by Latte 15 Replies latest jw friends
Thursday, Feb 11 2010 Daily Mail UK
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1250078/The-knock-door-turned-parents-brainwashed-fanatics--nearly-cost-life.html#ixzz0fEUX4vDf Apologies if this has already been posted! Latte xx
Beat me to it
very interesting. I think it is a shock when you are presented with a life or death situation and you realise how unsupported you actually are. At the hospital my daughter was rushed to SCBU straight after she was born and given a blood factor. The student doctor who did this didn't realise we were JWs and did this because she thought it would benefit her. She came to apologise the following day clearly worried that we would freak out but in my mind she did what she thought was best. I was grateful that she had made the decision and I hadn't had to refuse it.
I have no wish to be a matyr for a religon and no desire that my children should be matyrs either.
The article refers to Rachael Underhills site, Her site seems more of a relationship site and I am happy with mine but her counsellors may benefit others. I certainly find enough help, support and advice here so don't need to look for others at the moment. But it is nice to know that additional support is out there if I need it.
Thanks for the link. I got impatient with it half way through - too many exaggerated statements (IMO) like:
"The group would have been happy for us to have lived on benefits with more time to devote to them."
To my knowledge, 'the group' has generally frowned on sponging off the government to fund a more 'theocratic' lifestyle.
"Following fashion is forbidden ... "
Misleading. It depends on the fashion. Being a slave to fashion is frowned on ('forbidden' is too strong a word).
"The other children at school would laugh at me, dressed in floral frilly dresses or sailor dresses with hems down to the ground with not even a bare arm exposed. I looked like something out of the Thirties."
OK, there may be some real wacky congos out there, but there was no WTS reason why this girl's skirts were full length or her arms couldn't be exposed! JWs aren't Amish or Hassidic Jews.
"My mum and dad were slightly more liberal than some other Jehovah's Witness parents, perhaps because they weren't 'born in' which meant they had formulated some of their own ideas outside, so I was allowed to take my GCSEs."
It isn't 'liberal' for JWs to allow their kids to graduate high school or take their GCSEs - it's normal - even among conservative, strict JWs.
"We had bible and prayer meetings on two week nights for two hours and lots more at the weekend ... "
'Lots more' Bible and prayer meetings at the weekend means another 2 hours' worth ... unless she was including weekend evangelization time which might add another 1-4. And one of those mid-week meetings was for one hour. Still very demanding, but why exaggerate?
"I had secret fertility treatment for two-and-a-half years, which would have been frowned on by the elders, because it's going against nature."
Fertility treatment would only have been 'wrong' in the elders' eyes if donor eggs or sperm were used.
Anomalous statements aside, I'm glad she's happy and all ended well with the birth of her twins.
"The group would have been happy for us to have lived on benefits with more time to devote to them."
To my knowledge, 'the group' has generally frowned on sponging off the government to fund a more 'theocratic' lifestyle.
Hmm, not around here - Indiana. If someone needed financial help they were directed to the state welfare office FIRST. Not quite what the first century Christians in Acts did, pooling their resources and dispersing them as needed... quite different.
Remember too, this is her recollection as a child - and maybe her Mum did dress her funny in second-hand dresses?
Does anyone know if this goes into the newsprint edition?
This is from the daily hate so don't be surprised by some of the comments if they are a little hyped up. Apart from JWs the only thing they hate more is British Airways!
In the UK, the benefits system is very cushy and very giving, so if that sort of statement was being made I would not be surprised.
Glad things turned out in the end. I wonder how Emma Gough's family are doing.......it can't be nice seeing this.
I agree with AnnoMaly--some of the statements were clearly over the top. When ex-JWs make public statements that are simply wrong/exaggerated, it damages the credibility of even the accurate observations, and the response of Witnesses who read it will be, "Of course apostates are all a bunch of liars..."
Besides, how dumb is it to imply that JWs have to dress like conservative Mennonites when there's a pic of a JW bride in a non-too-demure strapless gown? (Admittedly, she likely had no control over the pics the paper chose to use. Still...)
Good for Rachael getting her story to a much wider audience, even if that meant a compromise with the highest standards of journalism.
I think we have to accept that when we read articles in publications such as the Daily Mail we can't expect a neutral POV. Just be aware of it.
Thank you Ann for your insightful comments. I agree that issues were exaggerated for the 'entertainment' value. Of course every individual has a unique perspective and experience so I offer my sympathy to this young women.
From my perspective as a 'born in' JW my childhood was wonderful. Every congergation has a wide range of 'personalities' from the odd ball to the uber self titled intelectual to the edgy fashion teen and self rightous pioneer. Most often a pretty 'well' rounded group as with any club or organization one might join. There were the old school elders with the heavy hand and then the softies that wouldn't hurt a fly. There are a million stories in the WTBS.
The bigger issue is that this so called TRUTH is a Lie. They teach a life and death message that if you do not dedicate your life to this one particular organization then you will DIE and everybody in the whole wide world that is not a JW is also going to DIE. No exaggeration needed.
