were subjected to a greater level of scrutiny — and criticism — than the other children in the congregation, whether it be at school, where other JW kids seeking an opportunity to point fingers for the most trivial reason, or by the elders and others of the congregation who, out of pettiness or envy, sought to take pot-shots at the slightest opportunity.

    In fact, one of the main reasons I resigned as elder was precisely to protect them from the unfair, undeserved scrutiny under the microscope to which they were subjects, solely because the position I held.

    • June 30, 2015 at 10:25 am
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      Hey Nemorino, thank you for your comment – I agree, my father was the same. I basically profited off his reputation and the way other Elder’s handled it. As my friends were mainly in other congregations, our own elders never really knew about what I was up to with my german friends. But it was the same in our congregation: As elder’s kids, you were under particular scrutiny.

      • July 2, 2015 at 1:14 am
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        Misha. As a former Elder for 12 years I know for sure that Elders sons and family are given many exceptions to the “rules”.
        There was a particular Elder’s sons who were causing all kinds of problems in the Congregation such as partying and staying out with HUGE groups of other kids until 3,4 5 o’clock in the morning. They even took cars out in the middle of the night racing them in secret spots and were caught smoking Marijuana. Nothing ever happened to them. When it was brought up in meetings the Father would say, ” I will talk with them” then later say we are having a family bible study on this subject or principle or well, Boys will be Boys? Always an excuse.It was always pushed out of the way but the entire cong was upset over it as these things went on for several years. I could not take the hypocrisy and favoritism an even other Elders that were his close friends would
        protect him and he would protect hiss kids as well. I felt compelled to resign as an Elder. SHortly after I was no longer an Elder they went after my own teen age boy at the time over much less issues then his own children did! IN fact there were 2 other Elders kids involved with mine at the time but they tried to concentrate on my son and not the Elders sons! Such Hypocrisy! My son just avoided all of them and in due time moved to Europe and left the JW’s entirely. He is a happy young adult today and despite being very kind and polite he cannot stand the two faced religion of the JW’s. BY the way Misha my Wife is a German Also I have visited Selters myself a few times and she many times. Man, I am Glad to be out. I faded away and it worked for me.She is still A Big JW and thinks they can do no wrong.

  • June 30, 2015 at 11:38 am
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    I am an ex JW. Growing up I saw all of the bove mentioned things happen on a daily basis. If your parents were not elders or pioneers you were only spoken to at meetings. As a young wife who went to the elders for help with an abusive mate I was told I was “a whiny newleywed & to shut up & go home” if your son wasn’t carrying the rovings mics your family was whispered and speculated about. If you didn’t make the required amount of hours weekly (at least5) you were “weak & one the fence” There is no privacy in your life if the elders want to but in they do. They showed up at my place of employment and questioned me in front of my employees & customers about ” we are hearing” but they preach from the platform “don’t get involved in gossip and spread rumors” I have to admit their poor examples are what pushed me away. Even my own brother, the pioneer, elder, loving wife etc, kept me at arms lengths when what I needed the most was to be part of a loving stable family. Hypocrisy drove me away.

    • June 30, 2015 at 12:24 pm
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      They then try and say it was only that elder or only that congregation that was corrupt.

      No it’s not, it’s a standard practice. It’s happening at every hall. The unusual is finding a loving elder….. And in my experience they usually leave within 10 years.

      • July 1, 2015 at 11:50 am
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        Well said Mama Joy – most good elders leave – the ones that are humble, can relate, approachable, enjoy a beer or more, have a good sense of humour. I’m from the “poor and weak” blood line so can relate to class distinctions. One incident after a meeting in which I was counselled as a 13 year old by the presiding overseer and his sidekick for wearing tight trousers cemented my goal to never be an elder – they were the only trousers I had as a growing young man – Mom was not happy when I told her but Dad didn’t have the horsepower to defend us as he was never a regular at the meetings and not important enough. I stayed close to the “good” elders until most of them left and followed them out. So happy to be no part of this corporation anymore.

  • June 30, 2015 at 12:20 pm
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    Yes! Elders kids can go to college…. The minions can’t.

  • June 30, 2015 at 12:44 pm
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    Mamma Joy is so right I was always told by my mother, “the next cong will be different Ann, it was just the people in that one” every single cong I was every in (10 over my 51 yrs) were all identical.

  • June 30, 2015 at 2:28 pm
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    Its so true I used to call it witnessocracy, what was happening in the congregation I was in, people that became new elders where the ones that did go to university and had the good job and status, something that was disapproved by the organisation. While the pioneers like myself who gave up college or uni courses and started to question the order of events ,weren`t in the witnessocracy circle,I even had a brother tell me that a lot of what I did when I decided to become a pioneer was elder or human pleasing, when I finally decided that pioneering
    wasn`t working out ( and yet that was the party line, so when it doesn`t work out mentally or financially the blame is on you), and seeing the hypocrisy of certain elder’s that had good businesses and it has to be said status and money they were the ones that we`re exulted in the congregation.
    I went back to university years later, I still meet witnesses and some still talk to me, I think mainly one of my parents who is still a witness, never shunned me
    ,so I never had that mental anguish, which so many ex witnesses have had to endure.

  • June 30, 2015 at 2:54 pm
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    I knew of 3 single mothers with daughters all who had got into trouble with Elders & MS’s son’s. All 3 girls got disfellowshipped while the boys got private reproof. After the 3rd incident, I realised that this wasn’t just isolated cases, this was designed to keep men in their positions.

    Having a father or an Elder/MS father has advantages & disadvantages but the sad part was that all of these women accepted the injustice as just part of being in God’s organisation. I on the other hand found it demeaning to women & especially to the already downtrodden single mums. In the end, I had to get out it was too much for me to bear.

  • June 30, 2015 at 3:54 pm
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    Servus Misha,
    Ich hab’ auch eine lange Zeit in Deutschland gewohnt, war zwar im englischen Versamung damals. …but to English for others benefit…

    I too worked at Selters doing construction on the various buildings in the expansion of the early 1990s.
    I loved your article. Very well written and insightful. Thanks for sharing.
    G

  • June 30, 2015 at 4:12 pm
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    You hit the nail on the head with this article as there is absolutely no question that Jehovah’s Witnesses have a major, MAJOR problem with class distinction. Especially when it comes to priviledges in the congregation, brothers who have material wealth, who appear to be financially secure, good jobs, etc.. are definately shown favoritism v.s. brothers who are not so financially well off. Another serious trend, just about everywhere you go, is if you’re in a congregation where a lot of the witnesses are related to each other, Elders who are so eager to have their Sons, son-in-law, fleshly brother, bro-in-law, etc.. to receive congregational appointments…because it reflects good on that Elder. They use those things as a means to fulfill their own ambitions. Just a short while ago, we had a 20-year-old bro. appointed as an MS in the congregation…his uncle is an Elder and is Dad is an Elder…all in the same congregation. The night they made the announced his appointment, there were like 10 other relatives of his who had come to the meeting that night so that they could hear it said from the platform. A few months later, his sister/bro-in-law moved into the congregation…and now his bro-in-law too is being used like crazy, has been an attendant at the conventions and has openly said to me face-to-face, that he wants to be appointed as an MS….all of this even though he was not recommended by the previous body of elders for previous wrongdoing. And yet, there are bros. here locally who have been faithful for many years, and they will literally look for reasons NOT to recommend them. It’s all about being in their little club or a carnival ride…to be able to get on that ride you have to be of a certain height. A bro. gets appointed ONLY if the ELDERS say he’s qualified…and they will push that appointment even if the KNOW he’s not qualified. It depends on if the “like” him or not. Nothing but hypocrisy and lies.

  • June 30, 2015 at 4:51 pm
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    Your experience is only representative of human nature. It’s not a reflection of any JW’s unique problem. There are no explicit rules that say elder’s children get special treatment. Nepotism in a hierarchical group is a characteristic of any organization. Your story is a waste of time if you are trying to put bad light on JW’s. Your story is an example of human nature and can apply to any organization in the world, religious or business org.

    • June 30, 2015 at 5:37 pm
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      @Felipe, All of the stories that are being told about the JW organization here are true. What it shows is that yes, it’s typical of human organizations run by humans, not God. What you say is true. It’s typical and it causes anguish and pain to the ones who are guilted into supporting those organizations.

      All of Jehovah’s Witnesses are guilted into going to the meetings and service and having to endure being hurt personally over and over again because we were always told it was a command to go to the meetings and service but none of that is actually in the Bible.

      People don’t even have to get baptized to be a follower of Jesus Christ. All they have to do is accept Jesus as their savior. Nobody needs any organization or church. It’s all made up rules by a man-made religion that it’s only purpose in life is to guilt people into serving it so that they can build more and more Kingdom Halls that they will in the end own.

      Witnesses are guilted into putting money into the contribution boxes to pay off loans that they already paid off for their own Kingdom Halls and in the end they don’t even own their own Kingdom Hall. That is what the Organization is all about.

      Read the Bible without Watchtower “study aids” and you will see that you are being misled for their own greed and nothing else.

      You are forced to stay in that religion or else be shunned and you are guilted into believing that if you don’t support that organization, that all the people on earth that you didn’t personally convert will be killed at Armageddon.

      It’s the oldest trick in the book and you fell for it, just like all the rest of us did. Get out of it now while you still have some of your life left to live.

      • July 1, 2015 at 7:07 am
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        Anonymous you missed my point. I have studied JW religion in depth for more than three years. There’s little that any one can teach me about the subject. My comment was a criticism of the central point of the story: preferential treatment. That is not exclusive to JW’s or any particular group. It is in our human nature to give preference to those closest to us. The story does not bring light into JW’s peculiarities. It talks about the obvious, which we find in any hierarchical organization.

        • July 1, 2015 at 7:25 am
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          Oh, by the way. I turned atheist when I was 13. I haven’t changed my main position about God and religion since (I am 50 now). No need to tell me to get out of such a detestable organization as that of the JW’s.

          • July 1, 2015 at 8:17 am
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            @Felipe, I am glad you are not involved with the JW religion and never did get really involved. It sounds like you studied the religion in depth? That makes all the difference in the world for somebody who wasn’t affected by the favoritism and somebody who actually grew up in the religion. Looking at the outside looking in like what you are doing, you can’t know how much that affects one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who has grown up in the religion so maybe to you it’s a little thing but I can guarantee you that for those deeply affected by it who did grow up in that controlling atmosphere, it is not a little thing.

            It affects their entire childhood and even into your adult life and it can ruin their entire life from childhood till death sometimes, even causing suicides for those who can’t endure the pain of it.

            Just studying it, makes you an outsider and not really having the insight of those who actually grew up in it so your opinion about how important the story is, doesn’t really mean that much. I don’t mean to be cruel about what I am saying to you, but you were kind of cruel in saying that the story wasn’t important too, so take that into account.

    • June 30, 2015 at 8:26 pm
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      Not a reflection of any JW’s unique problems?!? That type of thinking has got red flags flying all over it, and I understand it is because you have been taught to think that way. It is stated quite clearly at Ezekiel 34:16 that “the fat one and the strong one I will annihilate. I will feed that one with judgement.” In contrast, it says “the injured I will bandage, and the weak I will strengthen”. What’s the point? If what is being said here is not unique to problems among JWs, then tell me why Jehovah himself says that he will judge “between one sheep and another”?–Ezekiel 34:17. That is because these fat/strong sheep will often tread upon, look down upon, despise, the weaker/insignificant sheep. It’s just like if one of the weaker sheep we’re drinking out of a water hole, and the stronger one pushes him aside saying “get out of the way” and begins to selfishly drink to his hearts content. He only cares about himself. Those words applied to Jehovah’s OWN PEOPLE and not attributed to any merely human nature. That same chapter of Ezekiel also says that Jehovah himself is AGAINST THE SHEPHERDS and that he will demand an accounting from them. Why? For the very exact things that you say are attributed to human nature v.s. problems among JWs.
      It’s apparent to see that you haven’t done your research and that you’re living in denial, which is a direct product of how you have been trained to think. You can be sure of one thing….just like the new online Oct.2015 study edition of the WT on jw.org says, I’m not naive enough to believe everything I’m told; only not in the way that will be molded/trained to think.

      • July 1, 2015 at 7:15 am
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        Spare me the Bible and the Watchtower. At this point I have read more from that book and the magazines than most JW’s. My point is not that there’s something very, very wrong with the Watchtower. I, just as much as many do here, want that organization brought to pieces. My issue is how you go about destroying it. The central point of the story is rather trivial because talks about issues that are common to any hierarchical organization, namely nepotism or preferential treatment. I have read many, many personal JW’s stories, most are heart wrenching, others are trivial or one sided. I feel this belongs to the latter category.

  • June 30, 2015 at 5:38 pm
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    @Felipe

    As the Bible says, God is impartial. Nepotism has no place among God’s people. JWs claim to have “the truth,” to be God’s chosen people.

    Well are they, or not? Their hypocrisy and lies indicate NOT.

    People need to know that JWs are NOT as sweet as they pretend when preaching from house to house. They are beguiling, and ensnare many people.

    Let reality prevail.

    • July 1, 2015 at 7:18 am
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      I won’t repeat my comments. Read them closely above.

      • July 1, 2015 at 2:01 pm
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        Felipe,

        The point of the story is not from an organisational perspective, it’s from a human perspective.

        This is a religion that tries to control over 8 million lives in every way. They are a little nation of their own with their own Government & their own set of rules that they believe are above the World’s Governments.

        They are the biggest braggers with their propaganda. They pit family against family though their hierarchal chain of command.

        When you constantly brag that you are:

        The happiest people in the world.
        The most honest.
        The only true religion that is God’s mouthpiece.
        That you must obey those taking the lead or you will be disobeying God himself.
        etc,etc.

        Then you will be held to those words & if those words don’t stand, the followers who invested their lives, their emotions & their families are devastated when they realise it’s all been for nothing. If they walk away then they lose family,friends & community.

        That’s why Anonymous is pointing out the devastating affect to those that have lived it & not just studied it from an outside perspective.

        • July 1, 2015 at 3:10 pm
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          @ Toni Kullan . Enjoyed your comment. The class distinctions are still the same ! Look at the Governing Body!!! MAINLY WHITE MEN , except for token black man !! I wouldn’t mind BUT these White men are SO THICK & LACKING REASONING SKILLS !!!

  • June 30, 2015 at 6:01 pm
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    Excellent article. Can I translate it to Spanish and use it for a new article?

  • June 30, 2015 at 7:20 pm
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    Such an interesting article, I thoroughly enjoyed it. You certainly were JW royalty… fascinating! For me personally, being an elder’s daughter gave me no advantage however. When I “sinned” at 17, they disfellowshipped me straight away, and I heard later that they decided to “make an example of me” specifically because I WAS an elder’s daughter. Go figure.

    • June 30, 2015 at 8:20 pm
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      They say a repentant attitude may avoid summary disfellowshipping. But strictness varies from one congregation to another, and among elders. And sometimes it’s more about the Father’s reputation than you.

      I was friends with an Elder and his family, who had a daughter, late teens. I invited her, along with some other friends, to a college sporting event. But her family refused permission, on the grounds that it would be a bad example to the congregation, for an elder’s daughter to attend a worldly sporting event.

      They were more concerned with the Father’s elder reputation, and what other people would think, than what their daughter needed. I knew she needed some friends in the congregation, she was not “spiritually strong.”

      Several months later, she ran away from home, and never returned. I didn’t forecast it, but I was not surprised either.

  • July 1, 2015 at 4:20 am
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    Nice beard. Yeh! Let’s leave the truth and get beards

    How about a job

    • July 1, 2015 at 4:31 am
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      Well, when Ad Hominem is the only argument you’ve got, I guess you don’t have any.

      I already have a job, but thanks anyhow.

    • July 1, 2015 at 3:33 pm
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      Grace Slick in “Somebody To Love”

      “When the truth is found to be lies
      And all the joy within you dies”

      powerfully describes WT.

      Since WT is not “the truth,” leaving WT is not a defection from truth. People who think WT is “the truth” are hypnotized, worshipping an idol.

    • July 2, 2015 at 1:31 am
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      Oochi? Is there any scripture even indicating that
      a man ( or Women …LOL ) should NOT wear a beard if they desire to? Or is that “rule” just made up bc some old guys at WT headquarters years ago decided they did not like Beards for whatever reason? Kind of like an entire book of rules that they make up and enforce and try to make it sound as if there is some biblical injunction against it?

  • July 1, 2015 at 7:04 am
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    From 1973 – 2010 when I left, I saw and experienced much of the same as the article stated. For one, my mom was one of 2 whites in the congregation. The other white mom was married to an elder…. My mom had 5 children that had a black father. We were treated horribly I can honestly say for much of the duration. I was baptized with 2 of the elders sons. We all got into trouble very shortly after our baptisms. One of the boys did not have to have a committee meeting, the other did and was reproved. I was disfellowshipped! It took me almost 5 years to get back reinstated. I went back and forth forever it seemed… always at the meetings begging for my release… I could go on and on… but I won’t. Just very grateful that my eyes were opened to this messy religion and I left for good!

  • July 1, 2015 at 9:39 am
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    Felipe said

    “The central point of the story is rather trivial because talks about issues that are common to any hierarchical organization, namely nepotism or preferential treatment.”

    “I have studied JW religion in depth for more than three years. There’s little that any one can teach me about the subject.”

    @Felipe

    Three years study from the outside looking in, is the limit of your understanding. But with three decades experience on the inside, I actually know what I’m talking about.

    I don’t need to reread your remarks. Your point is wrong; the story is not trivial.

    My point went right over your head. Not surprising though, since as you say, you’re not teachable.

  • July 1, 2015 at 10:14 am
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    As a woman in that organization you certainly feel and live the difference. I was a special pioneer in a little town in Puerto Rico and I had to cover my head to conduct the meetings and they still do that. But the worse experience I lived was right at the headquarters of Brooklyn Bethel. My husband Nestor and I were assigned as missionaries in Spain (1967-1977) and then the Society assigned my husband to Brooklyn Bethel as a translator (English-Spanish). Here is where our eyes were opened to the great division of class, color, race etc. The young black and hispanic boys were usually assigned menial jobs like cleaning rest rooms, laundry, kitchen. The writing and service departments were all white Americans. But some of these Hispanic boys whom we knew from Puerto Rico would come and speak with my husband, they needed help trying to understand how underpriveleged they were and serving the same God in the same place. It was very sad. Many young black boys committed suicide because they could not come to terms to telling their friends and family what was going on and these suicides were hushed. Later on we learned of the many pedophilia going on from the very elite white males to the young ones coming into Bethel. So this is not new and this organization is so hypocritical about their conduct it’s hard to believe. But they preach one thing and do the other. There are some good people in the organization but then there are lots of great atheist too!

    • July 1, 2015 at 10:45 am
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      It’s funny I always wanted to be a special Pioneer. The C.O recommend me and mj pioneer partner to serve in a isolated island in the pacific. I was the newly appointed MS and already beem serving as a RP for 5 years. That assignment is where I saw the hypocrisy and harsh class distinctions I have seen from these missionaries and a sister from the translation office. Missionary brother really displayed an alpha Male attitude. I did public talks every Month learning the Local language and teaching in that Language. Stayed only a year couldn’t take it anymore so much negative happen. Now I’m 23 and I really just want to move on but it’s sad. We feel torned after giving so much of ourselves and realizing the type of crap that exist within this organization. My mom couldn’t take it anymore she decided to DA herself Elder really made her feel uncomfortable. I hope things get revealed soon or else more people’s lives are gonna get ruined..

    • July 1, 2015 at 2:17 pm
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      @Toni,

      I feel so sad for those that have suffered. I hope that this organisation will get some light shone on it’s darkness & be called to account for it.

      I’m so glad that you brought this experience out. Witnesses live in such a bubble that they think that it is all so squeaky clean at Bethel.

  • July 1, 2015 at 2:20 pm
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    I didn’t grow up a Witness but went to live with my Witness cousins and their Witness mother when I graduated from high school and living with them, they invited me to meetings with them and service and within a year, I thought it was the “truth” and got baptized. To this day fifty years later, my cousins act like they are “above” me because they think they “brought” me into the “truth” and so I think that is why it is embarrassing to them that I stopped going.

    I was never treated the same as the “born ins”. There were a bunch of girls who were my age and to this day when I would see them at assemblies were always really nice to me and I was very fond of them. I don’t believe they love bombed me but were genuinely nice people and still are to this day.

    But I was treated very differently at that young age because they didn’t trust me as being spiritual enough like the born ins when it came to finding a boy friend in the “truth”. I knew that I wasn’t to marry out of the “truth” but the boys didn’t trust me since I wasn’t a born-in and I felt it very strongly.

    I ended up marrying a “born-in” and he turned out to be not what I had expected at all but right up until his mother died in 1988, she had always felt that when he didn’t go to meetings etc. that it had to be my fault even though I went years by myself and took the kids without him. She always felt like I wasn’t “spiritual” enough and that is why he had all his problems and it just had to be my fault since he came from such a “good” family and all and I came into the “truth” at eighteen.

    Then being a woman and him being a man, I always felt that I didn’t matter when I was around him. Nobody really wanted to hear anything coming out of my mouth and all ears were always turned to what he had to say. When I went anywhere with him in service or meetings, I was a nothing and people only hung on every word coming out of his mouth.

    It was that way right up until I stopped going to meetings last year. I could raise my hand at the Watchtower ten times and might get called on once, but if he raised his hand, he’d get called on every time. If a pioneer or an elder’s wife raised their hand, they’d get called on and if a brother raised his hand, he’d get called on and if a two year old would raise their hand, they’d get called on, but I’d have to raise my hand ten times to get called on.

    All the years I was in the Org. I felt discriminated against and made to feel like I didn’t matter even though in my heart I felt like I did matter. Every meeting made me so depressed that it would take me three days to recover from the last meeting and then the next meeting would start it all over again. Every meeting made me want to stuff my face with comfort food when I got home.

    They have a way of putting us all in our place unless you are an elder’s wife or an elder’s kid or a pioneer. It’s all calculated to make us want to “fit” in and in order to fit in, we have to sell the Watchtower full-time and if we can’t afford to do it or don’t have the time, we are made to feel like we don’t count for anything. I think that is why so many people pioneer is so they feel like a somebody in life since we can’t be a somebody any other place except in the Organization.

    I got tricked into the “truth” to serve God but what it turned out to be was to serve the Organization that it’s only goal is to acquire more and more property in the guise of saving the world from Armageddon and guilting me into paying more and more money towards the building of more and more Kingdom Halls in poor countries when in reality, the money is going to building more and bigger Kingdom Halls in the U.S. and more and bigger branch offices and cult compounds.

    • July 1, 2015 at 2:53 pm
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      @Anonymous. I wholeheartedly agree with your comments, especially with the bit about pioneering for sisters as there are few other avenues to excel. Many sisters outshine brothers on an intellectual basis & grasp the deep points of scripture better, but if an Elder or pioneer or ministerial servant hand goes up there is definitely a PECKING ORDER of Importance & IF a Circuit Overseer puts his hand up he will ALWAYS be given priority . What did the book of James say about class distinctions & favouritism !!'(James ch.2v1-4)

  • July 1, 2015 at 4:24 pm
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    All true stories!! I grew up as a fatherless daughter of a widow..you we were labled…. and one night as a teenager 3 elders sons made a late night visit to my neighbors who were worldy . they had a huge pool… I could here what was going on from my window….several weeks later these boys were basically slapped on the wrist for have sex in a pool with wordly girls,,,, they were publically reproved…. NOT disfellowshipped……but yet through all this the nosey elders asked so many questions about me.. My mother assumed I was bad…????? I got so sick of it ,I left home at 17…..The constant harassment from the elders was horrible….I came back as a married adult to a worldy man… me still not baptized sat alone and never had real friends… so I got baptized in 1991, then when my husband took his life in 2001, where were the elders??? not comforting me…they actually disfellowshipped me for asking my worldly cousin who was a minister for biblical comfort……. GOODBYE to my family… I am treated to this day as “dead”…. this is a mean cult….get out of her my people!!!!!

  • July 1, 2015 at 9:26 pm
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    I agree with Felipe’s sentiment and with the former elders who posted above, and to a lesser degree with Mr. Anouk. I’m not sure anyone is “right” about this topic. It’s just not a cut and dry class distinction. Families and congregations differ in their treatment of children and teenagers, allowing varying degrees of trust and freedom, elder’s kids or not. I have been in many different congregations and I found it interesting that although we were all studying the same exact copy, the “spirit” of the congregations could be very different–in large part steered by the temperament and opinions of the presiding overseer (now called coordinator I think?). Some were very friendly, others very cliquish, some seemed too strict, others seemed to look the other way when the kids were misbehaving. In my experience as an elder’s son and from observing my friends whose fathers were elders, we were held to a higher standard in the hall in which I was raised. I always felt like I had to set the example for the other kids in the congregation who were in families that were thought to be spiritually “weaker.” However, if your father is an elder you’re going to be better represented, in whatever situation. Kind of like the wealthy having a lawyer on retainer. Can’t afford a lawyer? You’re out of luck. But I wouldn’t call it a class distinction. More like a fact of life, as Felipe stated.

    • July 1, 2015 at 10:52 pm
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      You miss the point of James chapter 2.

      Class distinction may be “a fact of life” outside the congregation, but James said it showed a lack of faith in Christ (New Living Translation).

      JWs call themselves “Christians,” but their works, not so much.

    • July 2, 2015 at 3:15 am
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      @Finn, when you say as a son of an an elder you needed to set the example for kids from spiritually “weaker” families, you were setting class distinctions yourself and you thought of yourself as a higher class of person. You were labeling other people in your congregation as “lower” spiritually than yourself and your family. You are making Misha’s point without even realizing it. How do you know that those kids in those “weaker” families weren’t just as spiritual and maybe even more “spiritual” than you were? You just assumed they were weaker and you had to set the “good” example.

      • July 2, 2015 at 7:34 am
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        @Simon, I think you are missing the point of human nature in general. I’m not sure what your beliefs are but if you want to make the point that true Christians don’t deviate from Christ’s teachings, then I must conclude there are no true Christians.

        @anonymous: To my chagrin, I once again find myself defending the WTS. I disagree with you. IMO, they assign different leaderships roles with various “privileges” but with the exception of the most egregious (men vs. women) the organization does not make class distinctions in the sense that I think you and Mr. Anouk mean. There is no WTS sanctioned aristocracy, it is simply a product of biology–our inherent desire to get a leg up on one another.

        With regard to my errant viewpoint as a child such as “I’m an elder’s son so I am somehow different” comes from the bottom up, not from the top down. It was the result of my weakness, it was not taught to me. I agree with Felipe, to me this is really a non-issue, especially in light of all the other terrible things that go on, not the least of which is the incredible treatment of women as lesser beings.

        • July 2, 2015 at 10:09 am
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          People of the same kind naturally flock together. And the hypocrites leading the WT draw after them many followers of the same kind.

          Some people recognize the class distinction hypocrisy and get out. They were not hypocrites like the rest, they were merely deceived for a time.

          It may be a non issue to you, but you’re wrong, as proven by the many personal testimonies posted here.

          • July 2, 2015 at 1:58 pm
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            We’re essentially arguing about an intangible feeling, so there’s probably no right or wrong, only opinions. That it matters to others doesn’t make me wrong. There are others on here, judging by personal testimonies that disagree with you as well.

        • July 2, 2015 at 12:38 pm
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          @Finn, have you ever been able to call somebody on the Governing Body? Are any of the publishers ever invited to visit another country like what they broadcast on jwbroadcasting like when that high-ranking jw went to Mosambique?

          Do you ever see any of the Governing Body go in service and conduct Bible studies with plain and ordinary people? What kind of digs do the Governing Body live in? Do they get special treatment or not? Do they have regular jobs or not? Do they require obedience from the rank and file or not?

          According to the January 15, 2010 Watchtower page 31, paragraph 14, the anointed “continue to act as “ambassadors substituting for Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:20).”
          It is interesting that the only Bible that uses the word “substituting” in that scripture is the New World Translation. All other Bibles just say that Christ’s brothers are ambassadors working on behalf of Christ. So, since the Governing Body say that they are the Faithful and Discreet slave “substituting” for Christ, they are telling all of us that we need to be obedient to them because Christ needs a substitute which is them. Just as Winston says in his latest Watchtower Examination video, since when does Christ Jesus needs a substitute for himself if he is available at any time, day or night?

          As we learned from the July 2013 study Watchtower, the Governing Body say that they are now the slave providing the food but do they act like a slave or do they act like the ones that we have to be obedient to? We wouldn’t have to be obedient to a slave but the slave has to be obedient to the master. The Governing Body do not act as slaves but as slave masters that is why the rank and file have to be obedient to them. That is class distinctions, no matter how you like to cut the cheese.

          What the Watchtower puts down in print is only to trick unsuspecting and naive’ people into thinking that when they become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses that they will be treated equally but that is not the way the organization works.

          Yes, there are plenty of people who don’t subscribe to that mentality but actually do treat everyone as equals but the Watchtower is made up of classes, from lowly publishers, up the the Governing Body. We were all deceived into thinking we were equal but that was just a trick to get us dunked.

          None of us need that kind of treatment and none of us need to be involved in religion to be a Christian. If we don’t belong to an organization like that, we don’t have to be mistreated by imperfect people like that either.

          It is not a non issue, this article of class distinction. If I had belonged to a religion that treated me as an equal with a sister who was a millionaire or a pioneer or an elder’s wife, then I’d say maybe I would not have felt so depressed from every meeting I went to. I would have felt I really belonged to a humble Christlike organization but that isn’t the Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Everyone in the Organization is judged, from the hours you put in service, to the car you drive to the house you live in to the clothes you wear and how fat or think you are and how much money you have and as long as your dad is an elder and your husband is an elder and you live in a nice house and you drive a nice car and have lots of money for nice clothes and can pioneer, you will be looked at with respect and admired and you will never know what it’s really like until your husband quits being an elder and you lose your standing and you lose your job and you lose your house and your car breaks down and you get sick and can’t afford to go to the hospital. You will always live your life thinking this religion doesn’t have class distinctions. Rich people never appreciate what poor people go through. They always think the poor person is just lazy.

          The JW religion is a hierarchy just the same as the Catholic Church which the Society always condemned as Babylon the Great. I didn’t need to join this religion to be put down my entire life but that is what happened.

          Anytime we can warn unsuspecting people who might come onto this website to warn them about the Society before they begin to study with JW,s , I feel is a good article and worth telling about.

          • July 2, 2015 at 1:52 pm
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            @anonymous:

            @Finn, have you ever been able to call somebody on the Governing Body?

            When I was at Bethel I ate breakfast with Bro. Heard of the GB every morning. He was my “table foot.”

            As to the rest of your questions: Mr. Anouk’s article wasn’t about a class distinction between GB and the rest of us, it was about elder’s kids and non-elder’s kids. I don’t agree that such a class distinction exists. There are other class distinctions however, as you mention, but I’m not arguing those points.

          • July 2, 2015 at 3:23 pm
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            @Finn

            Misha can accurately tell his own story, because he has personal knowledge of the facts. That’s what “truth” is.

            But his personal story does not limit the issue to one specific class distinction, elders’ kids vs. others. Perhaps you object because it points a finger at you.

            You sound proud of sitting at the same table with a GB member. Pride and class distinction often go together.

            WT can’t fix a problem while they deny it exists. They are blind to it, as are you.

          • July 2, 2015 at 3:34 pm
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            @Finn, just because you ate with Sam Herd, can you call him up and talk to him now? We had Stephen Lett as our Circuit Overseer too and I worked in service with a lot of Circuit Overseers, but I have written to him specifically with questions and never received an answer from him. What those people were when they were C.O.’s are not what they are now. Now they are “special” and unreachable.

            If you can call Sam Herd and talk to him on the phone, I would be real curious how you did it. Are you that chummy with him now? I’d give anything to be in that position and I’d have lots of questions for him to answer but they don’t chum with us “little people” do they?

            I think the subject for this article was a good way to start a conversation. It didn’t have to be so specific about being an elder’s kid or not. It was just to start a conversation about class distinctions.

          • July 2, 2015 at 3:59 pm
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            @Simon

            What about my statement seemed “proud?” It was a statement of fact, there was no implication.

            I’m not blind, or I wouldn’t visit this site with regularity. Perhaps you’re projecting? I’m not interested in discussing this particular issue with you any further.

            @anonymous

            Mr. Anouk’s article was about a specific type of class distinction (elder’s kids). I don’t deny one exists between the minions and the GB. I was trying to stay on topic.

          • July 2, 2015 at 4:44 pm
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            @Finn

            Anonymous asked if you could call the GB. But you deflected her question with an unrelated “fact” which you claim had “no implication.”

            Your words are as slippery as WT deception and propaganda. Thank you for declining further discussion.

          • July 2, 2015 at 5:02 pm
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            @Finn, I might be wrong, but aren’t elder’s kids kind of forced to get baptized at an early age so the dad doesn’t kicked off of being an elder? That seems to be a lot of pressure on the father and kid to go in service and answer at meetings and attend all meetings and get baptized. If your dad isn’t an elder, you wouldn’t have the pressure that an elder’s kid would have. If that kid wants to do his own “thing”, he’d have to lead a double life. Other kids might be considered less than the greatest association, but at least they also don’t have the pressure and I think less inclined to lead a double life.

            I can only think of about 3 or 4 kids out of about 30, in the last 35 years or so in my old congregation that actually stayed in the “truth”. I get a kick out of the kids who don’t want anything to do with the “truth” and their elder parent dads even give talks at district assemblies but their own kids don’t want anything to do with it once they grow up. That is such a embarrassment on the elder dads but if the Society didn’t put so much pressure on those dads to get their kids dunked, maybe those kids might not have rebelled either.

            You might not think this is an important subject to talk about but I think it’s really important since most kids raised in the “truth” don’t want anything to do with it once they grow up and their lives are ruined because of it.

            The subject of class distinctions for both children and adults in the “truth” is very complicated and causes untold pain for those who are considered “weak” as persons who are not good enough to be associated with, especially when they aren’t allowed to associate with anybody who is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

          • July 2, 2015 at 5:23 pm
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            @Simon: Go bother somebody else.

            @anonymous: I don’t remember feeling forced to get baptized. Like most I suspect, I did many things for my parent’s approval. But I think you are right about pressure placed on elders to have exemplary kids. Elders can be deleted if something in their household isn’t up to snuff.

            It may lead to a longer leash (to avoid embarrassing discipline) to which Mr. Anouk refers or it can go the other way and mean a tighter ship. Both situations can result in “double lives.” Look, I’m not on the WTS side, but I don’t always agree with everyone on this forum, don’t take it personally. Unlike Simon I don’t think I can go around saying “you’re wrong” but I reserve the right to disagree and take what I hope to be a balanced opinion. In any case we both agree that WTS policies can severely damage youths in many ways.

          • July 2, 2015 at 6:23 pm
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            @Finn, I have another question for you. You said that when you were in Bethel you ate ate at the same table as Sam Herd but did you read Toni Kuilan’s comment earlier? Did Sam Herd ever serve the food to the ones that did the serving to him? That would have been following what Jesus was talking about when it came to the illustration about the washing of each others’ feet. When I see the Governing Body doing the work in feeding and serving and washing the dishes for the poor Hispanic boys like the poor Hispanic boys and girls do for them, then I’d say you might have a point.

  • July 2, 2015 at 4:57 am
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    I am from a very large extended very well regarded spiritual family. I grew up on one side of the class distinction with my highly regarded family & extended family. As I became an adult, married young and slowly became weaker “in the truth” I saw first hand how the class distinction works in its passive aggressive way. Less and less people talk to you, less invites to social and congregation gatherings.
    I found myself thinking that you really are in no mans land being treated like that, you feel awkward with “worldly” people but none of your “brothers & sisters” really have anything to do with you too.
    The last straw for me was when we went to a meeting and we were talking to an elders 10 year old son, the elder came up, did not look at us, looked directly at his son and said “Dont talk to them, I want you to talk to more spiritual ones” and walked off. How Christian!

    • July 2, 2015 at 9:17 am
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      Class distinctions can take many forms . For instance rich & poor ; Educated & uneducated ; Elders families & ordinary publishers families; married & unmarried; single sisters & courting sisters; Europeans & non Europeans; Bethelites, Missionaries, Circuit servants , Elders, Ministerial servants versus publishers; Men & Women; Divorced, Stepfamilies & Married Couples; Those with Children & those Without. Baptised Teenagers& Unbaptised Teenagers! DisfellowshPPED, Reproved& Loyal ones ; Pioneers& Publishers!! Etc There is a CONSTANT SEGREGATION within the CONGREGATION because of UNSCRIPTURAL NAMES : Special Pioneer!!! WHY SPECIAL??? The Reward is the Same if you are a Publisher… Eternal Life ! Why REGULAR Pioneer ??? Why Auxiliary Pioneer??? Why Publisher???? Why Circuit Overseer ??? Why Bethelites ??? WHY , WHY , WHY this OBSESSION with TITLES?????
      WHERE in the New Testament are these TITLES!!! These are MAN MADE & ARE WRONG !! These cause CLASS DIVISIONS in the Congregation ! SEVEN STUPID MEN IN BROOKLYN !!!This is NOT GODS Organisation!!

  • July 2, 2015 at 10:00 am
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    Class distinction???? OH YES. Take a look at the 2 famous tennis players. While I understand that they are not baptised, no comment is made from the Borg that they are not “real” Jehovah’s witnesses. Those who do not know this, assume that they are fully fledged JW’s. What they do not know is that if they were, they would have been counselled not to engage in worldy sports as other non famous JW’ are.

    Another CLASS distinction is the hypocrisy of shunning. Mrs Jackson [the mother of the Jackson 5 et al] regularly saw Michael even though he was disassociated and probably still sees her other children even though the majority of them have left the Borg.

    It would not be good PA if the media found out that she was not allowed to see her children. So the deception continues.

  • July 2, 2015 at 11:18 am
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    I agree the problems found in the JW’s with class distinction, hypocrisy and double standards to name a few are found everywhere. The difference is the JW’s deny that it exists. One of the basic tenets of the religion to draw in unsuspecting people is that everyone is equal. It is just another one of their bait and switch tactics which makes it so heinous.

    Since they deny it exists, sadly nothing can be done to address and resolve the issue. After all it is a “perfect” organization. I can only imagine what paradise would be like with it’s very own caste system. I think I would probably be one of the “untouchables” assigned to the sanitation department to clean up the dead bodies while others are frolicking with those vegetarian lions!!

    • July 2, 2015 at 5:16 pm
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      Hey, burying all of those dead bodies is a privilege!
      Now don’t bother us, the Pandas are coming out.

      • July 3, 2015 at 11:07 pm
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        Haha, I wish these posts had a “like” option.

  • July 2, 2015 at 1:04 pm
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    They say WT is God’s organization, run by imperfect people. That makes it easy to dismiss failures, and avoid solving real problems.

    WT writers, and JWs who imitate them, overuse, and misuse the word “perfection.” They say “we will be perfect in paradise, at the end of the 1,000 year kingdom of Jesus.”

    A brother once said that to me, when arguing against higher education. He thought there will be no need for doctors and their required medical training, because we will all be “perfect.”

    I would enjoy having health so perfect that I never grow old and die. But still, I would call that flawless health, not perfect.

    Flawless is more accurate, in the sense that it means freedom from defect. Perfection, on the other hand, generally denotes an abstract ideal unattainable in reality.

    For instance, even with “perfect” health and reflexes in paradise, does that mean no one will ever be thrown from a horse and break an arm? Or perhaps we can suddenly sprout wings and float gently to the ground like a butterfly? I expect doctors and essential medical training will still be needed, even in paradise.

    And what does human “perfection” in paradise actually mean? No one will ever be disappointed by a broken romance? Every man and woman will have a mate that makes them perfectly happy?

    I expect disappointment and compromise will remain part of the human experience. Even with flawless health, in paradise.

  • July 2, 2015 at 3:23 pm
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    As several of our fellow posters, have been hurt in some way
    by an unjust class system. It’s obvious that there’s an element
    of it existing in the WT, org. So Misha’s article is worthwhile
    in exposing this, especially as they claim to be the one spiritual
    oasis in an otherwise evil world.

    Finn Sawyer, believes it’s not a “Cut and dried issue”. And from
    my own personal experience I lean toward that view also.
    While serving as elder my two children were sometimes the subject
    of needless complaints. From people who had gone to other elders
    before giving me and my family the chance to work things out.
    This eventually caused a rift resulting in my son leaving home.
    It took nearly a year to get the family back together again.

    The glaring class distinction, is between the seven big brothers.
    and everybody else. The totalitarian autocracy, to whom everyone
    else must render unquestioning obedience.

    • July 2, 2015 at 5:22 pm
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      I wonder if all 7 of the GB get along or if there are 2 or 3 that make all the decisions and run-the-show?
      I also wonder how they decide to include anyone into their small clique? What if this new guy became another honest man like Ray Franz, and spilled the beans? How do they guard against that happening.
      Do you think there is a group above of the GB? Like a Shadow GB???

    • July 2, 2015 at 5:33 pm
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      I would love to be a fly on the wall in their boardroom. It’s why COC was so interesting. Too bad we can’t FOIA those minutes.

      What kind of power struggles exist there? Someone must be the leader. In any group, leadership usually gravitates to the most outspoken, would that be AM3 in this case? Could he be the secret leader of the GB? Yikes.

      • July 2, 2015 at 9:35 pm
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        I bet they don’t even bother to start the meetings with prayer. lol. sorta.

  • July 2, 2015 at 4:05 pm
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    This was a great article, thank you for sharing. It hits home with a lot of people. I was for one, completely on the outside looking in. My congregation was extremely bizarre, and the kids that got praised from up on the platform, and would get chosen to work with the elders conducting the meeting for field service, were all blatantly living double lives. And kids even went to the elders making up stories about me that weren’t even true, to try to get me in trouble. I recall a circuit overseers wife making tapes of her singing bible songs that she wrote, using the names of these specific kids, handing them out during one of their visits, and leaving all of us nobodies out. It did not feel good.

    But it was almost a joke. These people were so clueless to me, and so dumb! And I stayed in the “truth” until I was 34, but the whole time, I never pioneered or raised my hand much, so I always stayed a nobody. But when I would visit other congregations and people would hear my last name, they assumed I was somehow close to my aunt and uncle that were JW royalty, and they would immediately start name-dropping other really “special” people that I must know. My aunt and uncle also treated me like I didn’t exist. I always just thought it was because JW’s were so weird, because it actually didn’t happen in any other worldly area in my life. I was pretty “normal”, not some strange robot type thing without a personality, so I made other friends easily. And then when I was waking up, for the longest time, I had doubts that I was doing the right thing by walking away, and every time the subject came up with my Dad, I would tell him all the things I knew, then he would say “Yeah, this is run by imperfect people, I don’t care about that, but what I know is, (and then he would open up the bible) By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love amongst yourselves”. The favoritism, class distinction, and special treatment only solidified in my mind, that this is definitely not the one true religion, and these were not Jesus disciples. And before I left, when someone in my very own class of low level witnesses left, absolutely nobody cared, they expected it. But if an elders kid fell away, it was devastating to the congregation. Satan worked so hard to get that person. He tries to get the strongest ones.

    It’s no wonder I was “clinically depressed” as a JW, and now, I don’t think I’ve felt depressed for one second since I woke up. I’m cured! But I also don’t belong to any organized religion, so there’s that too.

    • July 2, 2015 at 4:23 pm
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      “But if an elders kid fell away, it was devastating to the congregation. Satan worked so hard to get that person. He tries to get the strongest ones.”

      Why would Satan go after a spiritual weakling when he has a crack at the big game—an elder’s son! Challenge accepted!

      • July 2, 2015 at 4:56 pm
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        Melka’s remark sounded like sarcasm to me. Did you take it as fact? If not, what was the point of replying to it as you did?

        Are you a rabble rouser?

        • July 2, 2015 at 5:04 pm
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          My comment was sarcasm as well. Over your head, like so many other points.

          • July 2, 2015 at 5:17 pm
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            Not much difference between a rabble rouser and a troll.

      • July 2, 2015 at 5:10 pm
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        @Finn, I also don’t get your comment. What are you trying to say in reply to Melka’s comment? I think most of us got the sarcasm.

        • July 2, 2015 at 5:28 pm
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          @Simon: Feel free to get lost.

          To all others: it was my attempt (albeit failed)at sarcasm/humor. My apologies to the fine critics on this forum.

          • July 2, 2015 at 6:06 pm
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            I got the sarcasm! It’s all good! It’s hard to portray sarcasm in type anyway. One elders son moved in with a worldly girl, and a group of women including the boys mom were standing in the bathroom at an assembly crying about it, talking about Satan and I think I laughed out loud or snorted. I meant that as truth and also sarcastic because it was so ridiculous. I didn’t really know them, but I wanted to say “Satan is happy you’re missing the session to talk in the bathroom”. That particular rule didn’t apply to them apparently. I know I went off topic , I have so many things to say about this subject.

  • July 2, 2015 at 5:32 pm
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    It’s true. I was probly the only kid in JW history to have his baptism revoked rather than getting DF’ed. My Dad was an elder and a family friend and elder had connections at bethel. He called bethel and I got a slap on the wrist and baptism revoked. Granted I had done wrong just weeks before my baptism. But it helped knowing someone. Thankfully it was not some back woods elders. I’d be DF’ed to this day. Lucky me.

    • July 2, 2015 at 5:40 pm
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      Interesting! I’ve never heard of that.

  • July 2, 2015 at 8:54 pm
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    Bah I don’t see class distinctions as much of a topic. Every organization, company, group that grows and continues eventually naturally forms distinct levels. Levels of success that depend upon a persons dedication and loyalty to the cause/ company. Generally speaking in jw land if you keep your mouth and brain shut you will fair well and go far. Sure having a “spiritual inheritance” might get you a few perks or unfortunate expectations places upon you but everyone knows countless examples of ppl that make it to the top that were from the “world.” I see the jws generally operating as an equal opportunity organization. I had friends from all different “spiritual” backgrounds getting the sword and not getting. One friend would get reproved over and over but never dfd and her dad wasn’t elder. I didn’t see much favoritism going on in my hall. But sure I heard of it from others. I don’t find the topic a strong arguing point to present to current jws.

    • July 3, 2015 at 3:13 am
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      @Vivian, I don’t see the subject anything to “argue” about either but I think it’s an interesting topic to talk about to those not in the Org so that if they are ever going to get involved, they know what to expect in this religion ahead of time and if they are in the Org and they are feeling depressed over how they are being treated, it can give them consolation.

      Sure, as long as you toe the line, you will probably keep under the radar, but if you don’t pioneer or spend a lot of time in service and if you dress nicely and if you drive a nice car and have a nice house, you will get called on at the meetings and if you are a man and you go to all the meetings and answer at the meetings and give good talks on the school and your kids get baptized at an early age and on and on, you might get to be an elder someday and be able to throw your weight around but if you are a woman, the most you can expect if you are a pioneer is to be used at a Circuit Assembly to give a talk to another sister. That will be your crowing achievement in life or else if you are a kid and you died refusing to take blood, after you have died, get your picture on the front of the Awake magazine. That would not be your crowning achievement but the crowning achievement of your parents who can proudly hold up the Awake to their friends for the rest of their lives, pointing to your picture on how faithful you were to death.

      I remember a sister who happened to belong to Watchtower Royalty who is a shirt-tail relative to my husband who left her husband to marry another man and she didn’t even get publicly reproved. This caused another couple (who I am shirt-tail relations to) to split because the man thought that if that other woman could get away with it, then why not do the same thing to his wife (my cousin). But the guy did get disfellowshipped but for only 3 months because it was 1975 and the elders decided that this guy was going to get killed at Armageddon if he didn’t get reinstated so they reinstated him in 3 months!!! I talked to the elders at the time about it and I brought along my Watchtower bound volume to show right from the Watchtower how they shouldn’t have done that and they shouted me down and actually threatened me with disfellowshipping if I didn’t keep quiet about it. I was not to question them. Why? Because I was only a woman. I wasn’t even allowed to read from that Watchtower because it would have been “teaching” them and I wasn’t allowed to do that.

      I have seen woman after woman raising their hands at the Watchtower meeting and not getting called on but if a man raises his hand, he will always get called on.

      You can say this is not typical of all congregations, but over the last 50 years I have seen it over and over again. The elders are told (I think at elder training schools) to call on the more “spiritually” stronger and better examples to call on and they want to encourage pioneering so that is why they call on some people and not other people.

      Once I had an answer that I wanted desperately to say at a Watchtower and I waited to raise my hand and I raised my hand over and over again during that paragraph and the one conducting the meeting refused to call on me. He even called on one person two times but didn’t call on me and went on to the next paragraph. It hurt me so bad that I picked up my books and went home, crying. I later confronted him about it and he said that it’s because so many people raise their hands that he has to make sure he gets everybody’s hand but I didn’t believe him because it’s not hard to see how they have favorites. If they won’t call on you when you raise your hand, you get the point. You aren’t as good as the pioneers or the elders’ wives or the kids or the men.

      As long as you play the part and go in service a lot and dress the part etc. and your kids are doing good and you have money, you will be respected and loved. If not, you are put in your place. That is class distinctions. No, it’s not a printed out policy, but then what organization would print out such a stupid policy? Who would join it?????

      • July 3, 2015 at 9:40 am
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        JW class distinction is condemned by James chapter 2. So as you say, they can’t preach it. And being wrong, they carefully conceal it, like teens leading double lives.

        Wanderer said:

        “The last straw for me was when we went to a meeting and we were talking to an elders 10 year old son, the elder came up, did not look at us, looked directly at his son and said “Dont talk to them, I want you to talk to more spiritual ones” and walked off”

        JW class distinction is rarely so outrageous and obvious. Most of the time it’s subtle and hidden, by whispers and innuendo. Those who say it’s not an issue are contradicting James chapter 2. They like WT more than the Bible.

  • July 3, 2015 at 3:55 am
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    How I should have said in the above comment is that as long as you toe the line you will keep under the radar and if you pioneer or at least spend a lot of time in service and dress nicely and drive a nice car and have a nice home, you will get called on at the meetings and so on you will be treated with more respect and love. Hopefully you knew what I was “trying” to say but didn’t word it right.

  • July 3, 2015 at 7:03 am
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    I think this has been a very good topic for discussion, after all, the Watchtower Society are supposed to follow the scriptures which teach that there is ‘no partiality with God’.
    Setting yourself apart as ‘God’s organisation on earth’ makes one more reprehensible than any other. The standards should ultimately be far higher.
    During my thirty years in the ‘lie,’ I and my husband found that there was a definite distinction between those who had been born in the faith and those like us who had chosen the way and come out from the world.
    We were very aware of the ‘famous names’ within congregations. How it was often extremely difficult to break in to the cliques that developed, that is of course if you wanted to.
    My husband was encouraged to ‘reach out’ and did eventually become a ministerial servant, although he was overlooked many a time before the position was finally granted to him. However, long standing Witness families definitely delighted in nepotism and ‘pyramid’ building, and the ‘privileges’ were not so difficult to attain.
    After seeing hypocrisy within the various congregations that we were assigned to over the years, my husband decided to resign his post. To turn your back on the ‘privilege’ was not a desirable thing, and our family was then considered to be not so spiritual. Our son was looked down on for going into further education. I never really felt a part of the loving brotherhood, even though I loved the field service and conducted several studies.
    When we discovered TTATT everything fell into place.
    The traits of the wicked one are to exalt himself above others, it should be no surprise that his followers do likewise!

  • July 3, 2015 at 7:51 am
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    Misha, thank you for your article. Some of the life stories are heart-breaking and such a contrast to the sanitised testimonies of practising JWs that regularly appear in the ‘Watchtower’ and ‘Awake’ magazines.

    • July 3, 2015 at 6:52 pm
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      The Bible at James Chapter 2v1-4 SPECIFICALLY CONDEMNS CLASS DISTINCTIONS which also Abhors Favourtism ! James goes on to show in Chapter 4 how it causes wars of arguments within the congregation !
      This is obviously an IMPORTANT ISSUE for JEHOVAH to highlight it in Scripture at James!
      Jesus allowed anyone to approach him & he continually discussed controversial subject after controversial subject in long discussions with the Pharisees. Where did Jesus SHUN or have A Judicial Committee of three fallible men decide in PRIVATE in a KANGAROO COURT about the fate of anyone ! The ‘ SHEPHERD the FLOCK of GOD’ book is FULL of CLASS DISTINCTIONS ! Revelation 22v18,19 proves the point . Elders who SIN know how NOT to get Disfellowshipped by not meeting with the other Elders as they can’t usually Disfellowship until they meet with the dinner.But a publisher who sins who meets with the Elders unaware of what this MOST HOLY ??BOOK contains will not get fairly treated because the Elders don’t follow scripture regarding Jesus words about the PRODIGAL SON !!

      • July 3, 2015 at 6:57 pm
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        I must apologise in my above comment I said ‘MEET with the DINNER’ & I meant SINNER !! Sorry I can’t stop Laughing as I type this !!’ The Elders might as well Meet with the Dinner & not the Sinner as you will not get any justice in that Kangaroo Court !!

  • July 3, 2015 at 7:52 pm
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    As the disfellowshipped son of an elder, I’ll have to disagree about preferential treatment. Matter of fact, I WISH I had it, so I wouldn’t be disfellowshipped.

    I grew up in a certain congregation, from ages 11-19 My parents and I attended the same one, but as a show of independence I stayed there when my stepdad was transferred to a different congregation.

    Long story short, my stepdad found out I had been smoking pot and he made me tell the elders. Unfortunately, he didn’t do me a solid and keep it in the family or anything like that I had to tell the elders and then I got Disfellowshipped without mercy.

    I’m sure favoritism happens but unfortunately I was not lucky enough to receive it. Guess that’s how it should be, but as one who doesn’t really believe in the religion anymore, I wish corruption worked in my favor so my poor mom wouldn’t feel that she’s sinning against Jehovah when she talks to me.

    • July 4, 2015 at 4:26 am
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      @Jason, I think a lot of it depends on how proud the elder is and how “spiritual” he is. If your dad is a true believer and doesn’t have the position of elder so he can lord it over others and truly believes in the “truth” and if he finds out his own child “sinning”, he will believe that God’s holy spirit is being withheld from the congregation unless the “sinner” is brought to the committee and confesses his “sin”. But if the elder is more concerned about his own embarrassment in the fact that he “failed” in raising his child, he will look the other way.

      That is my take on whether or not an elder’s child gets disfellowshipped or not because I know of plenty of elder’s kids who are disfellowshipped.

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