Your "Things That Make You Go Hmmm?" List (page 5)

FlyingHighNow

Have a person I am close to in the hospital for the past few days. I still want to comment on your lists. Can't tonight though. I did read the additional comments that came since my last post. Thank you.

Suraj Khan

Going door to door: I believe that truth doesn't have to advertise itself, and the louder it tries to speak, the more it's hiding.

Blood transfusions: Every parental instinct is to care for and save your child at whatever cost to you, including your own life.

The cover of the May 15, 1984 Watchtower, "The Generation That Will Not Pass Away".

Subsequent waffles on the approach of the New System with repeated "new light".

Stealth editing of prior published literature.

Rampant hypocrisy, favoritism and politics in our Kingdom Hall.

The suicide of a brother in our KH who had been counseled and threatened with DFing. He left behind a young wife and three children.

The stance against evolution disproved by the fossil record and pretty much every scientific authority anywhere.

The stance against higher education, a transparent attempt to keep younger members stupid and gullible (and trapped, with the recent encouragement to baptize much earlier these days).

Callous disregard for Jesus's exhortation to perform acts of mercy for *all* people. The Organization absolutely ignores the suffering of those who it considers 'worldly'.

daringhart13

Jesus never once mentioned a paradise earth where most of mankind would reside.

God watches his children tortured for 'his name'....while an imperfect parent would never dream of doing the same under any circumstance.

How is it JW's quote Psalms 146:3 all the time......and yet tacitly obey 7 old guys in NY?

Why bother with field service if everyone that dies this side of Armageddon is in? Wouldn't it be easier to count time as a serial killer? You're guaranteeing people's passage to paradise

FlyingHighNow

Here are things that made me go hmmm.

The lack of activities for the children and teenagers. I didn't see why there couldn't be a nursery for babies and toddlers and something like Sunday school for older children. So many things were way over the heads of kids, even teenagers. It seemed to me the JW experience was at times oppressive to youths. I discouraged my daughter from Baptism because I felt only mature adults should make such decisions and face the possibility of being shunned.

Superstition: the governing body often mentioned other people and their fear of evil spirits or their superstitions. I wondered how their fear of demons was different. I also wondered about their fears that an object could be attached to demons, for example something you picked up at a garage sale or thrift shop.

Babies not being resurrected unless they breathe the breath of lifel

Higher education being frowned on.

Being pressured to quit good jobs with good benefits because they interfered with meeting times or weekend field service.

Lessons about Pharisees, then some articles encouraging JWs to behave like them. JWs behaving like Pharisees.

Uniformity--it seemed as though the governing body aimed to quash any individualism or thing that made a person or family unique.

This was a huge one for me: disfellowshipping mentally ill people.

My nephew was repentant, but was disfellowshipped hastily. An appeal committe was brought in and they backed the first committee. The PO from our congo gave a public "Phewww" after the appeal decision. Both committees were wrong. He had done everything to show his repentance, including putting in 60 hours per month in FS. There was a long delay in his first judicial hearing because there weren't enough elders to make a committee. Meanwhile, he busted his arse showing how repentant

That same PO was hitting on the sisters. Finally one of them, a bipolar, but very sweet pioneer named Yvonne exposed his passes at her, which included him telling her not to take her meds, but to meet with him privately for counseling. He was deleted as an elder and removed as a pioneer. But she was removed, too. His wife said to her, "Why'd you have to open your big mouth?" Yvonne had given him the chance to go to the elders himself. He never did, so the CO forced the issue.

The crushing burden of meeting/study/field service schedule. Jesus said his yoke was kindly and light.

Apostate shake up/witch hunt at bethel and the super hysteria over apostate literature.

Opinion of individual bros becoming local policy, such as pressure for brothers not to wear necklaces or bracelets.

It became more and more clear, that the WTBTS cared more about how they looked to world, but did not care how they appeared to baptized jws and their families. Once you were baptized it was, "Keep your mouth shut or we will kick you out and shun you. We don't care what you're upset about."

Ideas about marriage: husbands making bad decisions about finances or child rearing, etc. The JW model for marriage set up both husbands and wives for disappointment in each other and marriage.

The micro management of the flock and the constant pressure to do more and its affect on both mental and physical health. Also its affect on morale in the congregations.

This isn't an exhaustive list. It isn't in chronological order. The biggest issue was seeing less and less of this love the true organization was supposed to have. Also, their definition of love was very warped.

Iown Mylife

Good list, Flying High Now! i so agree with you about the superstition. How many many times did we hear how you should never miss a meeting, or something bad might happen. "Oh, if only they had been at the book study/meeting for field service, they wouldn't have had [whatever accident or bad occurence.]" "Jehovah protects ones in their cars out in field service and on the way to the kh." - HAH that one was proven untrue one day when an elder with a van full of folks out in fs, slammed into the back of a big truck that was at a total stop. The elder couldn't see the brake lights. Several occupants suffered extremely severe injuries, one was a small boy about six years old. He had a lot of surgeries over the next few years. He and his family stuck with the cult, but the mom sort of went rogue when she entered school to train for sonography. She got scared that she wouldn't be able to keep cleaning houses the rest of her life. So maybe HER trust in Jehovah was slightly shaken up.

Marina

FlyingHighNow

Yes, Marina, good thoughts on superstitions and how they played out among the JWs. Just the slightest stray thoughts could bring on attacks by the demons.

millie210

Reading everyones posts here is like a trip down memory lane for me.

Its quite sad really that I should be able to identify with so many posts. That means that a lot of us have had the same experiences and yet we are "supposed" to feel that everything is ok - i and everybody is SO happy - ts just us that feels somethings off!

well HA on that one!

FliyingHighNow - I couldnt help but notice how many of yours had to do with people being treated so wrongly. That is/was my eye opener also.

losingit

Added to my previous list: Satan, the bogeyman with his demon posse.... everything bad was blamed on Satan. Satan was everywhere, permeates everything. It got to be suffocating and just plain old stupid. After a while I thought (and even told some brothers and sisters), " is Satan omniscient, omnipotent?" Really, it just got out of hand! "Oh Satan out that temptation in front of you." I felt Satan was given more credit, had taken more action than Jehovah himself in jw eyes! Ridiculous! F#@% Satan and his crew! Got tired of hearing the bs so much that I rolled my eyes with indignation each time.

Disdain for charitable organizations-- acc to Jws , the Society is the ONLY charity (LOL) that truly cares and provides for the general public. Laughable and HIGHLY offensive-- and that was when I was STILL IN THE ORG! TTATT confirmed what I already knew/sensed-- that fs is garbage, a waste of time. The WTBTS provides nothing to anyone. Instead it starves ppl.

losingit

FHN- yes! Their ideas about marriage just absolutely SUCK!!! My husband and I were fine for the most part when we first got married bc we were not the tradtional jw couple. He helped around the house, we discussed our financial situation, made joint decisions. When he decided that he was going to.put that aside and become a typical jw chauvinist my-oh-my did things REALLY start falling apart. That's part of the reason we are now divorced!

FlyingHighNow

FliyingHighNow - I couldnt help but notice how many of yours had to do with people being treated so wrongly. That is/was my eye opener also.

Yes, the more mistreatment we saw, the more our eyes were opened.

When he decided that he was going to.put that aside and become a typical jw chauvinist my-oh-my did things REALLY start falling apart. That's part of the reason we are now divorced!

The governing body has a lot to answer for. My marriage ended up a disaster, too.

Your "Things That Make You Go Hmmm?" List

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