by Mandette 42 Replies latest jw friends
The Malawi thing messed with me too. Thank God some of our younger apostates maybe don't remember that.
Looking back, the WT set them up to be tortured and then used their stories to put fear into everyone else. After all, it was dark skinned people. Nobody cared about them except the rank and file.
I remember the story of lady whose baby was thrown off the bridge because she wouldn't tell the gestapo where the bookstudy was. she was willing to let her baby die then to tell the gestapo where a bunch of adults were meeting.
I knew I would have told them where they were meeting, so I decided to never have kids because of that. that way I could be faithful to the unmerciful Jah.
Luckily I got married and did have kids anyway. And I would still rat anyone out inorder to save my child's life.
I was raised in "the truth" and scared to death at all the letters read at the meetings about the persecution in places like Malawi. I don't think children need to be subjected to that type of thing at a suposedly religous meeting. Any way my son told me not long ago that he grew up afraid all the time and I feel so bad for putting my kids through that. But we are out now thank god.
Wow - I hadn't thought about any of this in a long time. I remember being sick with fear over the graphic details they would give about the torture techiniques, the one about having your fingernails pulled out and the bamboo shoots stuck with me. I lived in contstant fear when I was a child - if it wasn't Armageddon - it was displeasing Jehovah and ending up dead - or displeasing the elders and having your family taken away by disfellowshipping. It all seems so foreign now to me after having been out for 10 years.
Yea I remember
I remember the "basement room" well. After all, I made many trips there,...lol
I remember getting the gears to pay attention. But all I could do was daydream and create my own little world. And wait til it was over.
I remember that the best time of the day/week was just after the meeting was over because that was when I had the most time before the next meeting.
Ahh, sweet memories. But that was then, this is now.
She'd wear a reversible jacket and carry various colored scarves in her bookbag to put over her head as she went from door to door. Seems like she'd take of the jacket sometimes and tie a scarf around her waist to change up her appearance.
StAnn that is funny to me, did it not occur to her that she wasn't fooling anybody; the bookbag is the biggest clue!
I remember one time she was beating me outside the front of the hall and a lady coming in stopped and asked if she could help. I always wondered if she wanted to help beat me or if she wanted to stop my mother.
ROFL
Those beatings were something that took place often as I just had a hard time being still for long at the time (still do).
Me too; but the 1st Grade teacher cured me; that includes breaking a paddle on me and sending me to the Principal's Office for a replacement.
Mustang
I guess, looking back, that I always dealt with JW-land like it was unreal. Yes, I kept it at a distance, a bad dream, fuzzy enough beyond reality to be obvious.
I had a strong scientific inclination and early on that was what I wanted to be, a scientist; I said so.
But how far do you think that got in JW-land? Yeah, right...
Between the JW anti-college thing and my family not having much money, college plans went down the tubes.
But, I was dealt an "ace-in-the-hole". I won't go into that because I still need to leave some gaps for security reasons. That "ace-in-the-hole" ultimately paid off and it was my ticket out of JW-land.
So, I kept the JW BS in its own compartment and shut that door tight. I just had to nod and smile.
That's the real secret to being around JW's: nod, smile. If you have to talk, tell them nothing or what they want to hear.
OK: I learned to survive and keep that BS at bay. But they got me where it counted: you need HELP and ENCOURAGEMENT to get on your way.
That's what the parental business is all about: starting your kids on their way. Fortunately, I knew the path they directed me onto was bogus; unfortunately, THEY (or the rest of my small support group/community) would not be of any assistance.
So, I knocked around pIONEERING and "hanging out" until IT CLICKED. And the "ace-in-the-hole" fell right into place.
Mustang
I have observed children getting taken out for a beating for not sitting still at the boasting sessions. I have also seen children threatened with punishments, besides getting beatings, for playing around while out in field circus. They were supposed to walk like miniature robots instead of running and skipping around or playing with things.
And from what the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger put out about giving up fun for field circus, I wonder when the children ever get any fun. All vacation time wasted in field circus or at the Grand Boasting Session instead of playing. Every weekend ruined for boasting sessions and field circus. And no playtime at school (instead, they have to waste recess time telling others about the cancer).
What a fine waste of childhood.
Mandette: "I thought that the police were going to come yank me out of bed."
Yeah, I remember worrying about that, too. I was always terrified of police when I was a kid. And worrying about persecution and imagining the worst tortures people could inflict on me was foremost in my mind when I was little.
It's so nice to be free!
