The headship principle was my father's all-ecompassing belief. The most abusive and totally crazy things were justified by this principle. I don't know a single woman who would put up with this treatment unless someone's self-esteem was already in the gutter. It was JW generational in my family. Once you are out, you see "normal." The WTBTS does everything to insure you only see crazy and internalize crazy as normal.
When I was young, I thought abuse was my due. I never did anything bad. He must have had a brain disorder and a much larger character disorder. The horrific tales have already been posted here. My father would present a problem to any mainstream religion. Abuse is wrong. Beating your children and subjecting them to serious bodily injury or death is wrong. The Bible contains many beautiful, soaring verses about equality in marriage. The WT selects the demeaning ones. No thought is given to the fact that our culture has evolved. There is a parallel to American constil' law. Scalia goes on about original intent. If we were stuck with original intent, how would we deal with a military industrial complex, highly regulated industries, the Internet, modern technology in general, universal, compulsory education, etc.
I wanted to vomit at the willingness of sisters to take rebuke. My grandmother was more honest when I told her it was fundamentally unfair and that men were not better. It was just the way it was. She agreed with me but bow down anyway. In fairness to the Society, my aunt and uncle had a wonderful marriage. Lip service was given to headship. My aunt obeyed in superficial things. A casual observer would have viewed her as obedient. Once I spent time with them, I noticed how they were complimentary and how much he respected her. The application of the rule must be a major factor.
