by jambon1 42 Replies latest jw friends
I grew up with one non-jw parent and one jw parent (my mother). My mother's jw family were not that strict , did many things behind closed doors, like holidays.
My dad's sister was part of a religion that believed only they would survive the coming destruction....not ever a jw. Not an exclusive jw concept.
It all depends...........
@ Lancashirelass...
I was just teasing.
I definitely was (am still) a weird kid.
My own kids say so.
My own kids say so.
We say so too...
I'm currently seeing a CBT therapist at the moment. After 43 years of being on this planet, I have realised just how screwed up I am. I balme the watchtower solely for this. Don't tell me, for one minute, images from a "children's book" such as this do not do any harm to a young child!
@ Vidiot
Ha ha. I have no problem in admitting yes I'm still an odd bod
I don't feel sorry for born-ins anymore than any other person who has had a shitty childhood (and let's face it who hasn't got atleast one butthurt story from childhood) for whatever reason. To be honest some ex-jws don't need anymore reason to feel sorry for themselves.
I think in the grand scheme of things as long there wasn't physical or sexual abuse then things could have been better and things certainly could have been worse.
The good news is once you become an adult you are responsible for yourself and your own health and happiness.
Nailed it, sparrowdown.
I do not feel sorry for myself or any other born-in for that reason alone. No, part of life is making an informed change for the better, and it's manifest even in our storytelling. (Fish out of water? Hero's journey?) Don't give up, and don't ask for sympathy all the time.
I'm not saying never or that sympathy is always bad, but how much validation do you really need or expect? Pick yourself up, breathe in, breathe out, and carry on.
It not about sympathy imo. Its about understanding how much all of these kids miss out on, and the horrors that many are are subjected to. In some cases the religion flat out takes their life - they end up dead from refusing a necessary blood transfusion (I grew up with no less than three kids who died this way), and then there are the suicides from a host of WT related anxiety, depression, etc (I grew up with two more who took their lives). That is just my experience....tip of the iceberg. Even those who do reasonably well are missing out on so many "normal" things like good education, comfortable retirement, etc. Its really all very unfortunate and sad imo.
To be fair, some JW's don't have it that bad. It highly depends on the degree of indoctrination. My JW brother has been quite liberal regarding education and material pursuits for his own children. So my nephews have had a rather good life in spite of all those meetings, long boring conventions, preaching, bible reading and crazy JW conversations. Today they benefit from a large network of young JW friends while they pursue worldly things that don't get you in a JC.
@Lee Elder, oh sure. I understand that, and I hope my post doesn't sound too strong. We do need validation and understanding and community.
