I was reading the article in the Nov awake about Musterbation (not a typo, I just hate that word & have to rephrase it)!!
It took me back to the days as a young man who had normal feelings of a sexual nature. New in the truth and fighting, with every fibre of my being, (at least in the beginning) against the idea of having a ham shank. I can recall doing it on many an occasion and then feeling unbelievably deflated, depressed, dirty, etc, etc.
Honestly, the morning after, I felt like the biggest, most evil person on the face of the planet. Of course, down the line, I really never bothered but being young and stupid (even to join the religion in the 1st place), I had quite a few years of guilt about this kind of stuff. You know, you sideways glance at a ladys tits and you think your world is about to fall apart.
But, by extension, this feeling of 'being a bad person' stems into many, many other areas of the young JW`s life, does it not. After participating in actually quite normal, harmless things, you feel like a regal peice of $hit!
Like, going to a footy game, watching a movie, enjoying some song on the radio, watching TV, hiring a DVD. The list goes on and on and on.
This makes you realise just how they have got virtually every aspect of life covered, every corner. And, how, people are basically 'mind punished' for participating in the normal things of life. Its a real shame. Because generations are growing up with feelings of low self-worth, depression & anxiety, when they should be enjoying the best days of their lives.