by cofty 37 Replies latest watchtower scandals
It's amazing to hear about similar experiences. It really is mental abuse to put a child through that sort of fear-mongering. Idiots!
I just thought it was ironic and sad that the most opposition they are ever likely to get is what they have brought on themselves for protecting pedos.
What a stupid cult.
As a German I grew up with all the stories about the concentration camps and what the JW suffered there. Some of the survivers were friends of my parents. My grandma took me to visit the concentration camp in Dachau (near Munich) for the first time when I was six or seven years old. The pictures in the exhibition room of all the dead and tortured bodies never went out of my mind. Everytime when they talked about persecution and the great tribulation I thought of the concentration camps. I was always horrified.
I also remember that it was said not to talk about what you fear most, because the demons could hear this und use it against you.
Sickening!
This is from the Watchtower 1962 7/1
?
Can Satan and his demons read our minds?—M. C., United States.There is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate that Satan and his demons can read our minds or thoughts. Rather, the implication of the Scriptures is that only God can read the mind of man: “Mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is.” Further we are told regarding God: “There is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.”—1 Sam. 16:7; Heb. 4:13.
However, most likely the demons can, because of higher intelligence and better powers of observation, note what is in the mind of man because of his actions and facial expressions. Thus when a man goes contrary to Matthew 5:28 it may be apparent on his face, and so one could tell what is in his mind even though being unable to read it. So they may take advantage of weaknesses that one makes evident and tempt him to sin.
This underscores the importance of right thinking and dependence upon Jehovah. When wrong thoughts enter the mind they should be rejected at once; they should not be entertained, opening the way to sin. (Jas. 1:14, 15) Rather, draw close to God through prayer and meditation on his Word, because in this will be found protection against wrong desires and against the temptations of the Devil and his demons.—Jas. 4:7, 8; Phil. 4:8, 9.
I remember the articles about Malawi ... as a child, I would have nightmares about the tortures that were described in details .. the most horrifying to me was the poking of bicycle spokes through the calves, and punching pregnant women in the belly. I would get up in the middle of the night and read them over and over, stomach clenching, filled with terror. I think it intensified the abuse I was receiving at home, and made it worse for me .. even the great Jah could not protect me!
Well, it felt good to vent that. No one understands, if they didn't grow up with it.
tal
I remember finding all the talk of torture very disturbing as a young boy.
I knew I wouldn't be able to endure it & hence knew I was a failure as a JW even before 'it' started.
I couldn't understand how Jehovah would assess how many fingernails I could tolerate being ripped out before I blabbed & if he was that involved with the situation how he could even let it happen in the first place.
Hoab
This 'torture talk' became so bad that finally the wts put out the word notto go on about it. Early 70's from memory.
Al foil hats anyone?
I remember my father having two copies of the oh-so-precious Congregation Contact List (only elders were permitted to have it), listing all the friends' phone numbers and addresses. We were under strict orders that, if persecution were to suddenly break out and he was at work, it was our job to tear them up into little pieces and flush them down the toilet so the police would have a harder time tracking down the friends.
I also recall having a reversable coat when I was young. I remember speculating how it would be that much easier to escape from the police out in service now that I had this fancy new coat.
The Watchtower (1962) says:
This underscores the importance of right thinking and dependence upon Jehovah. When wrong thoughts enter the mind they should be rejected at once; they should not be entertained, opening the way to sin. (Jas. 1:14, 15)
What a classic example of "Newspeak" from George Orwell's classic futuristic novel, '1984' (published in 1949). It's as if Watchtower Society's Writing Dept. are serving as the 'Minitruth' (ministry of truth, the gov't agency that dispensed official party-line propaganda), and it sure seems they were big fans of Orwell, since they didn't miss a trick.
respectful observer said-
I also recall having a reversable coat when I was young. I remember speculating how it would be that much easier to escape from the police out in service now that I had this fancy new coat.
That was a back-up I guess, only needed if the two burly muscle-bound angels that were supposed to protect you lost track of the time while 'blasting' their calves at the gym, and didn't show....
You've got to love how the JWs "shot-gun" their defense strategies, always having a back-up fantasy plan ready to go, just in case the primary fantasy defense fails.
As a young prepubescent male hearing the talks about Nazi torture at a convention, there must've been an ancedote about how the Nazi guards would try to get witnesses to commit sin for their sadistic amusement and to break their integrity by forcing them to have sex with each other (as an adult, it's not too far out of line with psychological torture measures: I'm reminded of those pictures from Abu Gharib showing prisoners being forced to form naked dog-piles, or simulating oral sex on each other, etc).
As a ten yr old male (who didn't exactly even KNOW what sex was all about), I distinctly remember thinking that if I were in that situation I'd close my eyes, pray intently, and despite the beatings, I wouldn't comply with their wishes to have sex with a young JW female and the guards would have to physically FORCE me to have sex. I would remain immobile, and thus steadfast in MY faith.
And THAT'S a perfectly healthy mental image to foster in the mind of a 10 yr old, LOL!
Adam
Yep... It was there all right . We were going to be locked up, beaten, starved , thrashed to one inch of our lives - before the end! But "Do not worry, if we keep integrity Jehovah will reward us" ....
Now it is all rather laid back. The younger ones have no idea , and the old ones no longer have to worry. The oldsters will still tell you that it is not too late to be still coming !
There's no way in hell the current crop could ever handle the shit that JWs were set up to endure back in the day; they're all soft.
