sorry I didnt finish my story, but unbelievably, I got a lot of abuse in the chat room last night from someone with no compassion. I don't really feel up to giving more.
Experiences: How you know it ain't the 'truth'
by LDH 40 Replies latest jw friends
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spike
A sister in the congregation was very poor. She called Bro. Elder for a loaf of bread. She had nothing in the house for her young son. The brother came two days later with the bread. I personally had separated from my husband with 2 sons. The elders didnot think there was a scriptural reason for this. When I asked for some help with my rent, the brothers gave none and told my husband not to help either. My sons verified the abuse going on. So the Catholic Church paid my rent and the Methodist Church gave us food. JW's send you to the world for help, yet you are to be no part, that is not the true religion.
Never give up, and never under any circumstances, face the facts-R.Gordon
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Esmeralda
This is from another thread, "So Sad..." and is re-posted here, in case any lurkers are reading.
Once when I was about four, we were sitting at the bookstudy. It was about to end, the conductor asked if anyone else had any comments to make before the meeting was dismissed with prayer.
I raised my little dimpled hand, innocently thinking that he was asking for comments on anything. He actually called on me, and I said (something to the effect of)"I just want to say that parents should never hit and spank their children, 'cause it really hurts them."
From the way my mother tells this story (yes, she actually laughs about it!) the flustered conductor simply said "Thank you, that is something important for parents to keep in mind."
My comment was never mentioned at home. My mother never hit me at meetings, I think she was afraid of appearances. At home it was the big plastic Avon hairbrushes, and woooden cooking spoons. My dad just used his hand upside my head.
It's insane, how they rationalize it. My mother says that some parents who twisted hair and ears of their kids at the meetings went too far. But she had no problem, just last week, with lecturing me because I refuse to use physical punishment of any kind on my child. We've done just fine with time outs and other restrictions. I could never inflict physical pain on my own child. And everyone in my family, and my ex's family knows that if anyone ever did 'spank' her, they'd be facing rapid charges of child battery.
And I was one of the lucky ones, I know. I got off easy.
I just cannot, for the life of me, imagine all the adults that heard my remark at the meeting and never asked me, or my parents about it. No one seemed to notice. Or care. If I heard a four year old say something like that, you can bet I wouldn't let it go in one ear and out the other.
Too many bad memories. Takes a lot to get me crying these days. This thread did it.
How can people who treat children so cruelly believe they have the blessing of any higher power?
essie
p.s. more of my experiences are up on the web: http://www.wtsurvivors.homestead.com
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conflicted
There was a family in our hall, father was an elder, mother was a poineer, daughter was a model JW youth. When the daughter got to be a senior in high school she wanted to start. The father decided to let her go out a few times under supervision. When the other elders got to hear of it they held a committee meeting to discuss the daughters misconduct and the fathers appearant liberalism. They later held a judicial committee to see if the daughter was repentant - she stated that she wasn't because she didn't think she did anything wrong, her father was aware of her actiions and supported her decision. She was DF'd - the whole family was torn apart by this, and suprisingly supported their daughter - they too were DF'd.
There was no proof of any kind that anything bad happened - just a chaperoned and supervised date. And the entire family was ostricised.
I doubt God wants his people treated this way - therefore they can't have the truth.
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Ranchette
There are so many reasons why I know know this is not the "truth"!
This is one of the most recent.A little background first.
I was a strong witness all my life,never inactive or irregular.I was never a trouble maker.I quit going to meetings about eight months ago.
Not one visit,not one phone call has been made on me by any one in the congregation including the elders.No,"where have you been?" or "are you okay?"
Just one big nothing,after a life time of service!!
I am not Df'd or Da'd.
My own mother is so self rightious that she can't even show the natural love she should towards her own daughter.Here's a quote from one of her latest letters.
...."I don't know why there will be a need for me to write you,since my life is centered around the truth.If I think there's something you need to know,I'll write.If you want to call to see how I'm doing that's fine too."....There's much more!
Ranchette -
LDH1
Why are the Awake correspondents not given names?
The correspondents do not actually exist.For proof of this, I only need look 5-6 years ago. At the time, my sister and I spent quite a bit of time at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. Some of you may know a small shop there, called the Russian Tea Room.
My sister fell in love with and purchased an authentic Russian Matroiska (sp.) doll. You know, the ones where there's a smaller and smaller doll inside. The smallest one was solid gold. I remember she paid about $6,000. The shop owner gave her a book titled "The history of Russian Matroiskas" or some other title similar.
She read the whole book, and like me, has an outstanding memory.
Some months later, an article appeared in the Awake magazine. You guessed it. About the history of those famous dolls.
Some of the phrases stuck a chord in my sister's mind. She pulled out her book and and guess what?
GASP!!! The whole article had been plagarized from the book!
They didn't even bother to change some of the phrasing.
My parents were outraged. Not at the WBTS. But at my sister for pointing this huge gaffe out to them.
Now, we formed a few theories about this. One, the WBTS didn't expect anyone to have this book, since your library is supposed to consist of only WBTS approved materials. Two, that no one would ever recognise the phrasing.
True story.
Lisa -
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Lisa,
This must be the article on Russian dolls you were referring to. It appears in the April 22, 1995 issue of Awake!.
Do you still have the book, or would your sister recall the exact title? It would be interesting for others to check this out as well.
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Matreshka-What a Doll!
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN RUSSIA
AS SOON AS visiting tourists catch a glimpse of me, most of them seem determined to take me home with them, willing to go to quite some expense to do so. I really don't know what attracts them to me. After all, they know so little about me. Maybe it's just the fashionable thing to do. But let me introduce myself. My name is Matreshka, and I come from-but then let's start at the beginning.
Actually, nobody really knows where I came from or who my real parents were. The story has two versions. Some claim that I originated on the Japanese island of Honshu as a unique toy of several interrelated parts. They say that I was brought to Russia from Honshu at the end of the 19th century by the wife of a Russian patron named Savva I. Mamontov (1841-1918). On the other hand, according to certain Japanese, it was a Russian monk who first brought to Japan the idea of making me into an exceptional doll. But whatever the case, Russian craftsmen liked the idea, and Matreshka was born.
At the end of the 1880's, Russia was developing its economy and culture. At the same time, Russians were taking greater interest in preserving their folk tradition. Intent on reviving Russian culture, the intelligentsia began gathering around Mamontov, including such famous Russian painters as Ilya Repin, Viktor Vasnetsov, and Mikhail Vrubel. To preserve the memory of Russian peasantry, art studios were built near Moscow. There, folklore items, toys, and dolls were collected from all parts of the country.
A professional artist named Sergei Malyutin made the first sketches of me, but I looked a bit different then. I was meant to depict a round-faced peasant girl with beaming eyes. I was dressed in a sarafan (a floor-length garment held up by two straps), and I had carefully styled, slicked-down hair largely hidden under a colorful bandanna. Other figures, each smaller than the one before, were placed inside me. They were dressed in kosovorotkas (Russian blouses fastened at one side), shirts, poddyovkas (men's long-waisted coats), and aprons. As revealed by Malyutin's sketches, this is how I looked when I was made in Moscow about 1891.
I often wondered about my name. I learned that at the end of the 19th century, Matrena (diminutive Matreshka) was one of the most popular female names in Russia. Derived from the Latin root matrona, it means "mother," "respected lady," or "mother of a family." Placing one figure inside another was also a fitting symbol of fertility and perpetuation.
Not Easy to Make
In attempts to make me, people have been known to spoil much material and finally to give up in defeat. No wonder, since until recently, knowing how to make me was a secret. So only a few were able to own me. But now I will let you in on the secret.
The work involved in making me requires real skill. First, it is important to choose the proper type of wood. Because of its softness, limewood is generally chosen, less often alder or birch. After the trees are cut down, usually in early spring, they are stripped of most of their bark, leaving just enough to prevent the wood from cracking while it dries. The logs are then left stacked for several years so that they can enjoy proper circulation of air as they dry.
The cutting of the wood needs to be done at the right time, when it is neither too dry nor too damp. Only an expert can determine when it is just right. Each piece of wood goes through as many as 15 separate operations. The smallest doll in the series-the one that cannot be taken apart-is made first. At times it is so small that you must strain your eyes or even use a magnifying glass to see it clearly.
Once the smallest doll has been made, the craftsman starts on the next figure into which that first doll will fit. A piece of wood is processed to the necessary height and is cut into a top section and a bottom section. The bottom section of the doll is fashioned first. Then wood is removed from the inside of both sections of the second doll so that the smaller doll will fit snugly inside. A skilled craftsman, by the way, does not bother to take measurements but relies solely on experience. Afterward, he repeats the process, making a slightly larger doll into which the previous two will fit.
The number of dolls held one within the other varies from 2 to 60. The largest doll may be as tall as its maker! When each doll is finished, it is covered with a starchy glue that fills in any hollows in the surface. The final drying begins, and the doll is polished to a smooth surface to enable the painter to spread the paint evenly. Then the doll is given its inimitable style.
Time Has Brought Changes
People change as they grow older, and the same can be said of me. The craft of Matreshka-making gradually spread from Moscow to other cities and towns, including Semenov, Polkhovskii Maidan, Vyatka, and Tver. Each locality developed its own style and form of decoration. My loss of true identity was disturbing, but I did not complain. During the centenary celebration of the War of 1812, someone ordered a set of dolls to be made depicting Russian general Mikhail Kutuzov and French general Napoléon Bonaparte. These two generals were the largest dolls and opposing generals involved in the war were made smaller to fit inside their respective commanders.
For a long time, making and selling this type of doll was strictly controlled. But political changes at the end of the 1980's gave artisans new possibilities and freedoms. They could now make and sell their products without fear.
A painter named Sikorskii was one of the first whose dolls became popular with the public. His dolls bring the highest prices, with individual sets costing as much as 3,000 dollars. His success stimulated other artists, and during the past six years, Matreshka-making has been given an energetic push.
My name, Matreshka, has now come to apply to all dolls made to fit one into another. Different themes are featured: flowers, churches, icons, folktales, family themes, even religious and political leaders. The large variety now available helps keep me quite reasonable in price.
Standing as usual in a store showcase during the summer of 1993 in Moscow, I suddenly heard the sounds of an approaching group of foreign tourists. I overheard them saying something about a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses they were attending and that each of them, in memory of such a wonderful event, wanted to take me home with them. Wondering why, I gazed at them wide-eyed. As if to answer, one of them said: "She is more than just a souvenir. I want my friends to see her eyes. I see in them the same expression I saw in the eyes of the Russian people I talked to about the Kingdom and about God's name as found in the Bible."
Jehovah's Witnesses? The Kingdom? God's name? The Bible? My eyes grew larger as I listened, and my heart pounded somewhat faster at the prospect of being taken to faraway places by some of these pleasant-looking people. Perhaps I could learn more about what had brought them to Russia in the first place. I'm sure it must have been more than just to meet me, a doll named Matreshka.
[Footnotes]
During the 1930's, Vyatka became known as Kirov and Tver as Kalinin. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the original names have been restored. -
LDH1
Comment, just looking at that article makes me sick to my stomach.
I will certainly ask my sister for the title of said book.
Also thank you for posting that so quickly. That was the article I was thinking of. I remembered it correctly, it was about 6 years ago.
See what an accurate memory can do to the WBTS?
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LDH1
It's not just articles they steal. They steal artwork too. Don't believe me?
http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/86.htm
and
http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/87.htmLisa
Up late cause she's sick (of being pregnant)class -
LDH
bttt for Carlo
I will post more experiences tomorrow.