UK newspaper interest in "mentally diseased", any Witnesses want to come forward?

by cedars 47 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  cedars

  Hello everyone

  Following the recent activity surrounding the "mentally diseased" apostate article, a major UK newspaper has expressed an interest in covering the story. The correspondent as been told about this forum, and he is particularly interested in hearing from those INSIDE the organisation, as I think few people are aware of how much unrest there is actually within witness ranks at the teachings of the Society.

  Would anybody like to be used as a source, either anonymously or otherwise? If so, it might be worthwhile saying a few words on this thread. Obviously, he will no doubt reserve the right to decide for himself which remarks or experiences are the most relevant, so nobody (including me) can be guaranteed that his or her experience will be used, but I thought it would be worthwhile to give everybody the opportunity to come forward if you feel you have something to say.

  Off you go!

  Cedars
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  sizemik

  I spent 23 years as an active Jehovah's Witness. I ceased attending their church because of the cult-like mistrust being inculcated into members . . . mistrust of Society in general, Educational Institutions, Medical Institutions, Secular Authorities and the Government.

  Since the voluntary withdrawal of my membership, I have become aware of the increase in the mental manipulation of current church members to develop an unhealthy aversion toward past members, which has now become a campaign of outright hatred. In response I have forwarded an official complaint to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and currently await their response.
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  skeeter1

  I have a few relatives who are very active Jehovah's Witnesses. They attend every meeting, go out in service, pioneer as full time door-to-door ministers, etc. They associate with me rarely, and only can do so because I was never a full member of the church. Had I been baptized, I am sure that they would have nothing to do with me. That being said, when I have shown them discrepencies in their literature, they REFUSE to look at my findings. The JWs literally run away from it, go into another room, and call someone on the phone (elder, I suppose, to give direction on what to do)! I can't bring up the subject of apostate information too much, or they will run away from me!

  The newspaper reporter should try it. Go to a Kingdom Hall and show some apostate literature. Ask the active Jehovah's Witness to hold a book, like Crisis of Conscience while previously announcing it was apostate material. They will recoil like it was a snake about to bite them! Better yet, the newspaper reporter should read the magazine article and ask an elder to explain it. Or, go under cover and first visit a KH as an apostate.

  Skeeter
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  punkofnice

  I was born into the Jehovah's witnesses as both my parents were 'baptized' into the sect.

  I stopped attending their meetings over a year ago after resigning as an elder in the faith. I am regularly hounded by the elders from my old congregation as the seek to 'out' me and get my JW family and friends to shun me.

  I left because I discovered the higher I rose in the ranks, the more the working were business based and very little to do with the Bible and/or Christianity. The JW 'Laws' are dictated by men in Brooklyn that communicate these in secret letters to the Elders.

  I was horrified that the WBTS took NGO status with the United Nations whilst at the same time preaching how evil the UN was.

  I was apalled over the years, at the lack of genuine love JWs have for anyone despite the outward 'public image' JWs have. Form the Watchtower's own words of utter hatred of anything Non JW;

  "Jesus encouraged his followers to love their enemies, but God's Word also says to "hate what is bad." When a person persists in a way of badness after knowing what is right, when the bad becomes so ingrained that it is an inseparable part of his make-up, then in order to hate what is bad a Christian must hate the person with whom the badness is inseparably linked." Watchtower 1961 Jul 15 p.420

  If this isn't evidence that there is institutionalised 'hate crime' within the organization I don't know what is.
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  TJ Curioso

  While the Watchtower praises the apostates of other religions , especially those who were against the religious dictatorship imposed by the Catholic Church in past centuries , all those who dare to point out mistakes , contradictions and serious doctrinal and other distortions within the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses are considered " mentally diseased" .

  Any JW who dares to question any doctrine , runs the serious risk of being banned and being ostracized by the community and family JW. In Brazil , the prosecutor raised a lawsuit against the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Brazil, for religious discrimination , a process that is being examined in court and may, if he wins , bring great impact on the organization money and doctrinal level .

  Surch for Sebastião Ramos in the net and you will see the news. Look at youtube and you will see videos about it.
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  cedars

  Thanks everyone, please keep those experiences coming...
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  Mad Sweeney

  This was merely one six-paragraph subheading in a study article. In just six paragraphs all of the following terms were used:

  “Not content, ravenous wolves, leading them away from truth, cunning, corruptive, smugglers, clandestine, like clever forgers, having fabricated views, false arguments, deceptive teachings, twisting the scriptures, not having others best interests at heart, false teachers, infected with a contagious deadly disease, and mentally diseased, dried-up wells that deceive and disappoint.”

  Depending on how you count that is 17 or more slanderous terms in just six paragraphs.

  And the other articles in that issue have more crap scattered throughout.
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  St George of England

  Awake July 2009 Page 29:

  "No one should be forced to worship in a way he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family"

  Any JW who thinks about leaving will HAVE to make this choice, that is why I am still a member.

  George
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  JeffT

  I became a Jehovah's Witness in 1973, the year I graduated from college. At that time the Witness community was talking up the possibility, originally raised in Watchtower literature, that the world would end in 1975. The Watchtower society and most Witnesses who were around at the time now deny that fact. In 1973 I attended a large convention in Vancouver, BC. That convention included a drama about the fall of Jericho. Following the drama a four page tract was released with the statement that we would distribute it during a two week period in September. We were to simply drop them off at doors without doing much talking. We were led to believe we would do this evey three months. A fellow witness pointed out that if we did this seven times (equalling the times the Israelites marched around Jericho) the last one would be in September 1975. Of course we all knew the end was due in October.

  Fifteen years later that witness denied making the comment, in fact she said "nobody said anything like that."

  My wife and I began a program of personal investigation into the methods and teachings of the Watchtower Society--an act stricty forbidden. We stopped attending meetings to pursue our study. At one pont two women from our congregation stopped by our house to tell my wife that they wanted to study the bible with her to encourage her and added the words "Jeff won't even have to know about it." They assumed that I was the one driving our lack of meeting attendence.

  In fact my wife had been concerned about doctrinal matters longer than I had been worried about false prophecy. I had been disturbed by a talk at another convention telling young people not to go to college because the end was so close. My wife was stuggleing with the Watchtower's two-tier version of Christianity. She had been raised attending mainstream churches and joined the witnesses only after other family members.

  We officially terminated our relationship with the Watchtower society in the spring of 1989. Since that time family and friends refuse to talk to us. Shortly after we mailed the letter disassociating ourselves I saw a group of former witness friends preaching in our neighborhood. They talked to the house on our left, crossed the street, walked past the boundry line, and recrossed the street to visit the house on our right.

  And they say we're disturbed.

  Jeffrey A. Thomas

  Mill Creek, WA
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  The Quiet One

  As an active Jehovahs Witness I am constantly afraid that one day I might slip up and say something that would make my family (most of them are Witnesses) realise that I no longer believe that the Governing Body are directed by God, as I know what would happen.. I would be labelled an 'apostate', shunned and hated by my Jehovahs Witness family, and nobody I know in the organisation (we're encouraged to only be friends with people who are jw's, so that would mean almost everyone that I am closest to) would be allowed to speak to me. According to the July 15th watchtower study edition I would be viewed as 'mentally diseased', simply for not being able to believe that the Governing Body should be unquestioningly obeyed in all things, as though they were speaking for God himself, as I feel there is no evidence to support such a claim. This study article reminded me of how I would be seen, and how I would be treated, by my Jw family if I ever dared to express my views on the Governing Body to anyone. The fear of being labelled as an enemy, an 'apostate', and being shunned by those closest to me will prevent me from ever truly being myself. And I'll have to live the rest of my life knowing that my Witness family will only continue to treat me lovingly if I never speak about my so called 'mentally-diseased' views.