by larc 30 Replies latest jw friends
Larc,
You make a valid point. Yes, I did accept what would happen to me if I left the JW's. However, it is only once you are gone and way from the drip of continuous esteem-robbing propaganda, that you start to perceive that what you once found to be acceptable, is actually a breach of human rights.
Englishman.
"deliverance" ?As long as it doesn't involve religion...lol
i was prepared and ready for the ramifications of my dissassociation. it helped that i had moved, and haven't really seen a person since, but i still run across jw's even where i live now, that do know me. (i have one of those faces ya can't forget )
it does not bother me one bit. at first i was afraid i would "run into" someone, but i got over it and i no longer "fear" running into dubs any longer. i will talk to them, i am not lowering myself to "their" lever by "shunning" them. i live a much happier, fuller life than i every lived as a dub. i am happy, and i want to "spread" it around
if i do get "shunned", so what? as far as i am concerned, everyone is a human being, and being christians, we really should show that love Christ spoke of in the bible to everyone.
i have a real problem with the way they treat people who don't measure up to their standards. as i made my way out, i remember 3 people who were dissfellowshipped in my congregation. the last one to get the "ax" as i call it, was an older, 60'ish "sister" who i respected for the way she had to raise her grandchildren (their real mom had died) and for the way she spoke, straight foward and direct. (i don't like the wimpy pussy foot around stuff ).
well this "sister" spoke up to an elder, my old fishing buddy, and confronted him about something or other that he had done, or said. (i'm not so sure about what it was that sparked all this, but i do know it was a personality conflict between the two of them). next thing i knew, she was axed about 2 weeks later. as i was almost out, but nearing the end, i had to protect myself, and avoid the contact, as jw's do. but i really wanted to talk to her, and tell her how much i respected her for standing up and speaking her mind. her husband, some 20 years younger than her, always made an effort when he saw me, to say hello, and shake my hand. so you see, these were not "bad" people imho, but real honest to goodness "christian" stuck in a cult.
my hope is, that they will set themselves free of that damned cult.
"deliverance" ?
As long as it doesn't involve religion...lol
Just make sure it doesn't involve squealing like a pig :o
I hear banjos!!!!
When you get baptized at 15 you really don't know what your getting into. At 17 hormones raging and your lust takes over and guilt makes you tell on yourself and all of the sudden your the whore of the world.
Larc,
I was raised from birth in the JW religion, and baptized at age 16. I thought the JW's were loving and would always do the right things. And I even bought into the idea that disfellowshipping was a loving arrangement from Jehovah, meant to gently guide the wrongdoer back on to the path of eternal life.... How wrong I was! Disfellowshipping is a harsh and cynical control mechanism, I am sure you wouldn't disagree.
How did I find out about the harshness of disfellowshipping? I got on the wrong end of a judicial committee in a congregation where I was relatively new and the "brothers" didn't know me. So when my pioneer wife threw up all these accusations, she was able to sell a good "case" against me.
Anyway, at age 16, how was I to understand the true nature and cruel intent behind the disfellowshipping arrangement? Why don't JW's reach out to the weak and erring, instead of cutting them off like some dried-up branch of a tree?
I personally don't buy the "you knew what you were getting into" idea. It let's the WT Society off the hook just a little too easily.
Gopher
Gopher you are so right on that one. Maybe if I was an adult when I was baptized I wouldn't be so bitter about my disfellowship.
Why are you surprised as to how you were treated. You knew the rules, inside and out. Now, if you get a modicum of attention or communication, you should be thankful
Maybe so, but it doesn't make it any easier, does it? It can still hurt, much like grief.
Although I disagree with the shunning, I could care less what they do. That is, until they step inside my home. That is where I draw the line. DA'd or not, this is still my home and as far as I am concerned, if they cannot be cordial to everyone inside the home, they are not welcome.Oh yes. Right on! It seems that it's common to be insulted in your own home by elders on DF missions.
Even though I'm not officially disfellowshipped, I understand shunning, because I am 'marked' as an apostate.
I expected this from the beginning. I accepted that all of my friends would leave me. It still angers me, though, because I do have ex-JW friends who got out because they bucked the grain, and they are much happier.
I knew I was out when my former best friend came and asked me that question, "Do you still believe in the teachings of Jehovahs Witnesses?", which I dodged of course. I will not lie to a person, but I can avoid their questioning.
Not that I owed him an answer.
I think people know the consequences, but because they've seen so many double standards, they think it will be overlooked, or that the JWs will be content to ignore them without DF.
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