Tell Us About Your JW Father If You Had One. (page 2)

PEC

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Philip

Beta Male

i also dont think that having a seperate authority structure, i.e. the GB, constantly interfering in lives of their followers allows a healthy father/son relationship to develop.

i cant help but wonder what could have been had he not chosen the path that he did. a doctor once offered to pay his way through med school if he would like. this, of course, was turned down. now hes busting his ass with no end in sight, worn out from all the hard physical and emotional labor over the course of his life.

Beta Male

R.F.; I cant remember where i read it, maybe a second hand quote from some higher-up in the ORG, but iread that they PREFER ex-military due to their training to be compliant with authority. i believe this to be true.

MAN, three posts in this thread! Ive got some issues with my dad fo sho.

R.F.

R.F.; I cant remember where i read it, maybe a second hand quote from some higher-up in the ORG, but iread that they PREFER ex-military due to their training to be compliant with authority. i believe this to be true.

I've never heard that one before, but I will say that i've known alot of ex-military JWs over the years. The local congregation is packed full of them.

nvrgnbk

I love my father dearly.

He's been an elder since I have been alive and is now a pioneer.

I know he did better with us than his father did by him.

He was not strict at all.

In fact he is quite liberal as JWs go.

He sincerely thinks he's serving Jehovah.

We talk about the mistakes of the organization often.

He admits they've been arrogant and will pay for it.

My mother was very uptight and demanding.

She also did some beating.

But I'm sure she had good intentions.

I'm thankful that her way of being forced me to learn to do alot of things as far as taking care of myself and a home.

I have worked very hard on learning to love her as well.

I know my leaving the religion and the aftermath of it in my life has hurt them both very much.

I had debated not telling them how I felt.

But I couldn't hold it in any longer.

I try to be the best father I can.

We all do.

I'm sorry for all those that had it so much worse.

My heart goes out to you all.

Dagney

Alcoholic

Angry

Abusive towards my mother and siblings. The "overseers" told her to "suffer in silence."

I always wondered why he listen to the JW's that came to the door. What a tormented, unhappy person.

skeeter1

Father converted to being a JW as a teenager. Came from abusive home.

Pioneered through young adulthood. Didn't marry, lived at home with his mother for many years. Dodged draft. Held menial jobs. Did not go to college, despite awesome mind & nagging non-JW older sister.

Finally, PO told him to get married in his early 30's. Went on a KH search & met mom. He was a virgin when they married.

Really enjoyed being the "head of the household" and was immature. He killed small animals, beat up my mother, etc. He left all the time (following fights) Still a good witness according to the elders.

Parents got divorced. He tried to get mother disfellowshipped on spiritual grounds. It backfired as mom & her sister friends caught him with another woman. He was disfellowshipped.

A few years later, mom remarries dad. Both mom & dad go to college/trade schools (after 1975).

Both don't go to meetings for several years. Mom starts going back, and dad follows 5 years later. They were both elderly.

Mom died. Dad has his religion, book studies, and pioneers. He's mellowed.

He thinks that if he was a better father, I'd be in the Truth. I told him that if the Truth was more honest & made more sense, I'd be in the Truth.

He occassionally gets pissed at the brothers & Watchtower. I hear about the Watchtower's & elders bad deeds.

But, if I tell him "apostate" things, he gets the "deer in the headights" look when I corner him on blood, new light, UN, etc. Does not compute.

Skeeter

deaconbluez

In my honest opinion, my dad is exactly how I imagine Jesus Christ to be as a man when he was on the earth. Completely humble, loving, caring, and would do anything for you if you were in need. He's been an elder since before I was born, and still is today. He's the type elder that people go to when they have a problem and want to get loving advice and not judgement. Unfortunately, because of his humility, he is a puppet. Deep down he knows that the organization is a fraud, but he won't admit it, and he focuses on the good-hearted people in the local congregation that he has known all his life, and justifies staying in the organization because of the genuineness of these people.

As a father growing up, he was a workaholic, but I understand why he was that way. He grew up in the generation that put off going to school and getting an education because 1975 was sure to be the end. By the time 1975 came and went, he had already passed up the chance to get a real education, so he went to work in the grocery business. I was brought up with the mentality that life was 95% work and 5% play. When he did have something to do with me, it was through "family study" using whatever Watchtower publication, giving me spankings or scolding me about destroying bicycles, misbehaving in school, or whatever it was that I was getting in trouble for then. I never got into anything major as far as wrongdoing when I was growing up. But my parents watched my every move and rarely ever had anything positive or supportive to say to me. When I was 17, I was offered a radio job out of town, and they actually made me feel guilty for wanting to consider it, even though it was unheard of for someone my age to get that kind of opportunity. When I eventually moved out at 18, they acted like there was a death in the family. It was looked upon as a dark and sinister move on my part, even though I would become a Ministerial Servant just a few months later.

Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing about the way I was raised. Even though I am cold and unaffectionate, I am a realist and have learned to not depend on anyone but myself in life. Without my parent's stand-off-ish-ness when it came to love, hugs, commendation, I would have probably developed the tendancy to attach myself to people, and that only leads to getting hurt in my opinion.

dawg

This was one of the best hreads ever... so sad, but would any of us rather be pushing doorbells Saturday? Nah, I loved my dad but damn, I won't lie for any man....I won't live my life as a lie

chelsea

He was an elder who had an affair with my mother. I grew up with sporadic contact from him. As a little girl i was terrified i would die at armageddon if i spoke to him because he was disfellowshipped, and as a teenager if i ever heard from him all he would say was how dissappointed he was because i didn't want to "please jehovah." (He was reinstated by this stage).

He died three years ago of cancer. I drove past the hospital the night before he died but i didn't go in. I went to the JW funeral and all his other (non-witness) children were mentioned but not me. My very existence wasn't acknowledged.

Tell Us About Your JW Father If You Had One.

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