Father Severely Abused Me

by Band on the Run 37 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • yknot
    yknot

    I am so sorry

    I think insecure men are drawn to belief systems which assign importance based gender alone versus personal character.

    I honestly never really understood men to act in protection versus oppression until recently......

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    thetrueone

    you said:

    Any JW would know you don't get that kind of privilege unless that individual was outward knowingly in very good standing by those higher ups

    well you are right. The operative word was "outward". JWs do what they want behind closed doors. Of course you would have no way of knowing that unless you had lived it. I loved is. I saw it. I bore the welts on my body to prove it. My sister went to school with the bruises and welts all over her body for anyone to see.

    Other than that one word in that one sentence everything you say is a lie. You are so far from being thetrueone that it isn't funny. How dare you come here and say we lie and make it up. We don't have to make it up. It was bad enough as it was. My elder husband kicked and beat our two little girls. Kicked them with his shoes on. Left marks on them. He was an elder "in good standing" No one, NO ONE, would have guessed what went on in our home. Everybody thought he was such a meek and loving brother. Ha! We all played nice when we went out and looked like the perfect little JW family. But at home it was a whole different story.

    And you know what? 25 years after I left him he called one day to apologize to me for his rape of me over 15 years of our marriage. He fianlly realized what he had done. Took him 25 years but he finally realized it and actually felt bed enough to call me and apologize. I don't have to make things up. None of us do.

  • thetrueone
    thetrueone

    Of course you would have no way of knowing that unless you had lived it. I loved is. I saw it. I bore the welts on my body to prove it. My sister went to school with the bruises and welts all over her body for anyone to see.

    Did I not mention that I was also one of these JW children abused, I'm well aware how JW men can pose a good standing in their congregations and abuse

    their children back at home. Thats not even debatable, what I'm saying is that I think BoR specific story sounds a bit over the top and

    embellished to a certain degree. I did not say her entire story was a deliberate complete lie did I now ?

    Lets not undermined the fact that yes Men/fathers in this organization abused their wives and their children while at that same time

    carrying a wholesome white sheet of righteousness at their given congregations.

    Your story seems much more believable for some reason ( Lady Lee ) don't know why, just a personal perspective I guess .

    The truth is important isn't it. ?

  • ziddina
    ziddina
    "I'm well aware how JW men can pose a good standing in their congregations and abuse their children back at home. ..."

    Yeah, I can totally verify that...

    My idiot, manic-depressive father would hit, kick and slap me - at the age of 8 years old - during the "family bible study"...

    Then he was the perfect lil' "angel" at the KH - one of my friends, when I became a teen-ager, thought he was just the NICEST guy... While he was smacking me around and at one point, knocking me unconscious - at home...

    I learned about two-faced, hypocritical behavior at my parents' knees...

    Zid

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    thetrueone

    My apologies then.

    I have become rather over-sensitive to people said what we lived didn't happen

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    I know the veracity of my story. Jesus knows its veracity. Indeed, I never state that the Society beat me. My father has the moral responsibility. I hear far worse stories. It has been my experience, esp. among women, that those who screech when incest is involved to not discuss it and look at a woman as beyond the pale for mentioning it, are incest victims in denial. Stories of rage are scary. This is my story, however, not your story. My aunt and uncle were active Witnesses with a wonderful home life.

    My emphasis is not on my draconian or otherwise story. I seek to point out the maladaptive culture of JWs. We were painfully isolated. No one would talk to us. Furthermore, my father's story is illustrative of a Witness problem. Russell, Knorr and Rutherford were flawed humans. They were not enlightened, noble beings. My father was 6"4" and very brawny. He grew up in a coal mining town. When he graduated school, he was hired to shore up the mine and prepare it for other miners. His father ran a JW book study. They attended a local assembly. The brothers took a look at my father and recruited him to come to Bethel to serve as a bodyguard. His faith was not strong. Coming to Brooklyn must have been very hard. NYC is hardly a small company town. Bethel was extremely strict and small. Everything was noticed. They were sent out all over the NY area to strengthen congregations. Regardless of the circumstances, they were locked out with a curfew. My father and uncle spent many a night riding the subway until Bethel opened its doors again.

    My father never disassociated from the Witnesses. In many way, my mother was privy to more dirt. Rutherford was not respected by the lesser Bethel brothers. They would spy on him through a crack in the floor romancing a woman not his wife. Nathan Knorr was extremely disliked for being a harsh task master. His organizational skills were readily acknowledge. My very meek uncle once told him to be his own stool pigeon. There are so many details I know from a time I was not alive.

    My father risked severe injury at a convention at Madison Sq. Garden. A right-wing Catholic priest, Fr. Couglin (sp?) stirred up immense bigotry among Catholics. WWII was approaching and nationalism increased. My mom, who had not met my father yet, was present as saboteurs invaded the Garden and threw ammonia bombs on women and children. My father fought them off with the aid of other specially selected brothers from Bethel. I am proud of my father for those actions. Despite his track record of abuse that was documented, he always believed the Witnesses had an obligation to care for other Witnesses. Lives were destroyed and unlike other religions and groups, no aid was forthcoming. He could not understand how a Witness could go hungry or lack housing when the Society had such financial resources.

    My mom lived through many Armageddon dates. Close friends became destitute. She grew up eager to see the Princes, Moses, Noah, etc. return to earth and live in a mansion the Society provided. They were told these Old testament figures would appear at the next assembly. Caught up with excitement, she could not wait to greet Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Isaac and others. They were a no show. It was explained that a literal return was an incorrect version, hoisted by Satan.

    I've seen the occult and pyramids. Yes, I do consider most of this stuff "over the top." It is tragic because it is so incredulous that anyone would believe. I bear witness to my abuse and to the fallacy of the Society. I am a witness to history. My family was a witness. I testify. In this mission, I do not need to exaggerate to contrast. Truth itself is elegant and scary, too.

  • Violia
    Violia

    Band

    my mom and dad grew up and came into the org during that era. I have heard many stories of the attacks on the jws by folks. My grandfather was very active and was beat by a gang of men who hated jws. Their family forced to leave their home.

    Thanks for coming on and telling us some first hand things that most of us can only read about.

    Your father was right, jws should take care of their own, but they do not. They will use you as long as they can and then send you packing.

    welcome and look forward to reading more of your posts.

  • ziddina
    ziddina
    "Yes, I do consider most of this stuff "over the top." It is tragic because it is so incredulous that anyone would believe. I bear witness to my abuse and to the fallacy of the Society. I am a witness to history. My family was a witness. I testify. In this mission, I do not need to exaggerate to contrast. Truth itself is elegant and scary, too. ..."

    Relax, Band on the Run. Most of us here on this site have seen - or have learned, through research - the veracity of the things that you've mentioned... "The True One" is apparently a "troll" - or is behaving in a troll-like manner, at any rate...

    Rutherford frequented a brothel located near Bethel, and quite possibly even had a special route that gave him very private access to the brothel...

    His mistress - mistresses - and mistreatment of his wife by [at the very least] ignoring and neglecting her - and his son - are well known, as are the facts about his alcoholism and his arrogant belief in his own 'entitlement' - shown by his desire that illegal hooch be smuggled in - apparently from Canada...

    His insanity - at least, that's what I'd call it - shows up very clearly in his writings... He had bizarre anti-marriage and anti-religion attitudes; he was terribly misogynistic, incredibly greedy for power, and a thorough bully...

    Anyone who denies these aspects of his personality, hasn't done their research.

    Zid

  • thetrueone
    thetrueone

    Oh so Jesus knows exactly the veracity of those events and he was personally there witnessing everything,

    sheesh, well why didn't you say that in the first place ? ... well that clears everything up then.

    Sorry to put to question to your intellectual honesty on everything you stated, my apologies.

    Nevertheless Band on the Run your point does come through

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    Yes! When I wondered why men were worshipped, my mom informed me of the convention where Rutherford described woman "as a hank of hair." She was telling me how much things had improved under Knorr.

    If it weren't for my own experiences, I would never believe these things. Ray Franz book was a lightning rod when it came out. I never would believe his book were it not for my reading the old magazines. I read anything voraciously. The family dog was the only one who could stop me. She would sit on top of my book. These stories are so bad they are almost humorous. Sarcasm can abound. It is so hard to sit where I am now and realize that I believed it with fervor, even tho I was child. It is so cathartic to have others witness to their disillusionment, too. People, in general, go for the JW jokes. The Witnesses aren't feared. They are ridiculed.

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