Story I've been waiting to hurl everybody's way...

by IsaacJS2 24 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  IsaacJS2

  Story time! This is what renewed my WT ire a little while back.

  We were flooded out here last summer. We had just bought a car and everything, and it was totally immersed in water. We had also lost both of our jobs. So guess where my wife and I ended up?

  We stayed with her JW aunt and uncle for nearly a week. Her aunt swore that we'd been "blessed" by Jehovah because it could have been worse. Like, huh?!? I really detest this kind of reasoning. If a forcefield had slammed down around my pitiful little shack, protecting me from the flood, then maybe. But this...? Coo-coo, coo-coo...

  Any way, she burned me real, REAL bad while I was there. My wife is still a WT slave, BTW.

  For the 1st 3 days, her aunt kept telling me out of the blue that "Armageddon's comin' ya know." Just like that. Out of no where, over and over like clockwork every half hour. No matter what was happening or what we were talking about, she'd pop up with, "Ya know, Armageddon's a comin!" I finally just used her to set my watch by. (She keeps good time!) It was so unreal. She was obviously expecting me to take the bait and I refused, which drove her crazy. I could smell the steam. But we were staying in her home where she had all the power. My wife, who was probably cheering for her, was no help at all.

  By the 4th morning, she decides she can't hold back any more. She probably had a red cape and a huge J-W embroidered on her chest under that shirt she was wearing. (She loves to sew, you know) Thing is, I had also determined not to let one more 30-min alarm go by without explaining to her why she should shut her fat gob. So I come downstairs, and just like that...

  ...it starts.

  She gets up and shows me the flyer for the convention they came from recently. It's another one of those annoying pictures they so love, the one with a bunch of multi-cultural people wandering aimlessly through a forest and smiling for no reason? (What the heck are they doing out there, any way? Are people just gonna screw off in the New System and collect lightning bugs, or what?) She points to an open spot in the picture and says, with tears in her eyes: "Would you like to be here?"

  That's her opening salvo.

  I respond: "No. I suburn easily and I'm allergic to bug bites." Yes, that's what I really said.

  And so the stage was set. I explained to her that I'm an atheist, that all religions are false to me, and that I want us to stay friends. So don't go there again, evil lady. But she keeps pressing the issue and ignoring everything I say, making the usual inane assertions. Basically treating me like a Dub-in-denial. TM After I told her repeatedly to knock it off, she ends with: "You know it isn't fair to blame Jehovah for how others mistreated you in the past."

  I couldn't believe it. Unreal. She had promised not to hold the conversation against me if I opened up. Guess she was going to set me straight, just like that. Magic, you know? Then, at the next meeting, she said something to my wife about it. When my wife asked about having her son come over some time to visit, she tells her: "I don't think that can happen. If your husband is really an atheist, then he's a bad associate."

  So much for not holding it against me...

  Liaarr!

  Grrrrrr!

  IsaacJ
• 

  avidbiblereader

  It's another one of those annoying pictures they so love, the one with a bunch of multi-cultural people wandering aimlessly through a forest and smiling for no reason? (What the heck are they doing out there, any way? Are people just gonna screw off in the New System and collect lightning bugs, or what?)

  Funny, good to spew,

  abr
• 

  AK - Jeff

  "You know it isn't fair to blame Jehovah for how others mistreated you in the past."

  This is the Jw 'catch all' I think. They don't even have to know why you left - because they always assume you left over poor treatment, don't they?

  Proves two things to me;

  1 - They know they are not showing love like Jesus stated they would, and know it actually does drive alot of people to reexamine and go.

  2- They prefer a door-to-door conversation-stopper in this, as in everything else. The wider the generalization, the easier to point to the wrong being with the one who left - after all this one always get's the cap, 'Even the brother's are imperfect you know.' Therefore it is always wrong to leave over that. You become the willing victim, and they get justified in staying away from you due to the poor influence you will have.

  Jeff
• 

  RichieRich

  Are people just gonna screw off in the New System and collect lightning bugs?

  Best thing I've heard all day.

  But on a more serious note, yes, they will.

  It'll be more valuable than any other New Light given them.
• 

  greendawn

  I wonder why they still haven't realised that the WTS is taking them for a ride and they still go on about the end coming soon. The dubs have been hearing that for something like a century. And their obsession about "bad associations", another set of dubby buzz expressions, why do they want to be so isolated from the rest of the world?
• 

  Bryan

  I enjoyed the read. Sorry for your grief.

  Bryan

  Have You Seen My Mothert
• 

  Gill

  Great Story! It's like talking to my parents! Isn't it funny how they all sound like Watchtower Mags talking!!!!

  By the way, as you now know, JWs hold absolutely everything against you!

  Good luck with your wife!
• 

  AuldSoul

  Good story!

  Lemme get this straight ... as long as you continued to be unclear in your beliefs about God you were a good associate (or at least not a bad one) but as soon as you became forthright and honest about your genuine personal beliefs you became a bad associate?

  I think that would be an excellent reality for every person considering conversion to contemplate before taking the plunge.

  Respectfully,
  AuldSoul
• 

  dedpoet

  For the 1st 3 days, her aunt kept telling me out of the blue that "Armageddon's comin' ya know." Just like that. Out of no where, over and over like clockwork every half hour. No matter what was happening or what we were talking about, she'd pop up with, "Ya know, Armageddon's a comin!"

  I can't imagine what even one day in the company of someone like that would be like. I'll bet you were relieved to get away from her.
• 

  IsaacJS2

  This is the Jw 'catch all' I think. They don't even have to know why you left - because they always assume you left over poor treatment, don't they?
  Proves two things to me;
  1 - They know they are not showing love like Jesus stated they would, and know it actually does drive alot of people to reexamine and go.2- They prefer a door-to-door conversation-stopper in this, as in everything else. The wider the generalization, the easier to point to the wrong being with the one who left - after all this one always get's the cap, 'Even the brother's are imperfect you know.' Therefore it is always wrong to leave over that. You become the willing victim, and they get justified in staying away from you due to the poor influence you will have.
  Jeff

  Jeff, I think #1 up there is especially good. I've noted how some of their behavior's are practically a confession of a problem, but I don't think I had made that exact connection before. I may use this the next time I update my essay. You notice how the WTS likes to pick on the Catholic Church for obeying the Pope? To me, the GB is just a clever variation on that basic principle. (No intended offense to Catholics, BTW, just reversing a WT comparison back on itself) The Society's teaching the dubs that their understanding of "The Truth" is imperfect and always improving means they can change their minds whenever they want. The Pope can't do that so easily.

  Ditto to AuldSoul's comment, too. Lying or witholding would have made me a better associate than being straight with her. I really told her very little about my beliefs, only what I mentioned in my retelling. I refused to answer anything else. Since then, the idea of how to deal with people like her in an effective way has occupied has got me thinking. They deliberately misinterpret every little thing and twist it into a sign of reassurance. One of the articles I'm writing for About.com deals with that, but I wouldn't have come up with an answer unless I'd dealt with this.

  I try not to regret my time as a WT-slave too much. There were some benefits, even if they only came in the aftermath of it all.

  IsaacJ