..to think about how the congregations actually function....even down to the individual level.. the biggest bully on the boe (or his wife), controls the show.. ones within the congregation are treated like they're dirt and still they return.
stockholm syndrome?.
i've heard ones say that 'jehovah(tm) will sort it all out.
Haha, Punk, you gave me a laugh. Thinking of her in those terms! hee hee hee
Hahahahaha!! LOL. Bwhahahaha! "... battle axe.... cow....!" Lmao.
I'd have never dared to think of anyone like that. Such sacrilege! Speaking abusively of glorious ones (or their wives!!) hahahaha.
I feel so naughty now, lol.
And the younger, idealistic, brainwashed, hurt young "sister" I was at the time, thanks you, too. :)
it's amazing how the expression "the truth" has become such an ingrained term used by witnesses.. "we have 'the truth'".
"is he 'in the truth'?".
most here have found out so many facts about the organisation, and felt the effects of being "gut-punched" as we realised these facts.. so how do you feel about the expression "the truth" now?.
(Posting this from the other thread..)
I wouldn't be so hard on people who still use the term, "the truth", especially people who were born into this religion. It is very ingrained. And to them, "the truth" means the JW religion, not necessarily the TRUTH.
I was talking with a friend recently, she's DF'd, knows more than me about all the lies and subterfuge, yet when we talk, she'll still say things like, "Remember Brother so-and-so..? He left the truth, too." She was raised in the religion, and knows absolutely that is not in any way, shape, or form, "the truth", but to her, it is simply another way of referring to this religion/cult.
She gets impatient with me when I mention her use of this expression. "Well, of course I know that it isn't "the truth - it's just another term for that f'd up religion!"
So while that term grates on my nerves, too, I understand it takes a long time, if ever, to eradicate.
it's amazing how the expression "the truth" has become such an ingrained term used by witnesses.. "we have 'the truth'".
"is he 'in the truth'?".
most here have found out so many facts about the organisation, and felt the effects of being "gut-punched" as we realised these facts.. so how do you feel about the expression "the truth" now?.
I wouldn't be so hard on people who still use the term, "the truth", especially people who were born into this religion. It is very ingrained. And to them, "the truth" means the JW religion, not necessarily the TRUTH.
I was talking with a friend recently, she's DF'd, knows more than me about all the lies and subterfuge, yet when we talk, she'll still say things like, "Remember Brother so-and-so..? He left the truth, too." She was raised in the religion, and knows absolutely that is not in any way, shape, or form, "the truth", but to her, it is simply another way of referring to this religion/cult.
She gets impatient with me when I mention her use of this expression. "Well, of course I know that it isn't "the truth - it's just another term for that f'd up religion!"
So while that term grates on my nerves, too, I understand it takes a long time, if ever, to eradicate.
dear fellow posters and friends:.
a friend had been making excellent recovery after hospitalization and rehab.
then, some 6 weeks later, while an infection set in, he had to return to hospital.
"... was wondering if you or yours have ever had what appeared to be a good recovery, only to be followed by an unexpected reversal of progress and consequent decline."
Yes, this happened to one of my uncles, he was doing fine but then got some kind of staph infection.
An acquaintance also had this happen, appeared to be fine, then suddenly not. Had an instrument left inside her body.
having recently read orwells 1984, i was impressed with how he understood that both politicians and people abuse language.
this further confirmed to me how the w.t had deceived me by using words to distort reality.
the book 1984, also contains many other great thoughts of george orwell.. of course there have been many other great thinkers, buddah, darwin, freud, einstein and marx come to mind.
I am new to reading all these new & fascinating thoughts & "philosophies of men", so I may have a weird list. But some people/authors who have definitely opened my mind have been:
- Christopher Hitchens
- George Orwell
- Leo Tolstoy
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Ray Franz :)
- Isaac Asimov
- Oscar Wilde
- D. H. Lawrence
- Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) heh, why can't you explore new thoughts in cartoon format..? One reason I also liked "Peanuts", Charles Schultz. :)
...
apologies if some of these people may not be considered "great thinkers" - to me they seemed to be, as their words opened up many new thoughts and ideas and insights.
I continue the journey and look forward to reading some of the works mentioned above!
i did not write this piece.
i enjoyed the simple and understandable reasoning.
hope some of you enjoy it too.
Awesome posts, thank you. Although getting through it all did leave me rather dizzy, lol.
Splane is just so creepy. It almost seems like he's the motor behind many of these weirdnesses, but who knows. They are all so alien to me now. It is *all* very alien and spooky! Looking at these people and realizing they are the ones in charge of all the dogma and teachings ....
..to think about how the congregations actually function....even down to the individual level.. the biggest bully on the boe (or his wife), controls the show.. ones within the congregation are treated like they're dirt and still they return.
stockholm syndrome?.
i've heard ones say that 'jehovah(tm) will sort it all out.
Years ago, when I was a single sister with kids (among the lowest of the low in congregation rank), I remember going up to an elder's wife after the meeting to talk to her. I was all friendly, smiling, hello - how are you - and she POINTED* at me and said in this rude, commanding tone: "IT'S YOUR TURN TO CLEAN THE HALL TONIGHT!! Check the board, it's your book study's turn!"
There was no hello, no how are you, just this finger pointed at me and a command.
I knew then that I could never be friends with her. It was so disheartening, I never forgot the way that made me feel.
...
* ... and when I say she "pointed" her finger at me, I don't mean she just stuck her finger out slightly, it was a full, stick your arm out as far as you can, don't get any closer, invasion of the body snatchers, type of pointing at me. Most disconcerting.
this is the fun one......... .
health, dismemberment, death (natural and unnatural) murder and suicide..
the people at bethel were killing us spiritually.......and sometimes they killed us physically too..
"There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed...." (from whatever scripture)
THANK YOU so much for these stories... it is fascinating to see "behind the veil" into the "most holy of holies" (God's house). uh huh.
Simon, maybe we need a new category for the forum, for Bethel experiences...? These are so eye opening and fascinating, not to mention sad, sad, sad beyond reason.
in this jc the couple accused of apostasy, lay down some inconvenient and incontestable truths about the organization's teachings that leave the elders speechless - as far as them mustering any efforts to refute them.
oh and by the way, do you remember what geoffrey jackson said at the australian royal commission when he was asked about an inactive jw being called to account if the elders stopped by and find him celebrating the holiday?
don't worry if you've forgotten because the couple mentions it to the elders, you know, seeing as it's the very same reason why they're being accused of apostasy, thus proving geoffrey jackson's statements to be false!.
I like how the brother stood up to the elders and firmly told them NOT to do anything that would threaten his family relationships.
I think by that point the elders were wishing they'd never started that judicial committee. I sure hope they just leave him and his wife alone.
