Flip-Side News: Humorless Opposers Claim "Sister Proof" in Bad Taste

What did Geoffrey Jackson mean when he called the revised edition of the New World Translation released at the 2013 Annual Meeting as "sister proof"? Was he being sexist? No! He said it when he was talking about the physical durability of the new edition. He was being complimentary. The sisters are in the ministry far more than the brothers, which means they open their Bibles a lot more, wearing them out faster. Thus, when he highlighted the sisters with this comment, he was referring to their commendable ministry. (Psalm 68:11) I understood this immediately. There was no ambiguity with one such as myself who actually participates in the ministry and respects the work of the sisters. The publications have mentioned this fact about the sisters many times, so it is nothing new to a faithful member of the organization.

The humor wasn't in the fact that sisters wear out their Bibles, but in the unexpectedness of the comment and its exaggeration. Besides, sisters laughed as much, if not harder than the men. They didn't get offended because they no doubt felt appreciated by it. Though I won't say that some few who look for fault didn't find fault with it. But most sisters did not. I knew a sister who was not as well educated as most sisters (That is, she wasn't as likely to understand a sophisticated joke,) and had a history of finding fault (We all have things we need to work on,) no doubt laughed as loud as anyone, because even she could have understood the meaning of it. And if she didn't, she would have been wise enough to ask the meaning of it before deciding on whether she should be offended by it.