I love being able to question" everything, too, Pam.......Your comment about guilt is a good one. JW's are trained to be guilty. No matter what happens, you are taught to question whether YOU were responsible for not getting Jehovah's blessing, if something turned out bad.
Do You See In Yourself Continuing Jehovah's Witness Traits?
by minimus 33 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
ikhandi
I still don't understand the big deal about birthdays and xmas, so I choose not to observe them. Their orgins still don't make sense to me. Its still very important for me to try to display the nine fruitages of the spirit in my life.
-
Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice.
I can't give up burning the frankincense and myrrh, and sacrificing the firstborn of my sheep and goat flock, but, from what I can learn, not every congo participated in such ritual. Maybe I should just stick to reading the daily text.
cheeses - confused at times
-
talesin
ikhandi,
For me, it's just a personal thing. For the first time, people actually celebrate the fact that i'm here (birthday). My chosen family (friends) taught me this - in fact, they practically rammed it down my throat. "you are special, dammit!", said they. And xmas/solstice is a special time set aside to honour bonds of friendship when we all have extra time off to do so. This includes my pagan, christian and atheist/agnostic friends. That's why i love these two celebrations so much.
cheeses - yr so funnnnnny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love your (much needed) silliness
-
Vanant
Since I made my decision to leave the borg early this year, I think I've made a lot of progress in removing JW traits from my psyche . . . it helps that I've already been mentally "worldly" in some aspects for a few years previous, such as feeling supportive of issues like feminism, gay rights, blood transfusions, etc. These feelings were actually fundamental in helping me move away from the organization, and I think the progress I've made this year has been in releasing myself from guilt for feeling that way. However, I still hear that nagging little voice whenever I read news articles about bad conditions in the world . . . the voice that says, "wasn't this prophesied?" I try to reason with myself that people haven't changed now compared with people historically, and technology may soon be able to change conditions for the better.
Another problem is that I still have an irrational fear of demons, even though I don't believe they exist . . . even sleeping with a nightlight alleviates the fear only a little bit that something is lurking in the shadows . . . it's hard getting over something that was profoundly terrifying to me as a child, especially since it was made real to me by my parents telling me of their own experiences with the demons. I hope someday I can read ghost stories without feeling tense...
And then I also have great difficulty interacting normally and sustaining friendships with others, something I blame at least partly on the JW upbringing.
-
smurfette
I agree Cheesus is hi-larious.
I still have the guilt thing and the keeping people at an arms length thing as I've seen alot of you do too. The Pledge of Allegiance is the one thing I still haven't done and I've been out for 10 years. Don't know if I will if it ever comes up. Seems like it would be a waste after the rucous I caused in 1st and 2ond grade with the extra patriotic teacher and me battling every day for 2 years. She tried to expel me. I love my country but don't see how the Pledge makes me a better American.
-
Odrade
The flip side is whether we are continuing in "good" traits? Morality, kindness, and such. One could argue that people learn morals and values in all walks of life. While this is true, many of us learned our "good values" from the Witnesses, particularly if we were raised in it, and weren't faced with too much moral hypocrisy. The cong. I grew up in was run by good, moral men. It's actually one of the things that makes it hard to extricate myself from the organization. And lest someone think I just didn't see what was "really" happening, we were intricately involved in the congregation for many, many years. It truly was one of the good ones. Yes, it had its problems, but the elders and servants were, for the most part, good and honest men.
I think those associated with congregations where problems and corruption or cover-ups are rife have an easier time questioning everything. I took many years to see the contradictions doctrinally because of the values in my congregation. There really was a contrast with the "world," and not just because we were out preaching or had some strange religious beliefs. Of course that doesn't invalidate my previous comment about growing up judgmental, I absolutely did. But I'm learning to hold onto the good things I learned and identify the harmful attitudes.
Odrade
-
talesin
well come, vanant
I experienced the same stuff, still sleep with the lights on. It gets better.
-
core
As some one said in reply to another hread
"The Pavlovian autoresponses still kivk-in" after all that indoctrination (sorry training) it is part of your DNA
-
minimus
Most publishers see inequality and unfairness in the Kingdom Halls. The majority can easily see the negatives because rarely does the elder/servant body show wonderful qualities of love and care.