Another Elder Suicide?

by still_in74 41 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  changeling

  Great "visual" Mary!
• 

  Doubting Bro

  I can understand this elders desperation. Realizing you've spent your whole life being lied to and realizing that breaking away means that you will lose your family and all those that you thought were your friends can be overwhelming. Sill, I understand what you mean when there are times you wish you didn't wake up. Its gotta get better, right?
• 

  nvrgnbk

  I am actually shocked that there is not more of them, think about how R&F JW's are under just so much stress, I really do feel sorry for some of them, expecting that the world is going to end, nearly impossible to follow what everyone thinks they should do, normal trials of life are hard enough but when you add the other JW crap. geesh

  Nicely put Andre! If you weren't so Worldly, maybe we could be friends.

  Yes. Great visual Mary!

  I used to want to kill myself when I was an elder.

  My heart hurts for all he left behind.

  This cult must die!

  I applaud all of you on here, sharing your stories, your humor, and your tears. May many more wake up before seeking this most permanent of solutions.
• 

  poppers

  "Isnt happiness supposed to "be a journey" and not a destination?"
  
  Happiness is here already, it is what is waiting for you when your journey to find it ceases - it is your very nature. And as been previously implied by Flipper it is found in this very moment - it's always here because your true nature is always here. Immerse yourself in the immediacy of what appears before you, without resorting to past thoughts and labels about anything or imaginings of future scenarios. Let thoughts and emotions flow and watch them silently - you are THAT which witnesses it all; unchanging, eternal, silent, full yet empty. It's your true "home", you only have to turn around and see that you've been standing in the doorway the whole time, looking outside yourself to find it. Turn around and there it is.
• 

  nvrgnbk

  Thanks for those words poppers.
• 

  poppers

  I just now came across this quote, which I feel will be a helpful addition to my above post:
  
  "Let us say that you are holding onto
  two hundred pounds and that you want to get rid of this trouble,
  this burden. When you drop it, you have not gained anything.
  You have not attained some new state that was never there before.
  You have simply thrown something away that was troubling you
  and returned to your inherent nature, the inherent state that was
  there before you loaded yourself up with this weight.
  
  "This thinking process, this burden, is a desire that we always
  carry with us. I am showing you how to drop this unwanted
  burden. When you ask the question, ‘Who is thinking?’ you
  arrest the process of thinking and return back to your true nature,
  your inherent nature, your spontaneous nature, the pure source
  that is empty. This is your own nature, and this is what you are
  always. The mind does not enter there. Time does not enter.
  Death does not enter. Fear does not enter. This is your inherent,
  eternal nature. If you stay there, there will be no fear. If you step
  out of it, you step into samsara, manifestation, and there you are
  in trouble all the time."
• 

  nvrgnbk

  The pure source........

  Samsara..................

  Thanks poppers!
• 

  Cindi_67

  So sad... I can't imagine the dark cloud individuals like this must live in to get to the point of taking their own life... especially among "God's Happy People".

  12-15 years ago, I would have never imagined suicides within the Organization... now... it's almost common.

  I was born & raised in the "truth". I am 40 years old and have only heard of one intent to commit suicide and one actual suicide. The first one was a "brother" with mental illness. About 20 years ago he tried several times to commit suicide and was disfellowshiped because of it. IMAGINE THAT! That in itself would want to make a sick person commit suicide, I think. After "the light got brighter" the Society acknowledged that there were mental illnesses that would prompt one to do that. I guess after that they are more careful as to who might be sick and what to do about it.

  The second one was an elder I knew from my childhood. His wife died of cancer many years ago, got remarried to someone his wife said would be a good candidate for him if she was to pass away. However he never got over the pain of loosing her. I think he was on antidepressants and took more than prescribed, got in the car's back, closed the hood, fell asleep and never woke up. The police found the car and him dead. He had told his current wife that he was going to the doctor's to have his medication refilled and that's the last time she saw him. Sad isn't it.

  Even with the hope of resurrection and paradise, some are still very depressed and agreeing with one of the members here, what we do seems to never be enough. You are sick but have to manage to be at the meetings and field service. Afraid to miss a meeting because others will see it as being weak. No education has meant for many work jobs that nobody wants and all to attend all five meetings and field service, and don't you dare find one that will put you to work on meeting days. All that and more makes one feel like wanting to run away and never come back.

  VERY SAD INDEED.
• 

  still_in74

  The first one was a "brother" with mental illness

  did you ever notice that anytime a JW commits suicide they are ALWAYS labeled as having a "mental illness"?

  As if to say that NO sane JW would ever have reason to want to die?

  As if to imply that if you have suicidal thoughts its not because "the truth" isnt making you happy but because your mental?

  As if to "save face" for the family and to cloak the real issue with mental instability and give Jehovah a reason to forgive the dead guy? Thus now they have a reason to "stay strong" so they can see their dead "mentally ill" loved one resurrected without the mental illness that caused him/her to do such a crazy thing that was soooooo out of character for that person.

  Every person I know of that has gone through with it has been described as "having something wrong mentally" as they never would have done such a thing if they werent.
• 

  Cindi_67

  did you ever notice that anytime a JW commits suicide they are ALWAYS labeled as having a "mental illness"?

  You quoted from my comment. But this brother that I talked about was schizophrenic, he indeed had a mental illness. The second one, did not. I don't know if you took ofense on my comment of this brother as having a mental illness but I knew him and believe me he was sick for real. But the elder I knew that had lost his wife did not. His suicide was because of the sadness of trying to deal with the death of his wife and whatever else came with that that I don't know. Remember that the Society has acknowledged that among them are people with real mental problems, have studied the Bible having those problems and have not being diagnosed after becoming witnesses. So of course, not everybody that have taken their own lives are mentally ill, but there are some that do.