I remember once that I was in a car group and we had a referral call to a woman. The elder sent two woman to call on the householder. They got kind of a negative response. The elder was surprised and said to me later, "I should have sent brothers and not sisters, as a brother would have been able to do better." Why not just say, "thhose dumb woman, it is amazing they even know how to breath." I am sorry, but some of the smartest people I have met in this life, were woman and to belittle them so, is just one more reason why Witness woman are treated with prejudice to the point that they learn to believe it.
Did you ever see or experience prejudice in the religion?
by free2beme 23 Replies latest jw friends
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sammielee24
The religion is all about prejudice
That is the real truth. I was never so appalled as when I sat in the KH as a non-witness, open minded to hearing what the JW's were all about and trying to decide if this was indeed the 'truth' for me, and hearing the talk given about how 'worldly' people were so bad. Bad association. No morals - no values, basically worldly people are the scum of the earth. (comments made by JW to JW with UBM have been - "the whole congregation knows why any man would be with a worldly woman -ie; her conduct is loose and she is only good for sex; and "JW men are coveted by worldly women ie; they are so moral and pure and good). Prejudice is rampant throughout and toward anyone NOT a JW - matters not the skin color or culture. Sammieswife posting this.
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cyber-sista
Aloha Sammieswife,
The last meeting I attended was like this: It was a talk about keeping separate from the world and about the how we should not associate with anyone not JW approved (some talk about ancient Israelites, etc).
I wrote these words several times and even concluded them in a letter to the society, so remember them well.
It was an especially venomous talk about worldly people and at one point he said in a mighty voice "You might reason that your neighbor is a nice person-- a decent moral person who doesn't drink or smoke, but I tell you brothers you should not associate with these people! you should not play basketball with these people! You shouldn't even be speaking to these people, because if you speak with them you may start to think like them!
The basketball comment got to me, but I think it was thrown in there because word was out some of the teenagers were playing basketball with worldlings after school.
The comment, though, about the nice moral decent non-witness neighbor didn't make any sense--what could be wrong with thinking the way a nice person was thinking?
There was a bible study in the audience that night. He had attended a few meetings. I was sitting close to him and noticed looked over to see his reaction, as I was feeling very uncomfortable myself. He was turning red and starting to sweat across his brow. He suddenly bolted up out of his chair and ran to the back of the hall with a horrified expression on his face. I was pretty fed up with the JWs by then and this meeting was a good one to call my last. I still see this man around town and it doesn't look like he ever became a JW. I wonder how they ever make a convert these days...
cybs
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sammielee24
Hi cybs...isn't it all just too hypocritical though?? I can recall sitting through that first meeting and coming away so angry and the anger on that point alone has never gone away because the slanderous tone of the meetings and blatant prejudice against 'wordly' people sickens me. When an organization tries to tell me that my entire family, all the people that I know and every single person that exists outside their Kingdom Halls are all nothing but dirt, it tells me directly what they really think of me. My reasoning goes that if they think that of all worldly people then stop knocking on our doors because it's nothing more than arrogant condescension from a belief that they are somehow so much better than the rest of the world. They are not. Every time I heard another meeting like this it just reinforced my own beliefs that this is not a loving Christian organization and that I could not ever become part of it (baptized) simply because I see the world and all it's people as good and kind hearted, not evil and useless. I could not live my life within an organization that feeds and controls its members on fear and falsehoods. I certainly could not cast off my family as garbage quite so easily as I have had to witness many in this organization do. sammieswife.
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Chia
My sister went to West Virginia to work unassigned territory, and this "sister" they were staying with extended "hospitality" to them by letting them stay in her home. She was so welcoming and sweet, and told them, "Oh, and after field service, you might want to go to the roller skatin' rink. It's where all the jiggaboos hang out." My sister was like, "Jiggaboo, what's a jiggaboo?" And the "sister" laughed and said, "Why, you are, honey!"
And whenever she told that story, everyone laughed and was like, "Jehovah still has lots of work to do." I was like, "What the f**k?" That's not funny! She may as well have called them n-----s! -
mrsjones5
She was, she just thought she was putting it in a nice way - see below:
Related terms
"Nigra," which is the way "Negro" is pronounced by some people, was once considered a more polite way to refer to a Black person. While White people in the United States North used the form "nigga" for "nigger."
"Coon" was also once used in the United States as a word for Black people, but it and other slang terms formerly seen as playful and even affectionate (circa 19th Century-1940s), such as "dinge," "smoke," "spook," "spade," "midnight", "Bucky" and "darky," are no longer remotely acceptable or in general use.
In some White ethnic subcultures, other terms are used, the origins of which are not directly based on the word "nigger." For example, Italian Americans often use the word "moolie," which is a shortened form of "mulignane," a dialectical variant of "melanzano," the Italian word for eggplant (because the eggplant has a dark "skin" surrounding it).
In London Cockney rhyming slang certain words, used in context, can be racially insulting (e.g.: "egg" and "spoon" [3] (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/15/npc15.xml) ), but as these rhymes do not tend to be in use for long, documenting them tends to be a historical exercise. A more recent racist term for an Afro-Caribbean individual, is "sooty."
Jews sometimes use the Yiddish word "schvartze" when referring to Black people, although whether the intent is derogatory or not has been a subject of lively and contentious debate (comedian Jackie Mason once referred to then-New York City mayor David Dinkins as "a fancy schvartze with a moustache," creating much controversy at the time; however, many Jews have insisted that the word "schvartze" simply means "black" in any context and is not intended as a racial slur). Consider that the German word for "black" is "schwarz," or indeed "Schwarze/Schwarzer" for "a black person" (roughly pronounced the same as the Yiddish word), and that Yiddish is very closely related to German. The current usage of the word among English and Yiddish-speakers is, however, more likely a matter of individual intent and context. Related to the Yiddish and German words is a Jewish surname, Schwartz. It is, however, an immigrant term equivalent to the Italian term, "mulignane." Its popularity in public discourse depends on generational respect for a specific immigrant tradition.
Other alternatives that have been used are "chocolate drop," "jiggaboo," "pickaninny," "spook," "sambo," "ted," "wog", spear chucker, porch monkey, yard ape, Goodwill Gorilla, "Buckwheat", jungle bunny, watermelon, shoe-shine boy, welfare monkey, moon cricket, Uncle Tom or simply "black bastard." Each of these words is generally considered to be utterly unacceptable today.
The most common terms currently considered acceptable in modern English usage are "colored person", "person of color", and simply "black." Some write the last with a capital-B (e.g. "Black"), although this is sometimes interpreted as a sign of pretension. (By contrast, references to "the White race" with a capital-W rarely appear outside of white supremacist literature.) Overly politically correct usage even objects to "black", in favor of "African American" - but this too has its faults, of course (not all black Americans identify themselves with Africa, and there are rather a lot of black people in the world - even in America, as tourists or temporary residents - who are not American citizens.)
Related terms
"Nigra," which is the way "Negro" is pronounced by some people, was once considered a more polite way to refer to a Black person. While White people in the United States North used the form "nigga" for "nigger."
"Coon" was also once used in the United States as a word for Black people, but it and other slang terms formerly seen as playful and even affectionate (circa 19th Century-1940s), such as "dinge," "smoke," "spook," "spade," "midnight", "Bucky" and "darky," are no longer remotely acceptable or in general use.
In some White ethnic subcultures, other terms are used, the origins of which are not directly based on the word "nigger." For example, Italian Americans often use the word "moolie," which is a shortened form of "mulignane," a dialectical variant of "melanzano," the Italian word for eggplant (because the eggplant has a dark "skin" surrounding it).
In London Cockney rhyming slang certain words, used in context, can be racially insulting (e.g.: "egg" and "spoon" [3] (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/15/npc15.xml) ), but as these rhymes do not tend to be in use for long, documenting them tends to be a historical exercise. A more recent racist term for an Afro-Caribbean individual, is "sooty."
Jews sometimes use the Yiddish word "schvartze" when referring to Black people, although whether the intent is derogatory or not has been a subject of lively and contentious debate (comedian Jackie Mason once referred to then-New York City mayor David Dinkins as "a fancy schvartze with a moustache," creating much controversy at the time; however, many Jews have insisted that the word "schvartze" simply means "black" in any context and is not intended as a racial slur). Consider that the German word for "black" is "schwarz," or indeed "Schwarze/Schwarzer" for "a black person" (roughly pronounced the same as the Yiddish word), and that Yiddish is very closely related to German. The current usage of the word among English and Yiddish-speakers is, however, more likely a matter of individual intent and context. Related to the Yiddish and German words is a Jewish surname, Schwartz. It is, however, an immigrant term equivalent to the Italian term, "mulignane." Its popularity in public discourse depends on generational respect for a specific immigrant tradition.
Other alternatives that have been used are "chocolate drop," "jiggaboo," "pickaninny," "spook," "sambo," "ted," "wog", spear chucker, porch monkey, yard ape, Goodwill Gorilla, "Buckwheat", jungle bunny, watermelon, shoe-shine boy, welfare monkey, moon cricket, Uncle Tom or simply "black bastard." Each of these words is generally considered to be utterly unacceptable today.
The most common terms currently considered acceptable in modern English usage are "colored person", "person of color", and simply "black." Some write the last with a capital-B (e.g. "Black"), although this is sometimes interpreted as a sign of pretension. (By contrast, references to "the White race" with a capital-W rarely appear outside of white supremacist literature.) Overly politically correct usage even objects to "black", in favor of "African American" - but this too has its faults, of course (not all black Americans identify themselves with Africa, and there are rather a lot of black people in the world - even in America, as tourists or temporary residents - who are not American citizens.) http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Nigger_(word)
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Chia
I didn't like it. I understand, I guess, but it was completely unnecessary. These are supposed to be "Jehovah's people". Grr...it just burned me up, that's all.
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mrsjones5
I wouldnt have like it either and I would have called her on it - but I'm worldly like that
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Elsewhere
I grew up in Port Arthur, TX. In Port Arthur there were two congregations: Port Arthur Central and Lake Shore.
Port Arthur Central was the "white" congregation and Lake Shore was the "black" congregation. Oddly enough the territory lines just so happened to wiggle their way across the divide between where the blacks lived and where the whites lived.
For years and years this went on. Eventually a CO or DO came along and insisted that they redraw the congregation territory lines. Basically they turned the line 90 degrees so that there was a 50 / 50 split between the white and black neighborhoods.
When told to do this, the elders pitched a fit like you would not believe! It was as if they had been asked to cut off their right arms.
Eventually the "independent congregation with no legal ties to the WTS" was somehow forced to comply.
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Apostate Kate
Honestly as a JW active child in a Southern California congo I never experienced any racism against other JWs, but yes the world was full of "the worldy" scums who were worthless dangerous people who were all gonna see how we were right when they get slaughtered at Armageddon by the Fall of 1975. Even when I was working on being baptized as an adult I never experienced any racism in any form however...
Recently I met a young man who is a professed JW and was SHOCKED at his racism. He is in another state. I assume his JW parents must condone it since he lives at home and his parents associate with a racist neighbor. Very very shocking. I've had a chance to talk to him and he seems to be coming around but how could one raised a JW from birth justify this sickening view?
~Kate