I caught my JW parents digging in my trash + an intervention (page 3)

Dismembered

Greetings LeftBehind,

The fact that you've "slumped" is causing them to shake in their Watchtower cowboy boots. Tell 'em to leave you alone.

Dismembered

Dr Jekyll

I would put doggy poop on the top of my bin for them to find. It might start putting them off.

On a serious note, You past up a great opportunity to go over the list of what makes a cult a cult when your your parents told you scientology is a cult.

There's a list that gets published here every few months pin pointed the behaviour of cults and it sums up life in the org perfectly.

Like others hear I had a mother who could not respect my privacy and went through all my stuff because "she loved me". As a result I don't write anything so personal in my diary that I would mind someone else reading it - thats 15 years on after I left!

I can't believe they would search through your rubbish - did you ask them why? Are they hoping to find evidence so that you can be disfellowshipped? Do they want to lose all association with you? I would have been tempted to call the police anyway and pretend I didn;t know it was parents until they were confronted. All I can say is there is no reasonable or pure or loving motive for what they were doing and they should be made to feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

luna2

I would have been tempted to call the police anyway and pretend I didn;t know it was parents until they were confronted.

That was my thought too, Crumpet! LOL What a riot that would have been. I also like Dr. J's idea of booby trapping your garbage. Wasn't thinking dog poop, but that's a good one. Could also sprinkle it with cayenne pepper...might make their trash recon pretty painful. Poor parents. Honestly, that's so pathetic.

If you do some cult research, make sure you leave it whole when you toss it so they can read what makes a cult. Who knows, maybe something will register.

Hang in there, LeftBehind. I'm sure they'll get tired of the games after a while. If not, there's always the gated community.

Legolas

Sorry to hear that Leftbehind

Hang in there!

Honesty

A sign may be appropriate:

blondie

BTW, doggy doo may not be totally effective. Get a cross cut shredder (about $25) and use it. It's a good idea anyway to prevent identify theft.

Blondie

AuldSoul

LeftBehind,

Without DA'ing, you might be able to take a couple of steps and eliminate most of your trouble.

(1) Change your number to an unlisted one.

(2) Place a notice on your door that no personal notes should be left, only business or postal related notes. You might even include a preliminary step toward a cause for official intervention by stating that you are feeling harassed.

This should clear up most of it. If people start sending you things in the mail, you are always free to mark it "Return to Sender" unopened. But then, you might risk giving the appearance that you are cutting them out of your life, and there is another way this can be handled.

You could directly tell them that you will not respond well to attempts to "drag you" out of this "slump" and that if they want this to pass anytime soon they'd better lighten up on the pressure. If you are very clear that their "high pressure approach" is having the opposite effect and is causing you to want to draw away even more, that it has a "cultic feel" to it, they may get the hint and severely curtail their "encouragement" (control) campaign.

You can even say this to the elders, using those terms, without fear of DA. The reason is simple—you are describing the effects on yourself of actions taken by individuals, not anything doctrinal or organizational. I do hope this works out for the best for you, whatever you choose to do.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

BlackSwan of Memphis

Wow, does this bring back memories.

When my family started demanding answers from me that was when I wrote a da letter.

Also, for people dropping in, I put up a note that said "No drop ins, please call first"

And I turned off the answering machine when I was home and during the day let it pick up. I'd have my husband screen the calls for me.

All I can say is:

on doing this it takes a lot of strength and courageit helps when it's all said and done a personal time out to regroup and get your strength back really helps knowing that you have support at your fingertips is incredibly helpful

BSoM

Mary

I will start with catching my parents digging in my trash. My neighbor called me on the phone and thought I would like to know that 2 people were digging in my trash and asked if she should call the police. I jumped out of bed and and ran to the back yard thinking I was going to bust some elders. To my shock it was my parents. It is really sad that they had to stoop to that.

Leftbehind, the problem is, your parents are still treating you like your 10 years old living under their roof. You're not. I would tell them politely that if you ever catch them doing something illegal (which digging through someone's garbage on their property without their permission is), you'll phone the cops. Remind them that you are an ADULT now and no longer living under their roof and you do not have to "obey their rules" any more.

If you want to make them think twice, I'd tell them that your neighbours know that their Witnesses and what a "bad witness" they gave by openly digging through your trashcans. That ought to make them stop and think.

As for the elders popping by, I would just ignore them and don't answer the door. They'll stop bugging you after a while. Sounds like you're going to have to be firm with this lot---they sound like they're crazy!!

I caught my JW parents digging in my trash + an intervention

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