"Genesis" spankings

by donny 61 Replies latest jw friends

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  lurk3r

  I'm over it now, but imagine people who go through much worse things....it could take a lifetime and scars could still be left upon the victim's soul.

  I posted my experiences for lurkers and people thinking of joining the jws. Please get away while you still can!

  This thread and experiences related have moved me to want to comment. It's sad that so many can relate all too well to this thread. Rebel8 I can relate to many things you decide to share, thanks for that. I myself was a victim of a abuse at the hands of my father in particular, in some terribly sick ways. Humiliation IS the theme, subjection is the goal.

  Fark. You are very right. After all, you do have it all laid out in black and white, and there is no denying, discipline was encouraged and enforcement followed.

  I want to state for the record here, that I am not defending the borg with my following comments. I also don't want to make this thread about myself either, it's just a conclusion that I have drawn with regards the subject matter.

  Many of us are victims, and for that we have every right to express our dismay however we see fit. My old man beat me, and I refuse to "blame" the society for it. Its not strictly a "JW" thing, like the blood issue for example. While the subject matter presented by Farkel is blatently out of touch with today, I don't think it is way out of line for the 50's. Times have changed, and are changing, no matter what religion you are part of.

  Im not a dub, but my sister is. Just because she chooses to be a witness, does NOT mean she will beat her children. While I do not condone my fathers misgivings, I do forgive him. He was f@cked up, plain and simple. As hard as my family had it, I am sure that my father it it very hard in his family...perhaps i never got it as bad as he did. As bad as my father got it, perhaps HIS father got it even worse. I mean shit, even though the cult is a terrible place to be most of the time, I really think my father would or could have been worse. Maybe not, but my guts think so.

  One other thing that kinda put some things in perspective for me, fairly recently, was a movie. Changeling. Way back when, ADULTS didn't generally question authority, and that in time has changed. Things have taken a while, but they ARE working their way down the road...and sadly, that road has been harder and more enduring for some than others.

  If i DO blame the society for anything, it's for not letting people use their heads to actually THINK.

  lurk3r
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  cognizant dissident

  lurk3r

  You make some valid points. The majority of people, of all cultures and all relgions, have been beating their children for millenia and see nothing wrong with it. So the WTBTS is no more culpable than any other religion in this regard, I agree. However, they are no less responsible either, in that they did nothing to stand out from other religions and teach a kinder and more loving way to raise children. The condoned the raising of children by fear and humilation right along side the others. When minority voices spoke out against the brutal treatment of children, they sided with the status quo. They are no worse, nor any better, but they do not stand out as beacons of light in this regard as you would expect from God's chosen people.

  I think this could be used as a prime example of how people can actually evolve past the need for archaic religious teachings in all aspects of living their lives. Humanist values have already surpassed the world's religions in its advocacy of how to best treat our children, each other, and the planet. Why do we need to cling to the traditions of the past beyond their usefulness to us as a society?
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  cognizant dissident

  deleted, duplicate post
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Donny,

  As a result she has no relationship with her parents...

  Do these parents forget that their children will be picking out their future hospital and nursing home?

  "What would Jesus do?" Where is this "spiritual paradise" the dubs keep crowing about? I'm so sorry for all of you that have suffered this type of humiliation. Sure kids need discipline, and some kids can be challenging, but abuse is too common and too wrong.

  I've often wondered why Hojovah's Holy Spirit can't help the little kids to stay calm and quiet during the meetings. For that matter, why can't it keep the parents calm and quiet, too.

  B the X
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  donny

  I agree that this is not an issue unique to Jehovah's Witnesses. There are many fundemental groups out there who love to weld the rod whenever the opportunity arises.

  Don
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  garybuss

  My brother and I were just poked and pinched during meetings. We were small . . . just 5 and 7. If we fell asleep, we were pinched awake. Others, like Joel Ronan, were beaten without mercy. It was hard to watch it all. It was a discouraging time.
  
  Our company servant was Martin Anderson and he had to have been Satan's brother. His sermons delivered the directions to our parents and they followed in their putrid righteousness. I don't think he ever pinched or poked or beat his son Lannie, but he sure turned the dogs loose on us.
  
  When he bossed the building of the new kingdom hall at 2020 S Norton in Sioux Falls, he had a "crying room" built in with speakers inside so his rants could be piped in to the pliable parents. I always thought the church for me would have a laughing room instead of a crying room.
  
  At home our mother would go into rages and she'd go after my little brother. I soon learned I could protect him by diverting her attention from him to me. He'd lay on his bed and cry but I'd stand up to her. Of course that meant I got her rages aimed at me and I got the strikes from the diversions. I don't regret the diversions, I wish I could have done more. He really got hurt worse and more than me. He was a nice kid. He didn't deserve the abuse he got.
  
  That abuse never started until my dad started dragging us to the kingdom hall when I was 7. Our mother would quote scripture when she bet us. Her abuse always occurred when my dad was at work. I always wondered if he knew about it. In 1995 I asked him and he said he did know. He shunned me for the next 12 years. When he died I didn't cry.
  
  
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  donny

  I spoke with this woman again and I agree with some of the earlier comment that this smacks of bondage and the like. What is amazing to me is thent not only did she suffer abuse from her father, but also from her mother. She was often made to stand with her hands on her head with nothing but church shoes on while they swatted her behind multiple times with a paddle. They also did a lot of other abusive things. I just don't understand how two adults can do this to their own flesh and blood and pass it off as "keeping the child on a straight path." Disgusting.

  Donny
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  Heaven

  Abuse begets abuse. These people were not listening to their hearts... the cult and their family history ensured that. This is how I know that JWs have no clue what Jesus Christ's teachings were all about. They've completely missed the meaning. This is just one more example. I have my own from my family. They let a group of men whom they've never met overrule any sort of principles that are needed for relationships to blossom and grow... all in the name of 'righteousness'. Makes me wanna .
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  Lillith26

  Im speachless...... Hugs for the brave who have spoken up and hugs for those still suffering in silence.
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  trueblue

  http://myspacetv.com/idex.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23956875