Posts by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

15

JWTALK Bob Comes Up With A Classic

by AverageJoe1 in

the guy everyone loves to hate, bob, has come up with a classic:.

redefining the concept of "critical thinking" when it comes to jws.. he quite correctly states the need to use critical thinking when reading the bible, yet we all know that pimi jws don't have the first clue what "critical thinking" really means, especially on a thread fawning over how great the gb are and guessing who will be presenting the next jwb!.

the link to the actual comment is:.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

Critical thinking when cross-examining the sovereign of the universe: allowed.

Critical thinking when cross-examining the dudes who claim to speak for said sovereign: DENIED.

Go figure.

@jp1692: Let's review: It's a cult!

32

Jehovah's Witnesses: shame and domination

by john.prestor in

i want to suggest something that i've been ruminating on for a while now.

that involves the possibility that when jehovah's witnesses look for "sheep-like ones" what they're actually looking for is this: those who will allow themselves to be dominated (get rid of things that god "hates," accept the movement's beliefs without protest, not check into the movement's history) and those who are willing to be shamed (letting jehovah's witnesses into their homes when doing so is looked down upon in secular society, talking with them on the street when everyone else avoids them).. i say this because from what i observed at the kingdom halls i attended in the course of gathering data for my research i saw:.

-frequent shaming: jehovah's witnesses must do more to be acceptable to god, they are "good for nothing slaves," they are spared through armageddon by jehovah's "undeserved kindness," etc.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

@john.prestor Some seriously astute observations you've been making. I'd really like to see your finished research! Will you be posting it on this forum?

This was lifted by one of our forum contributors, @pale.emperor, from an approved JWs-only forum:

I also received these words in an email a couple of months ago by an old JW acquaintance who has cottoned on to my external research activities of the Septuagint:

"You owe Jehovah humility and honesty. He doesn't favour the intellectual ones who are proud and showy with their academic knowledge. He sees your loving heart [WHAM!] and has tried to help you on numerous occasions. Now it's time to walk the walk, no more talk. Get to work in proclaiming the kingdom blessings to the lost souls in this dying world... Ignore the occasional hypocrite and just PUT YOUR NOSE TO THE GROUND PLEASING JEHOVAH."

Earlier this year, I had a brief stint with a Jehovah's Witness who conducted a Bible study with me while I feigned interest as a worldly person. Here are some excerpts from some email exchanges we had between studies (all quotes belong to the study conductor):

"These are very complicated arguments you present me with. I remember Jesus words in Matthew 11:25 where Jesus said that Jehovah reveals things not to the wise and intellectual ones but to young children.I am of the latter. Jehovah does the revealing."

"I am prepared to just study the simple truths of the bible with you, but you need to decide what motivates you to want to talk to us. We are looking for people who are looking for the truth. We are delighted to help them find the simple truth of the bible. I hope you are one of these people."

"Jehovah does not want us to be ignorant either. But when it comes to wisdom I feel I need to be humble and recognise that human wisdom pales into insignificance when it comes to Jehovah’s wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:19."

"I’m willing to discuss with you what I have learned is the truth, but I’m not willing to debate about words or dates. Times are urgent, we need to get on with the job Jesus gave us Matt 28:19-20. Matt 24:14 Matt 10-7. If you still want me to come on those terms I will be happy to."

"Really, the truth is very simple, paradise lost, paradise regained. Even uneducated simple people can grasp it because it is Jehovah who reveals it."

"I have decided that I will not be discussing things any more, I feel that you have formed very firm ideas about jw. Nothing I could say would change your mind."

29

Pioneers, Prayers and Pills

by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

looking back on my two decades as a jehovah’s witness, i’ve come to realize how the constant theme of endurance is playing a detrimental role on the individual's psyche.. jehovah’s witnesses have become far too good at keeping going.

they’re experts at surrendering to the demands of the watchtower, living up to what’s expected of them, and getting on with the priorities that those in power have defined and imposed upon them.

they keep showing up, presenting themselves a dutiful pioneer or ministerial servant.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

Looking back on my two decades as a Jehovah’s Witness, I’ve come to realize how the constant theme of Endurance is playing a detrimental role on the individual's psyche.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have become far too good at keeping going. They’re experts at surrendering to the demands of the Watchtower, living up to what’s expected of them, and getting on with the priorities that those in power have defined and imposed upon them. They keep showing up, presenting themselves a dutiful pioneer or Ministerial Servant. Many can pull this magical feat up for years at a time, without so much as an outward twitch.

And then one day, much to everyone’s surprise (including their own) they break. The rupture can take many forms. The Bethelite develops chronic fatigue. The Coordinator’s wife falls into a catatonic depression. The budding Elder is overcome by social anxiety. The Regular Pioneer restricts calories, or starts eating themselves into a stupor. Perhaps the Witness is compelled to do something extremely scandalous and entirely contrary to their regular JW selves. They might have an affair; get involved in explosive arguments; go down the path of drug or alcohol abuse… only to return, tail between legs, to the organization, pleading for a second chance at enduring.

The breakdown of a Jehovah’s Witness is hugely inconvenient for everyone involved. Salvation is at risk due to inactivity, families will shun loved ones for destructive behavior, and the congregational milieu will take a hit. And so, unsurprisingly, there is an immediate rush to medicate the problem in an attempt to exorcise it from the Witness so that “business as usual” can resume.

It is my sincerest belief that the JW brand of breakdown is not merely a random piece of madness or malfunction. It’s a very real - albeit very inarticulate - bid for awakening. It is the attempt of one part of their mind trying to force the other into a process of growth, intellectual honesty and self development, which it has been forbidden to undertake.

The go-to fix for many Jehovah’s Witnesses’ breakdowns is to medicalize it. But this is to misunderstand what’s going on when a Jehovah’s Witness finally suffers a break down. This shifts the true issue aside at once , tragically resulting in the missed lesson embedded in their sickness. While this may be a painful breaking down of their soul, it is also an extraordinary opportunity for them to break through into reality.

And so, the vital reason for the breakdown may be chalked up to the abuse of one word: ENDURANCE.

Throughout the years of faithful service, Witnesses were never allowed to flex their own thoughts. There were things they needed to hear in their own minds which were deftly put to one side under the thought-terminating cliché: “leave it in Jehovah’s hands”. There were messages the Witness needed to heed from the outside. There were bits of emotional learning and communicating that weren’t permitted. And then, after being patient for far too long, their true self is attempting to make itself heard in the only way it now knows how.

Above anything else, what the breakdown is telling the Witness is that it must no longer be “business as usual”. That things HAVE to change. Or, in its most frightening case, that death might be preferable than where they are currently.

So why do so many Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to drug themselves into submission in order to meet their hourly requirement? We all know the answer. The JW conscious mind is conditioned into quixotic simplicity and spurred on by fear - completely terrified to engage with what the breakdown has to eventually tell them with brutality. For years, their mind refused to listen to the growing sadness inside, the dysfunction within their own family behind closed doors, or some injustice they’ve witnessed in their congregation. Maybe there were ordinary desires of their true self that were swept very far under the proverbial carpet.

We can compare the process of this breakdown to a revolution. For years, the people press the government to listen to their demands and adjust. For years, the government makes token gestures - but shuts its ears. Until one day, it’s simply too much for the people. They storm the palace gates, destroy the fine furnishings, shoot randomly at the guilty and the innocent.

Mostly, in revolutions, there is no good outcome. The legitimate grievances and needs of the people are not addressed or even discovered. There’s an ugly civil war, and sometimes suicide. But then there are some of us who make it out to the other side. The difference between an active Jehovah’s Witness and an awakened one who has walked away from the battlefield is, we wear our wounds on the outside. There is no need to hide them internally and deal with the pain in ashamed silence anymore.

Breaking through a breakdown involves listening to, rather than censoring the illness with a veil of silence, a tight-lipped smile and an over-dependence on happy pills. Within the oddities and trauma of the breakdown, apostates have detected the internal plea to think critically. The desire to love and be loved unconditionally. For a more honest and fulfilled way of being. For acceptance of who we really are sexually, secularly or spiritually.

For any active Jehovah’s Witness out there who is in the midst of their own mental breakdown, you may feel you are going mad. You have not. You’re behaving oddly, no doubt. But beneath the surface agitation, you are on a hidden, yet logical search for awakening. You didn’t suddenly become mentally ill… You were already. This crisis is an attempt to dislodge you from the Watchtower’s toxic status quo. It represents an insistent call to rebuild your life on a more authentic and sincere basis.

I say all of this with earnestness, because it happened to me.

28

Prof Bunsen / G Jackson?? See the similarities? It's the Muppet Show!

by stuckinarut2 in

perhaps someone can assist here?.

while watching the may 2017 broadcast, it struck us how similar g jackson looks (while sitting and wearing his waist coat) to the muppets character prof bunsen!!!!.

perhaps someone with better computer skills can upload the pics side by side?.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

On behalf of @stuckinarut2, I'd like to present you with the Muppet 8. Sit back, relax and enjoy another episode of Puppets Who Mind F*ck With No Strings Attached:

56

Spiritual "Protection" - a Menace on Psychological Development

by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

not quite a week ago, @lost in the fog created a thread entitled: do you have this illness?.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5187824140681216/do-you-have-this-illness.

in my year of being on this forum, i have browsed many a disillusioned thread of ex-jehovah’s witnesses expressing similar symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder when detailing their awakening - my own story included.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

@Still Totally ADD I'm sure having you and your wife welcoming him back home will soften some of the trauma. Such a happy story, and congratulations again. I do believe that pinpointing exactly HOW things went bottom side up can help in the recovery process. So if this thread can help your son not just identify, but truly understand the cause of such mental heaval, then I'm glad.

7

Scared Kids with cognitive dissonance

by Wakanda in

this is not about sexual child abuse, and i apologize if i put it under the wrong subject area.

stream of consciousness writing: .

i was just thinking about how before i became more of an uber dub in my teen years i was a very frightened child.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

@Wakanda: "I remember looking at a parent putting his arm around his daughter at the meeting and just feeling so empty and ill inside."

You were fairly perceptive at such a young age to know there was something seriously wrong with the JW brand of love.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, @Wakanda. It's not easy growing up with a narcissistic family. You either fall prey to that toxic cycle and repeat it, or you break free from it as you did. I wish you and your husband nothing but good health - both physical and mental. You're a survivor. x

15

2018 Regional Convention

by Addison0998 in

well guys, after a spiritually encouraging convention, i’ve decided to return my heart back to jehovah.

i realize i was just being too negative and i need to adjust my attitude.

just kidding suckers.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

@Addison0998: "My mother also called me pro-gay for cringing at the video with homophobic Sally."

If you really want to f*ck with her, start accessorizing with a rainbow wristband.

14

The elephant on the street

by Normalfulla in

as a contractor i travel around for my job, i was stopped this morning to buy some milk at a store in a small village i guess and as i turned a corner i saw 2 elders i know personally manning a cart in the cold outside the store with not a soul in sight and an unlikely place for much traffic even though it was outside a country store.

1 elder is my brother in laws father and the other was in my old cong when i left, i said hello, talked about the weather and general chit chat and was my usual self, they were pleasant also but nothing was mentioned to me about anything spiritual etc.

i know they will be aware of some of my reasons for leaving (the few that i talked about initially before shutting my trap) but they were unwilling to engage in saving my life with their work!

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

@Normalfulla: "...they were pleasant also but nothing was mentioned to me about anything spiritual etc."

They knew not to go there with you - alas the elephant would have unloaded on them with all its apostate glory:

12

It takes a good imagination to be a JDub

by Sour Grapes in

at the regional convention, the speaker said that jehovah is our best friend.

so let's see...if i need a ride to the doctor's office can i call on my best friend to give me a ride to the office?

when i wake up in the morning and tell my best friend jehovah, "good morning, how are you?

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

Three kinds of people with imaginary friends:

1) Children

2) Schizophrenics

3) Jehovah's Witnesses

20

I watched some of the Regional Assembly

by Sour Grapes in

i watched about 2 hours of the regional assembly and these are my thoughts.

the video's and songs did stir my good memories of when i was a jdub elder and very happy in the religion.

i can see how these two things would make it difficult to leave the borg because of the emotional buy-in.. now getting into the talks, the cults true colors show and i wonder how in the hell was i a part of that for over 40 years.

Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho

@Sour Grapes: "Without these videos there would be many more Witlesses heading for the exit doors."

I'm not sure if anyone else experienced this, but for me, it was the exact opposite. It was by watching the fruity dramatizations played at the Remain Loyal convention that I was startled awake. If I hadn't been exposed to such frightening material (and believe me, I was frightened as a still-in JW at that convention), I would have most likely tossed and turned and continued in my slumber.