lisa
I guess maybe not having emtions makes it easy to not listen to your heart. Maybe not having emotions cuts us off from ourselves and makes us easier to control.
excellent point. They do so much to tell us to listen to our "Bible" trained conscience. I don't recall them saying a lot about the heart though - or maybe I just forgot that part.
jwfacts
I found i was always followed by fear's little sister; guilt
so true - and yet one more way to control people
under_believer
Here's part of the emotion-suppression propaganda:
***w93 8/15 p. 22 par. 19 Let Your Self-Control Exist and Overflow ***
We have dealt primarily with one aspect of self-control, controlling our emotions. And that is a key area because failure to control our emotions can lead to losing control of our tongue, our sexual impulses, our eating habits, and many others aspects of life where we must display self-control. (1 Corinthians 7:8, 9; James 3:5-10) Take courage, though, for you can improve in maintaining self-control.
Yup there it is in black and white. Is it any wonder JWs walk around in some numbed out state of emotion. I remember being at a witness dinner at some one's home. They men were all in the living room watching a sport on TV and I vaguely remember someone saying they were getting too excited for their own good.
wednesday
where is one of those dull ugly song books when you need it
We had a professional opera singer in our cong. Even she couldn't make those songs come alive.
TheOldHippie
When a child is born - no real joy because that means one more person to try to get through the persecution before the end comes."
One of the worst and most stupid sentences I've ever seen - having the nerve to print that I never felt joy when my children were born. Wow! What psychic High Priestess do we have here!
I'm not sure if you meant this the way I read it but I'll tell you a couple of little stories.
When I got pregnant at the end of 1971, my mother told me I was foolish to have children in "this old system of things" when the end was so near and we all had to worry about the persecutiuon that was sure to come before 1975. She wasn't the only one to make this statement. Having babies in the early 70s was a terrible no-no and reeked of irresponsibility.
Despite the negativity I was shamelessly proud of my baby - possibly bordering on obsessiveness. After years of sexual abuse and being told I would never do anything right, having this baby went a long way towards breaking down the belifes that there was something truly bad and imperfect about me. This beautiful child had come from me. In my mind and heart it was the most wonderful thing I had ever done.
A few years ago a Christian friend of mine and her husband became pregnant with their first child. I was in awe of how the entire extended family and friends looked forward to the impending birth. This as yet unborn child was loved before she was born. It was by far the most beautiful and loving way to welcome any child into the world.
And it was a far far cry from how JWs welcome their children into the world.
Robdar
Wow, after reading that, I'm beginning to wonder if I grew up in a JW home. I grew up in a highly emotional environment. And, it wasn't a problem in my cong if we cried at funerals. We were also emotionally involved in the field work. We loved those dear, doomed worldly people and just had to wake them up at 9:00 in the morning to tell them soFirst, I miss your lovely avatar. There are always exceptions to any rule. You must have got one of the better families I must admit though that my family did have one emotion that was used constantly - anger - everywhere, all the time with no regard for who got hurt along the way.
I wonder how much the elders influence the emotional atmosphere of the cong. More serious congreg would reflect more serious elders and the more relaxed elders would be reflected in a more relaxed cong. And since I have been "out" for over 20 years I wonder if the WTS tightening the screws to hoild people to a tighter rule over the last few years?