i am 32 years and have recently left the organisation.
i got baptised in last feb. please excuse any typing errors i have dyslexia.
it has been so hard this year i have gone through so many ups and downs.
Yes, Giordiano, thank you, this place is a refuge and a hiding place from the windstorm! Ha! (I love using the scriptures back at them!)
And YOU too have made many posts which have helped me and given me much food for thought. Lots of insights and advice, very kind. Thank you.
I had not seen this post the first time around, so hopefully, Hurting, you are doing all right?
i am 32 years and have recently left the organisation.
i got baptised in last feb. please excuse any typing errors i have dyslexia.
it has been so hard this year i have gone through so many ups and downs.
MicaSmith.... your post... omg. So much of it speaks to me as well, and will probably help my own daughter (and sons, too?) who I raised in this goddamn cult. (Please excuse me, I don't normally swear, it mostly comes out when I talk about this religion!)
Thank you for sharing your extremely helpful insights ...
i am 32 years and have recently left the organisation.
i got baptised in last feb. please excuse any typing errors i have dyslexia.
it has been so hard this year i have gone through so many ups and downs.
THIS!!!!! ----> "... life passes so quickly as a JW: day in, day out, the same objective -- proving your worth to yourself and to others..."
This hit me, BOOM!! This sentence resonated with me so much!!! - it hit me like a ton of bricks!! THIS is the reason that f'n cult appealed to me (excuse language), and why I stayed in it so god awfully long!!!! (close to 30 years & I was not born in!)
I had been damaged by life, certain circumstances & situations that badly hurt a little girl's psyche -- and your sentence just leaped out at me -- it's like it has finally been explained to me what the heck I needed from that cult -- because that question has been on my mind a long time, and I just couldn't explain it in my head the exquisitely perfect way you just said it, with such simple clarity and focus of insight.
If you feel as though you have gained healing or comfort or clarity here too as well, from the dear PEOPLE here (not "these ones, those ones, such-like ones" -- the way the bOrg describes their members (drones)!, always just as a NUMBER!! - ha! And watch them change that because they friggin' read these boards!! - but I digress) -- please know that you have just amazingly helped heal and comfort me, Muddy -- Muddy Waters -- a lady now in her 50's with thankfully NO members of her family left in the Borg!)
This board, and another, has been instrumental in my journey out of an extremist group. This board is my therapist! :) and I hope the dear individuals here know how valuable you all are.
many bro s spoken about the bethelite natheer salih as a wise iraquian jew that became jw.he worked in writting dpertmente.
somebody knows him ?
i will reserve comment but mr. pole has regularly represented the canadian branch of the jws'.
he is their go to lawyer when needing non-direct society representation.. disappointed at how slimy he has become.
he and i used to be friends.
Interesting that the lawyer knows how to set up investment accounts in the Cayman Islands....
And despicable that the lawyer wanted to take the parts of the estate that was meant for the children and give it to the WT too!!
if someone commits financial fraud, they commit a crime, and can be punished (jailed).. but if someone commits a religious fraud, western society does not see that as a crime.. on another thread, a poster pointed out that the jws, "literally steals peoples lives and causes horrendous damage.
of course, the jws are not the only religion to practise religious fraud.
all sorts of large and small religions make unverifiable promises and ask for financial support on the basis of their promises, which is precisely what financial defrauder does.
Pbrow, you keep saying people are on their own to be free or to be free thinkers (if I am understanding your post correctly),
because you said, among other things: "At the end of the day, jdubs do not steal peoples lives. Individuals choose to follow a set of beliefs. Individuals choose to shun family members. Individuals choose to withhold blood related medical treatment."
I believe that JWism DOES steal people's lives. It seems like you may be minimizing the effects of "mental indoctrination" (read: brain-washing) where to even question the WT leaders is a sin. And on top of that, you are constantly told NOT to rely on your own wisdom, that your heart is tricky, that doubts come from Satan, that "independent" or critical thinking is a sin....
And add this as well: the consequences of leaving the group can mean complete ostracization and losing your whole family and all your friends, perhaps your inheritance too.... This is not benign stuff.
Yes, it is more a psychological prison verses a literal, physical prison, but the effects are the same. It takes a great deal to wear down the mental barriers and levels of corresponding fears/guilts/shames, etc., to reach a point of allowing oneself to even question the authority.
I do not think many people are "born Free".... I think freedom and its concept is something one learns, and begins to appreciate and respect, both for oneself and others, the more time goes on. And that with freedom, comes responsibility and accountability. It is not always a gift unto itself. The more it is appreciated, the more it is valued. And in JW-land, freedom is not a concept one learns about in a personal way. Even the concept of freedom is defined by their terms and is always presented with their religious bias and agenda of the WT.
Apologies in advance if I misunderstood your post.
- Muddy
will you be a survivor of the last days?.
serving with jehovah’s unified organization.
move ahead with jehovah’s unified organization.
the watchtower 2007 feb 15 pp.30-31 explains why jehovah's witnesses are not to toast.
what is astounding is that for each point they then go on an explain why the point is irrelevant, yet still conclude toasting is wrong.
what did people think when reading this?
the resurrection is supposed to be a joyous occasion?, if it ever happened!
--well, this week's showing at the hall was the opposite, it was about death with violins playing in the background.
a recently bereaved member, , full of tears, (like many others) could not contain herself.
The video used no words, no scriptures, nothing but music and scenes of dying, grief, pain, and loss. The "sister" sat alone, imagining a resurrection scenario. The reality was dark and grim. Only the imaginary resurrection scene was bright and happy.
They are like vultures, feeding off the rottenness and pains of reality, and using it to stuff themselves fat.
Stuff like this this makes them cold toward the reality of grief and loss. They show no comfort except to show you imaginary scenarios. But they believe these scenarios are possible realities, and JWs are supposed to focus on that.
We have friends who lost an infant in death, and they were beside themselves with grief. Nobody offered any comfort except to say things like, "Well, you can be thankful that the baby will grow up in the new system instead of this evil one!" and, "You are grieving too much, it seems like you need to rely on Jehovah more." and, "Put your focus on field service and attending the meetings. That is where you will find strength and encouragement." Total and utter crap for them.
the resurrection is supposed to be a joyous occasion?, if it ever happened!
--well, this week's showing at the hall was the opposite, it was about death with violins playing in the background.
a recently bereaved member, , full of tears, (like many others) could not contain herself.
BASTARDS!!! I just watched this, and as I have lost my mom last year, all the things in this video triggered all the feelings of pain, loss, grief...
Those bastards captured it all, even to holding the person's hand as they lay dying, without energy to squeeze back....
Emotional manipulation....
Horrid, heartless .... and people are supposed to be "encouraged" by this???
In the JW culture, a person has no boundaries, all is expected to be revealed and told to the elders. The rank and file have no exclusions. Yet there is no transparency at the top or other upper levels. So they are free to twiddle and tweak the emotions and whatever else they want to twiddle and tweak of the R & F.
Bastards and their bastard behaviour. And too full of themselves to even be ashamed.
