I think a lot of JWs lead a very sad life.
What Are "Unfair" Things JWs Made You Do?
by minimus 39 Replies latest jw friends
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mama1119
One time I worked with this guy that I had a huge crush on, he was my first love....I found out he used to be a witnes when he was a kid so being the good little dib I hauled him off to meeting and we immediately got called in the back, together mind you, he was not a witness, and I got a strict talking to about not sitting next to him at meeting because people might get the wrong idea, IN FRONT OF HIM. I was only 18 years old and compleely humiliated.
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Finally-Free
They didn't "make" me do anything. I was free to tell them to f*ck off any time I wanted. Eventually I did.
W
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evergreen
I think that the question you pose is a very good question.
One of the things i felt was unfair is the requirement or guilt factor requirement to go on the TM school. You see everyone else doing it, why arent you? Yes unless you are on the school giving a talk you are "in your own mind, not spiritual". Doesnt matter if you are the shyest person on the planet; you are made to feel guilty, you feel obligated even if it is to simply read the bible on the platform.
Does that tie in with Ephesians 4:11
I always , always felt that the JWs did not appeal to the masses. Have you ever noticed or is it just me, but it only seems to keep the ones who can give good talks , The ones who can speak well , the ones who have the ability to go out and speak to people on the doors etc etc,
Where are the ordinary people, The people who are very shy and find it hard to associate with others?
The only people i ever see at the hall are the ones who have the ability to give talks, give answers etc, but i rarely see the ordinary joe Bloggs at the meetings.
I have and always will view the JW faith as a denomination that only appeals to those who fit into its exalted out of depth conditions. The rest are scared of with so many conditions , manmade laws and ridiculous policies. -
DesertRat
Pretty much everything, but for me the two biggies were field service & avoiding holidays..
Field service--when I am truly honest with myself, I have to admit that even at my most fanatical I never considered it 'natural.' Going to strangers' doors for ANY reason has always made me nervous, but doing so to present a message that you KNOW will not be well-received is CLEARLY UNNATURAL. Try doing it in the middle of a Tucson summer when it is approaching 100 degrees by 9:00 am, or in a territory where you ran into kids from school (the teasing that would follow on Monday...)
Avoiding holidays (or the flag salute)--always hell. No matter how much I thought I was 'pleasing Jehovah,' or how many times my parents went over the 'School' brochure & told me the things to parrot back to teachers or schoolmates, being laughed at as I sat on the sidelines or left the room was NEVER NATURAL...
DesertRat
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minimus
If you were simply a brother that just wanted to attend meetings, much more would be EXPECTED from you. You HAD to "reach out" for greater responsibility.
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Finally-Free
You HAD to "reach out" for greater responsibility.
Nobody "HAD" to. Twelve years before I left the cult I told them where to stick their "privileges", and how deep. They didn't like it, but there was nothing they could do about it.
W
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Bangalore
Bump.
Bangalore
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ambersun
Yes, I can relate to most of the above.
Also, at the age of 14 having to go to the head teacher and tell her I needed to be excused from school assemblies as I had become a Jehovah's Witness. I can still see the look on her face to this day!. The stupid thing was, I was put in with the Catholic pupils while assembly was going on as they didn't know what else to do with me. I never told my parents about that lol.
Then, having to tell my friends I could no longer join in Birthday celebrations or any other 'worldy' activities. I was the only JW in the entire school so I stood out like a sore thumb and was ridiculed and felt isolated, yet I was expected to use every opportunity to bring out Watchtower literature and witness to them all. I can remember hating the GB for dishing out all these rules and thinking, even back then, that they had absolutely no idea what it was like to be the only JW teenager in a school, or if they DID know, they were just down right cruel!
As if all that wasn't enough, all my friends, even from within the congregation, had to be vetted. The phrase "bad associations spoil useful habits" was repeated continually like a stuck record. I watched while other youngsters had fun, going out together at weekends but I was only allowed to associate with spiritual (usually boring, nerdy) sisters of my own age. Pop music was banned as it was evil.
Oh, happy days
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rowan
being hounded out in service with 100 degrees or more outside. and if I looked dehydrated and miserable I was bringing reproach to Johova. oh I remember going by houses where kids were playing in a swimming pool! another time we were in service, I was about 6, I fell on my shin on a ridge of hard dirt, my mom asked a woman in the street who was watering her plants for some water to clean my profusely bleeding wound, and on we went. I am thankful I did not get tetanus, or osteomyelitis. I still have a huge scar on my leg from that gash. (of course if my dad, who had a little more sense in him had been there I would have had proper wound care and tetanus serum STAT, at the time I had no proper inmunizations in me)
being forced to sit down at the meetings for 12 months waiting for reinstatement that was denied. being forced to sit down at the meetings here in the US for 2 more years waiting for that same reinstatement that was denied by the original body of elders once again, after 4 years of not seeing me. finally it took some heavy duties at Bethel down in my country to remove my file from those grudging elders to a more favorable body for me to get back in, so I could get to see my very elderly parents again. Yeah, I am going to come back after that. thank you for showing me the light, bastards.