I am new here, I found this website a few days ago and have not been able to stop reading it. My father was a Jehovah Witness, as was his sister. The worst treatment I have received anywhere in this world came from these two people. As a child my father would say the Bible says beat their sides, refering to children, and then ask if I wanted him to disobey Jehovah. As a child, you cant answer that question. So, beat he did. I got hit 25 times (leather strap on panties) for the crime of getting 3c's and a d. I got hit for 15 minutes because he wanted to see how long it would take for my mother to come and tell him to stop hitting me. Of course, no one challenged him because the Bible says we are to obey the father. He incested me for 5 years, and when I went to my aunt, the other Jehovah's Witness for help, she told me to go to my grave before I told anyone. Go die! She then ignored this and ridiculed me openly for not meeting her standards.
I have been forced to eat my own vomit, given a car to drive that he bragged he knew was unsafe when he bought it, pawned into a marriage with a man I told my father I did not want to marry, but since my father was saying things to me like "if I get you pregnant, we will go away and live together" he needed me out of the house. Once married, he and my aunt criticized me openly because I was not being a good wife, namely, submissive! I was pleading with my father on my wedding day not to have to do this, and his words to me were If you say no, I will hit you in front of all of those people. Great way to start a marriage.
My father had affairs, with the last one being another Jehovah's Witness. He had prostate cancer, but refused to be treated for fear he would be impotent and could not continue to have sex with this woman. When he died, I did not go to his funeral. I was then and am now, glad he is dead! Anyway, she and all other other Jehovah's Witnesses were there, so they did not need me.
When I confronted my aunt asking how she could ridicule me and ignore incest, adultry, and child abuse, I was told he was her brother. No wonder I did not meet her standards -- the standard for hypocracy was too low for me to stoop to.
We can celebrate Christmas or birthdays or Thanksgiving, but we can have judgemental hypocracy, incest, child abuse,to name a few. Of course for me, I celebrate whenever I can. Life is a joyous gift, and for a person who grew up being told by her father that she was ugly, crazy and that no one liked her, any celebration I get is a joy.
I did not realize until many years of therapy, these were just things said to me to keep me under his control. Far from being ugly, I have been asked to model. My fathe used "crazy" as a way of control. When I went into therapy, he of course pointed to this saying it was proof I was crazy. My aunt said to just pray to Jehovah and he would take care of my pain. Been there, doesn't work that way. 14 years of therapy, $50,000 that I am still paying on, do work!
I have known 3 Jehovah Witnesses in my life, that is 3,000 more than I ever want to know.
Thank you,
celebrate