Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses send their mentally ill door to door?

by life is to short 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  NewChapter

  even having him on a assembly part saying how Jehovah had helped him get Satan out of his life by having him burn all his book that had demons in them

  Can you even imagine what a mind game this could be for a schitzophrenic? He has Satan in his life. He burns his books to oust the demons. Thousands of people applause him for this as he gets to confirm his delusions as real from a stage with lights. This is disgusting.

  It's a one size fits all religion. Since it's THE TRUTH it works for everyone! And if you have a special talent or ability, too bad. The only talent that matters is recruiting others. No one gets to be truly special by their own right. No one gets to be individual. And a mentally ill person can't say that they are not good at door-to-door, but they can paint a great picture and art can be their ministry.

  Since leaving the org, I haven't had one panic attack. The feeling of impending doom has lifted and I never feel it anymore. That persistent guilty feeling that I should be doing something has left. My feelings of worthlessness are a memory. Anxiety over how others view my every little move and comment has passed. After 20 years of medication for depression and anxiety, I haven't taken any of them for over a year and a half.

  They expect too much of the seriously ill. And they bring on mental illness in otherwise healthy people. They are not prepared to handle individuals, and their creative thinking is nill, so they can't come up with innovative ways to include the seriously ill. They have one prescription for all ills--and if it doesn't work for you, then you are evil.

  So today I am again asking myself repeatedly, WHY OH WHY did I ever get involved? HOW could I have thought that the treadmill was the best thing for my depression? My panic attacks started while I was studying. My first anti-depressant was prescribed less than a year after I was baptized. Yet I was grateful that I was part of the congregation, because what would have happened to me if clinical depression had hit and I didn't have them???? I'll tell ya---it wouldn't have hit!

  I can't imagine what this does to someone sicker than me. It almost killed me, and yet I am functioning just fine away from the KH. Some of these poor souls are suffering so much more.

  NC
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  mouthy

  So happy to read your post New Chapter. Keep up the good work of keeping well
  You unlocked the "mindcuffs"
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  WTWizard

  They want everyone wasting all their time. I have seen witlesses that had physical problems in walking being required to go door to door. These include people that walk with a cane, people with severe arthritis that have great difficulty climbing a flight of stairs 1 meter high (to them, those flights of stairs are like my climbing a mountain), and people with major vision difficulties (they had 20/200 vision or worse with correction) getting hounded into going door to door. I have even seen people wheeled from door to door in wheelchairs.

  And they don't care what the weather is like. The temperature could be 40 o C (above or below), and they are still expected to go door to door. They don't care that certain areas are dangerous (dogs, crime, stairs in bad condition, etc.). They don't care if someone is allergic to bee stings--they will not even relax the dress code to make them less susceptible to getting stung. They are to be out in all conditions. I even saw one person dying--getting ready to go out in field circus. (No, I wasn't right there--but I did hear about it because that happened in my former congregation.)

  Now, if they don't give a fxxx about people with major physical disabilities, for sure they wouldn't want to let a mental or emotional disability stop them from going out. While it may be beyond their abilities to start a major business, invest prudently, or move to a country where they can start a business without the Feds raiding it, they can still work and enjoy to an extent their assets. Rather, the Washtowel Slaveholdery would rather they waste all that ability and what potential they do possess going door to door for nothing. Never mind that there are going to be some that are pedophiles (at that, manipulative and willing to threaten the victims), or even pedophobes (who will happily molest a child if it will ruin its life). Some are thieves, and not reformed ones either. Some will happily force everyone they run into to join the cancer, and then impose way more than what is actually required (and these do more damage because the victims actually think it's required). A few even murder, or even eat, babies--yet they are still required to go door to door!

  As I see it, people should be allowed to live up to their full potential. For one person, that might mean taking control of a country that has a miserable business environment and fixing its problems. For someone else, it might mean starting a business. Someone else might buy silver or gold, or advise people when it's time to dump paper and get into physical. Another person might move to another country to live up to their full potential, and then start a business (which a lot of people did, to start the US in the 1700s and 1800s). Someone else might only be able to work in a sheltered workshop, earn a small amount of money, and enjoy it to a limited extent. But, no one should be required to waste all their potential--and that's what the Washtowel seeks to do (waste everyone's potential). And that's why they send mentally and physically ill people door to door.
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  Mr. Falcon

  Yes. I don't have much to add to the comments above; they pretty much sum this up. But I can honestly say that I have been to the door with JWs who, despite me NOT being a psychologist, were almost certainly mentally disturbed. I'm not speaking about your usual eccentric and bizarre JW, I am referring to being at doors with JWs who were schizophrenic, suicidal, manic-depressive and/or bipolar. Additionally, many of these unfortunate souls were prone to hallucinations (one JW lady not only swore she was of the annointed but even went so far as to claim that she had to battle demons in the basement of the Kingdom Hall on the night of the Memorial. She has since become inactive.)
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  No Room For George

  Good question, and thread. It goes back I believe to what the WT believes makes JWs so unique, and thats the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom, err volunatarily peddling the literature of a religious book publishing company. Really the Service Committees need to be on top of things and ensure that whomever is out there peddling is not a danger to themselves or the public, but when's the last time you've heard of a JW actually qualified to determine such a thing, minus a person who's obviously mentally ill? Heck, even when its obvious, that doesn't guarantee the elders will make the appropriate decision.

  You know, even when a publisher gets into trouble in the congregation, such as a reproof, or having been deleted from being a Pioneer, elder, or Ministerial Servant, the individual is still allowed and encouraged to go out in field service with the exception of those DF'd, or when the situation behind the reproof involves something that became common knowledge to the general public. You know as I'm typing this, the gravity of the Uthanks' case in Australia finally hit me. It would make sense and seem reasonable that the unknown strangers showing up on your doorsteps Saturday morning should be registered and determined not to be a danger to children, or the very publich that they're peddling literature to.
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  palmtree67

  Shortly after moving into a new Hall, I was assigned to work in service with a sister who, I believed, was a little "slow".

  It turned out she was severely mentally handicapped. She made absolutely NO SENSE at the doors and I was COMPLETELY embarrassed as I stood next to her. The poor householders had no clue what was going on, and kept glancing at me as if to say, "Please make this stop....."

  It was eye-opening to me on 2 different levels:

  1. No wonder no one else wanted to work with her. They foisted her off on me because I was new and didn't know her. Fool me once.......

  2. Did they really believe people's life or death hung in the balance, based on their reaction to this sister's blitherings?

  I mean, bless her heart.........but what good is accomplished by sending such ones out door-to-door?
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  Mr. Falcon

  eally the Service Committees need to be on top of things and ensure that whomever is out there peddling is not a danger to themselves or the public,

  Miz, isn't it funny how, despite this being technically true, the typical Service Committee can't even educate the JWs on how to actually be effective at the door, let alone determine who is fit to solicit their propaganda.

  The result of all this theocratic training? The average JW, even if they are mentally healthy, is a complete mess at the door.

  Facking hilarious.
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  Mr. Falcon

  palm, that is crazy! That poor lady!

  Question, though, relating to your experience: Would God destroy the householder at Armageddon because they didn't respond to the message of a unintelligible sales-pitch delivered by a severly mentally-handicapped individual?
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  mouthy

  WTWIZARD>You were talking about me... LOL I was one who has Rheamatoid Arthrities,had arm bands on

  both wrists,walked with much pain..But I think that is how i "caught" the "fish"they saw i really

  believed it enough to suffer to spread the "LIE".Last night on Peirs Morgan was an atheist who said

  he really admired Jehovahs Witnesses because they really "worked" to spread their belief.
  But at least we are still here to talk about it.Not like Jonestown, or Koresh,or many other cullts
  If an elder is reading this..... Better get your mind THINKING maties.....Time to get of the Ark of the JW
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  Band on the Run

  I have some limited experience with schizophrenia, a wretched disease. When I was a Witness, there were hygiene codes. Brushed teeth and hair, clean skin, appropriate dress and pressed clothing. Since my exposure, I press the hell out of my clothes. They aren't lazy or bums. It is part of the brain disorder.

  I was very active at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in NY and volunteered there daily when ill. Antiwar rock concerts were held in the worship area. Crushed beer cans and marijuana was so thick that it matched the Filmore East. Before St, Paul's Chapel became Ground Zero central, so many homeless people were allowed to sleep in the back pews, the reek could send you to Ohio. I found black voodoo candles, which with my demon fear, spooked me. I was aware that much of it was racism so I asked the dean what should be done. His answer was clear. God can handle it! And my response behind his back to others was "Of course, God can take it. I agree 100%. The problem is I am ..............., certainly not God and can I take it? What about the hundreds chased away?

  When mental illness, including schizophrenia, is controlled, I believe it is a powerful pr effort for the Witnesses. Finally, they are doing what Jesus would do. Frankly, though, Jesus could work miracles such as bathing and pressing. Most mental patients are less violent than the general public. The system has its cult aspects. Extreme deference is one problem. Medication words but the side effects are horrid. And, they don't have insight into consequences as an illness feature. A portion of such patients are extremely, extremely dangerous with super human strength.

  I've pondered God can take it many times. My soul knows the dean was correct. I'm hardly a Christian martyr such as Paul, Peter, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr b/c my Northern European sensibilities saw too many voodoo programs as a kid. My bottom line is that Christ's call is radical and not middle class American. Yet I am human and shaped by my time. Some balance could be met. One of the issues at the Cathedral was one of the largest mentally ill populations in NYC b/c of the SRO hotels. Holocaust survivors would attend a medical program in the basement with its own private entrance where they would encounter no religious stuff. Everyday they entered through the main doors and saw all the glory of the church that did not help them.