A sincere question to active JW's

by feenx 44 Replies latest jw friends

  • feenx
    feenx

    A recent post displayed a letter written by a current Elder. It got me thinking about active JW's in general, and I am quite curious, in a genuine and sincere manner, how one deals with curiosity and sincere questions and/or concerns about the organization. In my experience, as with the people I grew up with who now are also out of the organization, we experienced extreme supression while inside. Suppression of thought and emotion. We all had quite extenuating circumstances that led to our exodus, e.g. 2 of us sustaining childhood sexual abuse, to an extreme degree, and one of us finally came out of the closet. But I truly wonder about the friends I lost, and others in general, who for the most part did not have traumatic experiences and now how they wrap their head around the organization.

    Even a simple and genuine question of any teaching or directive from the FDS can and likely will be taken as a form of apostasy. It's a very fine line between meditation and faith strengthening, and stumbling with inclinations of dissention.

    So I really wonder, how do you, as an active Witness and earnestly striving to serve Jehovah, internally process and deal with any questions as they arise? Do you allow yourself, even if only in your own mind, to really think about and objectively analyze things? Or perhaps you strive to strengthen your faith in the sense that even if at any moment you don't quite understand something you remain confident that in the end everything will work out?

    Please don't this question in any kind of confrontational way, as that is not my intent.

    Namaste

  • wantstoleave
    wantstoleave

    When I was very active and dilligently serving Jehovah and questions popped up in my head, I brushed them away immediately. Because I know within myself that if I get a bee in my bonnet, I can't let it go. So the only way I could cope without questioning everything, was to block the thought from my mind. You are right, ask a question and you are either looked at as an idiot for 'not knowing the answer' or looked at cross ways, to see if you're delving into apostasy.

  • babygirl30
    babygirl30

    I did the SAME THING - push all questions and doubts behind me! I was deathly afraid of people thinking I wasn't 'spiritual' enough by asking certain things...or starting 'talk' amongst the JW's in my cong because I was asking away!!

  • Cthulhu
    Cthulhu

    Ditto. Pushed the questions as far out of of my mind as I could. Studied more and hoped to forget. But I couldn't, so here I am.

  • parakeet
    parakeet

    feenx, I doubt you'll find any active dubs on this site who would be willing to answer your question, because your question is in the same category as the other faith-challenging questions you mentioned. Dubs will not entertain such questions for a moment because they are braindead.

    However, as the most reluctant dub in the world, I never brushed such questions away when I was in my teens. Instead, very foolishly, I went to the elders and asked them. They would give me a plausible answer, and I would go away satisfied. But then I started thinking (always dangerous for dubs) about the answer I was given, would see flaws in it, and at the next meeting ask more questions. After about five or six sessions like this, the elders told me that my "constant" questioning was a sign of weak faith, and that I should stop asking them. I did stop asking the elders. But I mulled them over myself, came to certain conclusions, and when my son was born, I got the hell out of dubville.

    In her book, Visions of Glory, Barbara Grizzuti Harrison stated that, while still a dub, she regarded her "intelligence as a kind of predatory animal which, if not firmly reined, would spring on me, attack me, and destroy me."

    And her conversation with Knorr when she told him she was leaving Bethel and the dubs:

    Knorr: Weren't you high school valedictorian?

    BGH: No.

    Knorr: But you were smart.

    BGH: yes.

    Knorr: That's your trouble.

    Lesson to be learned -- if you're a dub with little intelligence or curiosity, you'll make a great dub. If you're a dub with some smarts and a willingness to use them, you won't be a dub for long.

    Apparently, Jehovah judges one by how well he/she uses the mind Jehovah supposedly created.

  • angel eyes
    angel eyes

    Whenever I have a question I aske elders about it and if they arent able to answer I write to Bethal.

  • angel eyes
    angel eyes

    Whenever I have a question I aske elders about it and if they arent able to answer I write to Bethal.

  • angel eyes
    angel eyes

    Whenever I have a question I aske elders about it and if they arent able to answer I write to Bethal.

  • isaacaustin
    isaacaustin

    That could get you in trouble AE. Generally that letter gets sent to your elders. I am sure you will say it would not cause issues, but experience of many shows the opposite.

  • sir82
    sir82
    Whenever I have a question I aske elders about it and if they arent able to answer I write to Bethal.

    Just curious, what kinds of replies have you received? Did they answer your questions?

    I sent a letter with a bunch of questions pointing out the logical inconsistencies of the current "these blood fractions are OK but these other ones aren't" policy. Never got an answer.

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