Do you think a JW childhood is abusive? (page 2)

lisaBObeesa

Yes, being raised as a JW is abusive. JW teens are not alowed to do the things they need to do to develope their own healthy identity. They are forced into a ready made identity. Forced to play a role. Any sign of individuality or 'self' is stamped out. This is very damaging. JW teens have NO CHOICES. Being yourself means giving up everyone you love in your life. The threat of your family treating you as if you are DEAD hangs over your head all the time. The tremendous guilt. The worry. The stress. It SUCKS. It hurts. It is abusive.

serendipity

Hi hartstrings,

It sounds like you're making progress, and I'm sure you'll continue to make more. I'm laughing at your sex story. I always wondered what JWs moaned during their orgasms. Now, I know.

All I was thinking was how the elders would freak out.

Sweetie, as your next 'project', stop thinking about the elders during sex.

Konrad West

Wow thanks for the great responses guys. I really think that if your parent(s) where very literal in following the WT then it is more abusive, and that outsiders with a sympathetic view tend to have only met JWs who were pretty liberal, and hence "dodgy" in the eyes of the literal followers. I remember being so jealous of the freedom that the young ones with "dodgy" parents had, yet also being scared of associating too much with them for fear than their reputation would spread to me. Pity there isn't more research being done into the psychological effects of a JW childhood.

OpenFireGlass

Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?

Does a bear shit in the woods?

garybuss

When I was a Witness kid, I thought the Catholic kids had it much rougher than I did. I still think some did. I could eat a hamburger on Friday. Some of the Dutch Reformed couldn't have TV, just radio. Mennonite kids had to wear home made clothes with no metal used on the clothes. I thought I had a pretty liberal life compared to those groups. Then I saw the Amish.

parakeet

After much therapy, my psychiatrists told me my problems (depression, anxiety) began in my early teens, which coincidentally was when our family became active JWs.

serendipity

As was mentioned, it depends on the parents and also the time one was a child. Many of the Jw kids in the 90's benefitted from the 'kinder', gentler WTS that allowed college, etc.

I would say that a JW lifestyle is controlled and strict, if a kid has liberal JWs for parents who are not abusive, mentally ill.

To add some objectivity, we need to keep in mind that standards and expectations have changed. The lifestyle of people and kids today is different than those of 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 150 years ago. The things that ex JWs complain about: no holidays, no birthdays, no dating, no socializing, no flag salute, feeling different, etc, are recent developments in Western, industrialized countries. Read history of children's lives in the past, for those kids that lived past their first or second birthday. They frequently lost parents and siblings in death, they braved terrible conditions, they were sent to work at young ages, they had little food and little variety in food, there was no antibiotics or REAL doctors, they were fortunate if they had a few toys and multiple changes of clothing. And living with outhouses and no TP....

My parents were abusive before they became JWs, and were overzealous in the beginning, which tapered off later. But I would much rather have chosen the JW childhood of 1973-1982, that came with modern conveniences and medicine, than live the life of a non JW in 1873. I had a better life than my Lutheran mom who lived in post-war Europe, caught all sorts of diseases because of the lack of medicine, went hungry, lived 10 people in a 2 room house and had little fuel for heating.

It's all relative.

learntoswim

Being indoctrinated with the concept of Jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.

Only if its not true. If it is true then it would be abusive not to indoctrintate!

Hellrider

Being indoctrinated with the concept of Jehovah killing people who don't do what he says and being scared of losing your friends and family if disobedient is, in my view, a very unhealthy thing for a child.
Only if its not true. If it is true then it would be abusive not to indoctrintate!

Well, thank God it`s true then...

Satanus

An abusive god justifies abusive parents, you see.

S

Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?

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