2023 Convention – Friday Afternoon Review

If I can describe the Friday Afternoon of the 2023 Convention in one sentence, it would be “Fleecing the Flock of God at Every Opportunity”.

Written by Lester Somrah - August 17, 2023

The Friday Afternoon of the 2023 Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses has one (1) opening lecture, two (2) symposiums and one (1) concluding lecture. For the past few years, the 1^st symposium has been about how selected bible characters displayed the convention theme in their personal lives and the 2^nd symposium has been about how nature displayed the convention theme.

"Imitate the Patience of Jesus"

This opening lecture of the Friday afternoon how Jehovah’s Witnesses can imitate the patience of Jesus Christ.

Here is a summary.

Waiting does not mean doing nothing. Instead, showing patience means doing everything we can to support Jehovah's sovereignty while waiting on Jehovah's time.
Do not take any shortcuts. To put aside Jehovah's way of doing things to get to some goal or satisfy some desire, even if that goal or that desire is not a bad thing. Trust Jehovah enough to wait on him.
We endure injustice…by imitating the patience of Jesus. We don't lie. No deception. We don't insult. We don't threaten.

It’s important to note that this opening lecture provides no previous examples or evidence of how Jehovah’s Witnesses imitated the patience of Jesus Christ in their 144 years of existing as a religion. The lecture is simply a list of religious instructions or a “to-do-list”.

There are many examples or evidence of how Jehovah’s Witnesses HAVE NOT imitated the patience of Jesus Christ throughout their history. Below are a few examples and further details can be found by using Google.

The failure and deception of 1975
Norway – Deliberately withholding information from government officials
Numerous court cases in which Jehovah’s Witnesses have attempted to mislead and deceive. Philip Brumley’s “sustained effort to deceive” is the most recent example.

"Imitate Those Who Inherit the Promises Through Patience"

This symposium discusses how Jehovah’s Witnesses can imitate the patience of Abraham and Sarah; Joseph; Job; Mordecai and Esther; Zechariah and Elizabeth; and Paul. Below is a summary of two (2) of the aforementioned bible characters I found relevant to this review.

Abraham and Sarah – “Do not up when pursuing a spiritual goal. It may require making sacrifices of things that we're attached to or enjoy, but the rewards are so worth it. Don't worry about those things that are in the rearview mirror that you gave up to do more for Jehovah. There may be times when pursuing a goal that you feel a little confused or the assignment is difficult. To be successful during that time in between requires both faith and patience. So don't give up and turn around and go home.” An interview with an ‘exemplary’ Jehovah’s Witness married couple who made enormous financial and personal sacrifices to do more to promote their religion, is included in this part.
Zechariah and Elizabeth – “Rather than urging their children to seek financial and material security in Satan's world, raise them, in the words of 1 Timothy 6:17, to place their hope not on uncertain riches but on God, encourage them to take up full-time service, and to patiently await their real life under God's kingdom.” Jehovah’s Witness parents are advised to raise up their children and indoctrinate them to become baptized members of their religion; and who are more than able, as grown adults, to promote the religious beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses as their main career.

This is the second consecutive convention in which the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses admonishes their listeners to promote the religious beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses as their main career. In this particular instance, it’s the grooming of children to “to take up full-time service, and to patiently await their real life under God's kingdom.” At the 2022 Convention, the Governing Body had a problem with a Jehovah’s Witness father who went to a neighboring country and found employment there, rather than promote his religious beliefs as a job in his home country. You can read more in my 2022 Convention – Friday Afternoon Review.

The scripture says that “out of the heart’s abundance, the mouth speaks”. The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses clearly shows what is in their hearts by their selfish and foolish advice they provide to Jehovah’s Witness parents. All this religion and their Governing Body cares about are the ability of their members to promote their religious beliefs; and the continuity, prolongation and survival of their religion. No advice is provided about career opportunities and advancement as Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that this “world is passing away” and that “their hope must not be on uncertain riches”. You can read more in my 2022 Convention – Saturday Morning Review.

If you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses reading this article, whilst nothing is wrong with making financial and personal sacrifices to promote your religion, please bear in mind that, in instances where you can no longer do “more for Jehovah” due to a number of valid reasons; or a few years later, you begin to question your religious beliefs, there is no insurance policy to re-imburse you for your sacrifices and efforts to promote your religion.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not give refunds for time and opportunities lost!!

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not give refunds for financial and personal sacrifices!!

The only refund that you get are the clothes on your back and an empty theological promise of “Jehovah’s blessings and rich rewards”.

"What Creation Can Teach Us About Jehovah’s Timing"

This symposium discusses how Jehovah’s Witnesses can imitate “Jehovah’s Timing” as shown in plants, sea creatures, birds, insects and land mammals. Below is a summary of four (4) of the aforementioned I found relevant to this review.

Plants – Plants to respond to their environment - Be active and ready.

“Jehovah designed plants to respond to their environment…..The time for waiting is past because we see every aspect of the sign being fulfilled. Wars, famine, disease, all on an unprecedented global scale. And we see people's selfish, unloving, often violent attitudes and behavior…. Now is not the time to be dormant like a tree in winter. Now is the time for us to be active and ready for this system's end.”

The Governing Body then chastises those Jehovah’s Witnesses who are not “active and ready for this system's end” with the following terse and heartless statements:

“some among God's people are getting sidetracked. This can be seen in the decisions they make about secular work, higher education, the acquisition of material possessions, as well as the amount of time spent in sports and entertainment.”

Sea Creatures - Adapt - “We are always ready to accept organizational adjustments and cooperate with direction from the governing body.”

“When the faithful slave or the governing body realizes that our understanding of certain points of truth needs to be clarified, they do not hesitate to make the needed adjustment. While many denominations of Christendom today make changes to please their church's members and get closer to the world's points of view, the changes made by Jehovah's organization are designed to draw us closer to God and to the pattern of worship established by Jesus Christ. The adjustments we make are driven not by popular demands, not by modern trends, but by the clearer understanding of the scriptures.”

Birds – "Use our time wisely. Prepare for the end of this system."

“Today, we sense that Jehovah's time for judgment on this wicked system around us is very near. Like the ancient Israelites, we need to prepare by using our time wisely while we await Jehovah's coming day; by making time every day to talk to Jehovah and to listen to Jehovah….And we listen to him by reading a portion of his word, the Bible, and then thinking deeply about what we read.

“Parents, you can work together to feed and protect your children spiritually so that they survive Jehovah's coming day. How do you strengthen them spiritually? It's by spending time with them, reading the Bible with them, studying with them, praying with them, sharing in the ministry with them.

Insects - "Be Patient, be diligent. Have a set time."

“We need to be patient and wait for the right time to give a witness. And this also includes our unbelieving family members… Now admittedly, this can be difficult. And it can be difficult because we love the truth. We love the things that we've learned. We're the best version of ourselves as a result of the truth. And we can easily see how God's Word applied in someone else's life could be the thing that they need….Although we're patient to all whom we meet in the ministry, and of course we look for opportunities to share the truth, we focus our efforts on those who are genuinely interested in becoming baptized disciples.”

This symposium is basically reminding convention attendees about the following rules of Jehovah’s Witnesses:

Blindly accept changes in Watchtower’s beliefs. "Drink the cool aid" without asking questions. Do not use critical thinking. Do not use unapproved independent sources to verify religious claims and beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Do not pursue worldly things such as overtime, career advancement, higher education, the acquisition of material possessions, sports and entertainment. The time, energy and resources spent on these pursuits can be better spent in the religious activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Pray – the end of this worldly wicked system around us is very near!!
Read the bible - the end of this worldly wicked system around us is very near!!
Attend and participate in weekly religious meetings - the end of this worldly wicked system around us is very near!! Do not be a seat warmer at the Kingdom Hall.
Jehovah’s Witness Parents – Groom your children to be productive baptized members of the Jehovah’s Witness religion - the end of this worldly wicked system around us is very near!!
Be patient with non-Jehovah’s Witness relatives who show no desire or interest in joining the Jehovah’s Witness religion.
Advice to Jehovah’s Witnesses - Do not “waste time and effort” on recruiting individuals who show evidence that they have no interest in joining the Jehovah’s Witness religion. These individuals are not “rightly-disposed for everlasting life”.

“You Know Neither the Day Nor the Hour”

In this concluding lecture of the Friday Afternoon of the 2023 Convention, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses provides advice to convention attendees on how “to remain alert and active while we await the end of the present system of things.” This advice is based on the lessons learnt from the parables of Jesus at Matthew chapters 24 and 25.

Lessons from Parable 1: Virgins awaiting the bridegroom – “We have to keep alert”.

“We show by our decisions and life course whether or not we personally are keeping on the watch…Our focus now should be getting out of the danger zone, being on Jehovah's side, so that when destruction comes, we will be among the survivors. We avoid vain works. It's like building a sandcastle where it would be washed away. We want to avoid that type of vain works. Instead of focusing or investing in this system of things, we focus and invest in Jehovah's kingdom.”

Lessons from Parable 2: Talents – “The diligent are rewarded”.

“The faithful Christian is dependable. He or she will be regular in the ministry each month, but the Christian who is good goes above and beyond just being regular in the ministry. For instance, maybe we have specific scheduled times when we go out. We're faithful every Saturday, but what happens if we're in a grocery store line and someone starts talking about World Conditions? Are we inclined to speak up? Well, the good slave would do so, wanting to share the good news with as many as possible, and Jesus, as the Master, appreciates that.” Put simply, Jehovah’s Witnesses are advised to be diligent to proselytize and recruit non-Jehovah’s Witness at every opportunity.

Lessons from Parable 3 - Separate sheep from goats - Remaining loyal and support Christ's anointed brothers.

“Obey the faithful slave and those appointed to represent that slave, including elders in the congregation…The small group of anointed ones can't possibly complete the preaching work on their own. That's where we need your support. We need your help in this preaching activity. Then there's also the constructing of kingdom halls, assembly halls, places of worship, branch facilities used in Jehovah's service, and also donating to the worldwide work.”

In the sample convention video released by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses in May 2023, an example of an individual showing ‘loyalty’ is given. Meet Laura, a six-year-old Mexican girl that has epilepsy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura received money from her family to use for school or to buy treats. When in-person religious weekly meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses resumed in April 2022, Laura donated all the accumulated funds (350 pesos) to her religion instead of keeping it for a doctor’s visit, medication or for a rainy day.

No ordinary six-year-old would give up their piggy-bank money just like that. In the case of Laura on the other hand, her actions were very and most likely the result of parental religious grooming and indoctrination. This included the influence of and being constantly exposed to, videos produced by the Governing Body such as Help Others and Be Generous – two (2) videos designed for young minds that promote this distasteful and repugnant "godly deed".

Its really sad and offensive that a religion would willingly accept a child’s ice-cream and piggy-bank money as though they are really that bankrupt and desperate. Added to that, the donor never knows exactly how his/her money is used as Jehovah’s Witnesses never produce an independent annual financial audit report.

Editor's Brief Comments

If I can describe the Friday Afternoon of the 2023 Convention in one sentence, it would be “Fleecing the Flock of God at Every Opportunity”. Most of the lectures are filled with selfish statements and sentiments that are indicative of a religious “give me, give me, give me, give me” attitude. Jehovah’s Witnesses are showing their true colors ever more. More on this in the BITE Model section below.

There is the constant, consistent absence of any “spiritual guidance” from the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses for the entire Friday Afternoon session on how convention attendees can care for their other needs (See Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) while “remaining alert and active while we await the end of the present system of things.”

The BITE Model at the 2023 Convention - Friday Afternoon Session

(See BITE Model of Authoritarian Control by Dr. Steven Hassan for a full description)

Behavior Control

“Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self-indoctrination including the Internet.” Dictate how the resources (time, energy and money) of the member is used.

In the symposium "Imitate Those Who Inherit the Promises Through Patience", a lot of emphasis is placed on making financial and personal sacrifices to make more time to engage in the rituals of Jehovah’s Witnesses, one of which is promoting their harmful religious beliefs as a full-time job. Jehovah’s Witness parents are told that they should encourage their children to choose this particular ritual as their career.
In the symposium "What Creation Can Teach Us About Jehovah’s Timing", a lot of emphasis is placed on spending major time in self-indoctrination. Convention attendees are told that their time, energy and resources spent on “non-religious” pursuits can be better spent in religious activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In the concluding lecture of the Friday Afternoon “You Know Neither the Day Nor the Hour”, a lot of emphasis is placed on “remaining alert and active……” by being thoroughly involved the rituals of Jehovah’s Witnesses, one of which is promoting their harmful religious beliefs and being alert for opportunities to do so.
In most of the lectures of the Friday Afternoon, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses promote the pre-occupation of spending lots of time on “group indoctrination and rituals and/or self-indoctrination” – spending large amounts of time on religious meetings, group and individual activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses that members have very time remaining for critical thinking and sober reflection. See ‘Always Have Plenty to Do in the Work of the Lord’ – Our Kingdom Ministry—September 1978 for more details.

Information Control

“Major time spent with group indoctrination and rituals and/or self-indoctrination including the Internet.” Dictate how the resources (time, energy and money) of the member is used.

In the opening talk of the Friday Afternoon, "Imitate the Patience of Jesus", past examples of how Jehovah’s Witnesses have and have not imitated the patience of Jesus Christ, are withheld.

Thought Control

"Rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism."

In the symposium "What Creation Can Teach Us About Jehovah’s Timing", convention attendees are told to accept both “organizational adjustments and cooperate with direction from the governing body” and “clearer understanding of the scriptures” without asking any questions, thereby quashing any room for critical thinking, accountability and scrutiny.

Lester Somrah

Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.