A bitter experience with my JW sister

by dawn48 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Forscher
    Forscher

    Welcome to the forum Dawn.

    I know that what your sister did hurts, but if it makes you feel any better, I had that done to me by my JW sister while I was still in good standing and with no real evidence to back up her charges. It ended up costing me my home. But that is a story I'd rather keep the details to myself for now.

    I find your comment that your sister considered your son's sticking up for gun ownership rights to be somehow antisocial kind of puzzling. Since I do not see a location, state or country, on your public profile ill just assume you may live in an area where the prevailing view might just be that way. just know that not all witnesses would agree with that.

    I don't know what to say about how to handle the situation. I agree that it does sound like she has made a break with you. It is what the organization would tell her to do whether you were a fellow Witness or not. Please realize that the Witness organization discourages people from having personal bonds so deep that they can't be severed at the drop of a hat at the directions of the religion. Any relationship with a Witness, including marriage, is conditional. And one can find themselves suddenly left standing there with nothing by a Witness and wondering what happened. I know her unappreciative attitude really hurts, but that is the way it is when dealing with Witnesses.

    All you can do is keep on loving her as your sister and be there for her if she ever comes to her senses and wants out of the bOrg. I wish you the best.

    Forscher

  • Shawn10538
    Shawn10538

    Sounds like you've been unofficially disfellowshipped, along with your son. I say, disfellowship them right back. Serves them right.

  • bluebell
    bluebell

    Some people are givers some people are takers. I'm a giver, my sister is a taker (but not as much as yours) I understand to a certain extent the hurt when you are in need and don't get the help you used to give. She can't expect you to bail her out all the time, she needs to do it herself. Don't change who you are but do change the people who you give to.

  • SusanHere
    SusanHere

    Dawn,

    I am in your situation, a non-JW with a JW sister whom I love and often send money and other assistance. She has had a hard life and seldom has two nickels to rub together.

    I never made her feel small for needing help, nor expected any payback, but I did expect and demand mutual respect for us, our non-JW family and our lifestyle. That's difficult for a JW to give, and even harder to get them to give honestly.

    If your sister cannot or will not honor and respect the good life you and your husband have lived and the good job you have done raising your children, then she deserves no more help from you. Sometimes tough love is the only thing that will reach someone so pigheaded. Meanwhile, your son deserves your total support.

    Good luck and God bless.

  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    There is no rational reason why you should feel guilt over your sister's failures. You haven't been an impediment to her; quite the contrary, you have been very generous with her.

    Her "bad luck" is the result of lousy decisions she and her dope fiend husband have made.

    Kick her off of her high (ha ha, a pun!) horse (oops! another pun? only time will tell) and cut her off until she changes the way she treats you and your family. And give her both barrels, right between the eyes, so that she is left with NO misunderstandings about the whys and hows of where is is at on your xmas list.

    Your nephew is well on his way to being a gap-toothed hick. I recall something about the sins of the father being visited upon the sons. Too freakin' bad about that.

    I do think it is nice of lisavegas420 to offer to pay for his teeth. Have him give her a call.

  • jgnat
    jgnat
    SusanHere: I never made her feel small for needing help, nor expected any payback, but I did expect and demand mutual respect for us, our non-JW family and our lifestyle. That's difficult for a JW to give, and even harder to get them to give honestly. If your sister cannot or will not honor and respect the good life you and your husband have lived and the good job you have done raising your children, then she deserves no more help from you. Sometimes tough love is the only thing that will reach someone so pigheaded. Meanwhile, your son deserves your total support.

    Bravo, Susan, awesome advice!

    [My nephew will] do as she says and not talk to my son, even if he wishes he could.

    That's now. Give the boy a couple years. The love and generosity your family has shown over the years will win through, just you wait. I'm not so hopeful your sister will wake up, though. That family's middle name is "denial".

    My hubby who isn't with any religion is REAL mad and wants me to"unoffically" cut myself off from her. Just never call her again unless an emergency comes up with our elderly mother.

    You know, let her make the first move for a while. You've been insulted and treated badly. And if her first call is to ask you for something, tell her you'd love to have her over to dinner to talk and reconnect, but you and your hubby are too ill and too poor to help out in any substantial way. See if she values you for your friendship. There's a scripture about pearls before swine. Memorize it.

  • serotonin_wraith
    serotonin_wraith

    While I sympathize with your family troubles, believing your son was talking dirty and looking at porn because he was depressed is ridiculous. That kind of thing is completely normal and making him feel bad about it will only stunt his development, or force him to lie to you.

    The part about your sister 'coming across' her son's chat logs shows the lack of privacy a kid gets in a JW home. You have to deliberately dig to find that kind of thing.

  • dawn48
    dawn48

    No one tried to make him feel guilty but he knows what God would have to say about it. Sorry, that is my religious belief and I am not about to change them due to someone else opinion about it. I respect their opinion and I also have mine. .And they do have a lot of statisitic (non religious based ) that you can get addicted to porn like you can so many other things .

    And he was the one who told me due to depression of what a Dr told him several months ago ( he has genetic defect that cannot be corrected and it will affect him all his life, that he got into some stuff he never bothered with before. He was actually on a Fitness forum tring to find out more about his medical problem when he started chatting to someone who eventually sent a porn link to him saying, "this will cheer you up". Then he sent it on to his cousin and said, "Look what this guy sent me" It's not like he was going all over the net to find porno links. My sister admits he only sent a link to her son for one porn picture. Remember she was reading back months of their chats. She said she was able to go back from June back to Jan.No other porn links but he did use dirty words alot during that time. And before that he made a fuss if my husband cussed in front of him.

    He used to be a pretty happy kid before he found out the news from the DR. But he also told me he's glad he was found by my sister. That he was miserable the last few months and didn't seem to know how to get out of the mess of it all. That he was glad he could talk to an adult now about how he had been feeling .

    Porn actually wasn't the highest on his interest list. He only sent the one link to his cousin .But my sister said in alot of his chats he started sounding like, life was hopeless. Who even gives a f---k anymore , the world stinks" and also getting into political talks with his cousin which JW's avoid.Talking about guns and fighting in wars etc. which again JW's don't like and my sister wasn't happy reading what he was wrting about it. Also I think she said in one chat her son mentioned that his mom controlled his life and my son said, "Well, when you're 18, you can tell them to"go to hell". Well, she didn't like that as JW's Parents want to control you ALL your life.

    She felt he was mentally disturbed by the things he said to his cousin in his posts, but when people are depressed they say lots of heavy things. Unpleasant things.

    A middle aged elder at church is working with him now. I told him all about my son. I held back at first twondering what he would think of us, as my on thinks highly of the guy. He's a cool guy who lives on 30 acres with his wife and two kids. alligators live in pond. He has wolves that live on his land. Some wild donkeys, a bob cat and a bunch of other critters as he lives next to a nature preserve

    The guy is a former Coast Guard officer After that he owned and ran a Golds Gym in Ca and was a personal trainer to a few celebrities as well aas the general public.

    He wasn't judgemental and said he would love my son no matter what he'd done but you can't just keep on that way. You gotta get out of it, and that shunning a person and pushing them away is not a way to help them. He's helping my son work out with weights to gain more confidence over his genetic defect.

    My son is doing much better now staying away from negative websites and getting out more in the fresh air. He was on the computer too much. He used to be an outdoors kid.

    Another guy at church. Well his brother, a non church member enrolled my son in his welding classes he teaches and my son really likes the guy and the classes. He also got a part time job also at the food market down the road . He's doing much better. He laughs more and has more outside interests.

    I'm happy my sister told me about it. This is the funny thing. She doesn't know squat about computers. She just learned to do email and was just pushing keys on the computer and her sons chat log came up on screen. I do think maybe that was meant to be and I'm happy I found out about it because I can tell you my son is much happier and acts as though like burdern has been lifted off his shoulders. You're mistaken if you think in our household we were trying to make him feel like a dirty dog or guilty. We've always treated him in a loving way. I grew up in a house with a step father addicted to porn and that guy got really sick in his brain. I can't tell you all the sick things he did, to even his own kids.

    I did not want to see my son get tangled up in that kind of stuff.

    And he admitted he's much happier and at peace leaving it alone. Staying out of negative chat sites.Not being on the computer so much. He said he was his happiest when he was on his church youth chat groups. One thing about my son . He has no qualms IF you ask him, telling you honestly how he feels.

    So, I'm not mad at my sister finding it out, as she said her son had been acting isolated and depressed lately also, and wouldn't go out and play basket ball anymore. Didn't want to go to the beach with them. Just wanted to game on his computer all day.

    I also noticed that in my son. He would game on his computer for hours and then when he got off he was mouthy and snippy to anyone who asked him a simple question. had head aches all the time. wasn't getting enugh sleep.

    So, I feel some good came out of her telling me about how they were talking. I also took away one computer. We had two. Before his sister would be doing her homework on one and he would be gaming beside her on the other one. Now , all three of us has to share one computer. It's less convienent but he doesn't have much time to game now as we all have to take turns on it.

    What I'm upset about is the way my sister handles unpleasant things. She just stays away from the person. Avoids them like the plague. Sympathise but keep away from them.That's the difference between us. I don't turn my back on people just because I don't believe the way they do. Especially not in their time of need.

    I never avoided her when she was ill and crying to me everyday making me depressed like she was. I used to tell my husband that I couldn't smile anymore because if I had happy thought during the day, talkig to her at night would bring me back down. That was back when she was sick and depressed about finding out her husband was on drugs.

    So, she's better health wise and her life is going a little bit better now. But now my son has problems and she says she's shocked and sorry about it, as she didn't know . And then she just avoids talking to me and cut her sons contact off with my son. They can't even say hi to each other. And there is just silence.

    And I think, You know, how does she not know that maybe her older sons used to or maybe even do talk that way around other guys. They might do it but she didn't hear it. She is pretty much out of the world and doesn't really know what goes on around her.

    I was the one who told her things about her own religion she didn't know. Charles Taze Rusel and his facination with Pyramids etc. Some pagan originms of some of thier beliefs. She didn't even know that, but then that's another whole topic as she says they have "new light" and won't even discuss some of their former beliefs and teachings that at one time, years ago she was willing to argue about.

    Why? Because se they have since CHANGED many of them. I still have some old JW books on my shelf she gave me back in the 80's but they threw theirs out. Isn't that funny.

    Anyway, I think she blames her sons attitude on my son.And if he stays a way from him all will be well. And she has to avoid me or I will sk her why they are avoiding my son like he is forever tainted or something.

    I feel like if she ever calls again to say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I can't talk to you ever again. You let your former drug addict , thieving arrested for DUI husband back in your home. I must keep my kids safe from that kind of evil."
    If I was really mean I might add, "Your kids might turn out just like him, so my kid should stay away from yours".

    But, it's not her sons fault how she feels. She used to be a kind hearted person until she became a Witness. She hardened up a lot after that.

    She became more "know it all and arrogant". Funny thing , when I used to ask her questions of what she thought of this or that scripture in the Bible

    Last night I was thinking."Don't think about her. Don' t let her cross your mind too much. She took alot out of mne as it was during the rough years she was having. I wish her good health but from now on I am just going to concentrate on helping my own family.

    Next time something happens in her family she can let her JW friends help her out. They didn't before but when she needed it ,maybe this time they will cause I don't think my hubby will anymore.

    dawn

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Dawn, you are a sweetheart. You wear your heart on your sleeve. Have you thought of running a support group or bible study out of your home? I sense you have a lot to say about life in general.

  • serotonin_wraith
    serotonin_wraith

    On the matter of the porn, you certainly are entitled to your opinion about there being a god who doesn't like it.

    But your other reasons don't support you. Addiction is bad, to anything. People can be addicted to porn, just as they can become addicted to sport, alcohol or eating. But if someone had one drink, you wouldn't be afraid of them becoming an alcoholic. If they ate one cake, you wouldn't worry that they would turn out to be a glutton. One porn link is not reason to believe there is a risk he will become addicted to porn.

    Also, you are wrong in thinking there is a link between porn and sexual abuse. Can someone who looks at porn become an abuser? Yes. You wrote:

    I grew up in a house with a step father addicted to porn and that guy got really sick in his brain. I can't tell you all the sick things he did, to even his own kids.

    I did not want to see my son get tangled up in that kind of stuff.

    But seeing as millions of people look at porn and don't go on to abuse others, the idea that there's a link between the two is as impressive as thinking there is a link between someone who sleeps on their back and then goes on to abuse someone.

    If he's happier without it, that's wonderful. But it's only wonderful if the choice is his.

    As for speaking on political matters and feeling the world is a negative place at times, probably only if he considers suicide or hurting others would I worry about that kind of talk. I personally find it theraputic to get things off my chest if they bother me. Keeping it in won't do him any good.

    Those are just my opinions anyway- thanks for letting me give my side.

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