by tyydyy 5 Replies latest jw friends
Does the thinking of the Borg still define your morals and ethics? Has leaving the witnesses changed your views on some of the 'rules' or are they the same?
For example? Is the lack of discipline still the reason for teenage violence?
Is wearing sexy clothes an invitation for rape?
Is entertainment the reason for the violence we see today?
Etc. Etc.
TimB
God help anyone who says that about a woman around me!...OUTLAW
I think you're aware, from a different thread you and I talked on, that a LOT of my thinking on morals and ethics has changed remarkably since leaving the Witnesses. My "views on the rules" have totally changed.
But I do remember some brothers who actually thought that the way a person was dressed could be an "invitation to be raped." Even as a Witness elder I had NO stomach for that bullshit! There is some deeply instilled mindless chauvinism among the brothers.
I've found myself rethinking the whole ethics thing from beginning to end. I've found the issues are much more complex than simplistic thinking allows for. While lack of discipline and choice of entertainment can be factors in some of these issues, they are certainly not the only ones, nor the most important. And I also think that we live in a world that we see as much more violent than it is.
For example, after Columbine, there was this huge concern about violence in schools. Yet it was shown that violence in schools had actually been decreasing. In another post I wrote about a professor who questioned his students about how often a cop in Chicago fires in his gun in the line of duty. Even the most thoughtful student assumed it was at least once a year. The facts? ONCE IN HIS CAREER.
I think the Witnesses in particular dwell on this myth of things getting SO MUCH WORSE as the end nears.
Sorry I digressed a bit there!
S4
Great post Seeker,
I really enjoyed that. I have also noticed that most doomsday christian religions overemphasize violence. In fact in some cases they embelish.
Some things as simple as a haircut can still be influenced by our past in the Borg.
There are some things that we may not have even thought about like watching a movie with demons in it or tattoos and piercings.
What about eating food that might have blood in it?
Are any of these things that might still be influenced by the Borg?
TimB
My son has grown a goatee since leaving the borg. When he sent their family picture to some friends back in Wisconsin who are still JWs, they had a fit! We are finding that it is very hard to continue some friendships with JWs after we leave because our values change.
I find it very irritating when I look in our closet and find that half the clothes in there are "meeting" clothes. We are planning a big rummage sale and a lot of that will go.
I will not be surprised if my son gets a small tattoo or gets an ear pierced. Meanwhile, he won't be sending any more pictures of himself to any JWs
Target
At the last CA I attended with my family back in NY before moving here, one of the speakers was from Bethel. This was about 5 years ago.
He stated in his talk that a judge refused to convict a rapist, because the woman had asked for it based on the way she was dressed.
The audience ROARED their approval, everyone except for me and my sister. We walked out.
Later, my father tried to defend the statement by saying, "Well he was just repeating the story--he didn't SAY it!" [8>]
Bullshit.
Lisa
