What is your greatest fear?

Podiatrist

Just wondering, my experience tells me that many jw live in constant state of watchfulness, bordering with paranoia. Did any of that have an effect on you?

Like last week I’ve had a “pleasure” of browsing new children’s book – great teacher or something –(well it was new to me anyway) I was mightily surprised on the number of references to Satan or Devil. In this one story I’ve counted 25 of those. Just imagine what that does to a child’s brain… Which brings me to conclusion that JW are very paranoid bunch, fearing of everything seen and unseen. Knowing something about psychology and being a mother, brings me to conclusion that watchtower has very unhealthy influence on people, especially youngsters.

What do you think???

Leolaia

The 15 April 1966 Watchtower article "What Binding Satan the Devil Will Mean for Mankind" holds the record for total number of uses of the words "Satan" and "Devil" in a single article or chapter. Total: 163.

I find this other article is hilarious exercise in the pot calling the kettle black:

*** w58 5/15 pp. 305-310 Does Superstition or Knowledge Govern You? ***

HAVE you ever seen a small child who was afraid in a dark room? As soon as light is put into the room all his fears vanish. He sees everything that is in the room and knows there is nothing there to hurt him. With this knowledge he feels satisfied; he feels safe. We may say it is childish for anyone to be afraid in the dark; but today millions of grownups are filled with fear, uncertainty and superstition because they are in the darkness that Satan the Devil has brought upon this world....Down through the centuries Satan has held sway over the human race and has seen to it that they have come to believe many strange things. In every community today peculiar superstitions influence the lives of the people. From Arctic lands to the tropics Satan’s superstitions are found. The Eskimos believe in ghosts. Many also believe in the transmigration of souls, that spirits return in animals, winds, rocks, ice and water, and that they can be appeased by hoodoo rites. To change the wind they chant, drum and howl against it, and, as a last resort, fire the graves of the dead. So much superstition, with no reasoning! Though they have never been able to change the wind, their superstitious blindness keeps them trying it....

While millions of people in the world today may look on these practices and beliefs as ridiculous, are they so enlightened that they do not fall victim to similar superstitions? Consider for a moment the hundreds of millions of persons who now profess Christianity and yet who sincerely believe in the immortality of the human soul and that their dead loved ones suffer in purgatory fires and can be relieved of the suffering only through the giving of money to a priest for certain religious rituals to be performed....There would be no end of telling of the strange ideas and superstitions found throughout the world. Satan has completely confused his bedarkened subjects and has brought them much injury thereby. Superstitions are harmful to mankind. Superstition will never lead anyone to the accepted service of Almighty God and life eternal in his new world.

DanTheMan

hilarious exercise in the pot calling the kettle black:

I think Scholar chastizing you for 'cultish thinking' is the all-time classic on this board.

My big fear is the whole socio-political-economical structure going kaput in one fell swoop. Yup, I'm still kinda like a dub in that way :(

Thegoodgirl

Being bored

Dying with regrets

Wasting time in life (like years in the wrong religion, ETC)

Podiatrist

Thanx for your replies. I thought though that more people would be interested in this but apparently I was wrong. Or perhaps everyone here thinks that there's nothing wrong with idea of instilling the fear ...

stevenyc

This one gave me phyical nightmares and still gives me the willies

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/85454/1.ashx

steve

jeanniebeanz

Sometimes, people need to chew on a subject for a while before replying... :)

As a witness and for a few years afterward, I was afraid of my shadow because of all the demon crap they shove down your throat. After a while though, the fear goes away. It does affect children badly. I was sure that every dark room or strange person was demonized as a child.

Weird people, JW's. I should know...

J

Aude_Sapere

**Or perhaps everyone here thinks that there's nothing wrong with idea of instilling the fear **

I'm not so sure that is the case.

I think there were not too many viewers of this thread yet.

Greatest fear....
Some us have had our fill of living in 'fear' that we are consciously looking to live withOUT fear...!!

Actually, I skipped over this heading a couple of time. Until I read you alias. 'Podiatrist' caught my attention!!!

My biggest 'fear' used to be: To not have mattered.

I didn't consciously realize that I was in 'fear' of Satan. But I was extremely suspicious of him. I remember growing up (and even as recently as 10 years ago) not wanting to verbalize any of my true fears because I thought that the demons would capitalize on the information and use it to exploit my weaknesses. I feared being found out that I wanted to be worldly. I did not fear death. I feared living with more pain that I was experiencing at the time. I feared that all that suffering would be for nothing because Armageddon would come and I would be found not good enough.

My biggest fear now. I don't know. I'll have to get back to you on that.

I agree, though. WAY too much attempts to use fear to motivate people to action. Too much fear to expose young children to.

Thanks for the thread.

And WELCOME to JWD. Wonder how you found your way here...??????

-Aude Sapere (meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to have knowledge/wisdom)

tetrapod.sapien

death is my greatest fear. it's a new fear. i didn't have it as a witness. as i witness, i feared so-called "spiritual" death. but the real thing, non-existence, is still really hard for me. my own mortality.

this stems from much of the same programming that you speak of Podiatrist.

like dan, i have fears of the system crashing, and life going neolithic again. but in the end, for me, it boils down to fear of death.

thanks Podiatrist, and welcome to the board! look forward to seeing you around.

cheers,

TS

chrissy

No one that has been through it thinks that their fear-instilling trickery is ok. I remember, as a kid, the scary photos in publications, demon stories, etc. One of the first books read to me (that I recall anyhoo) was My Book of Bible Stories...and even that had some freaky images for a toddler to digest.

These days I try to see all fear as illusionary...a psychological projection.

Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add some thing to yourself in order to be yourself more fully.

All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less.

These two movements obscure the fact that Being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you.

Eckhart Tolle

What is your greatest fear?

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