the problem was when they got reinstated :-)
Eliminating all traces of exJWs
by Scully 50 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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WTWizard
What usually happens is that the witlesses are supposed to "hate the disgusting thing". In this case, the disfellowshipped person becomes "the disgusting thing", and hence they would not want to display photos or other works by this person. Similar to their attitude toward displaying Christmas-related items like snowflakes, bells, and ornamental bulbs that are non-religious in nature.
And yes, the dingbat that dragged me into the cancer also wanted me to forget my past beyond when I started studying. It was supposed to start with when I took the Suffer Forever book. He wanted every link before that destroyed, including most of my music collection. To that effect, he declared most of it "bad"--that wasn't even bad when I looked at it after he left the territory. He wanted just about everything else I liked doing or had from before then destroyed, and was in the middle of dictating a "code" where he would decide what brands, varieties, sizes, and sources of everything I was to use in life. He ran out of time before he could do that.
I took that and threw it back in their faces. I do have pictures taken at the a$$embly hell, but only as a reminder of how dreary a place that dungeon really is when the superficial embellishments are removed. I no longer display items that witlesses commonly display: a theocraptic library, Kingdumb Maladies, piles of Washtowel rags, a Washtowel calendar, and field circus supplies. Most of those items joined the Christmas decorations I had to throw away upon joining the cancer--in the landfill.
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Broken Promises
Still picking my mouth off the floor after reading FF's post....
My father was an amateur motorbike racer in his pre-JW days, and he proudly talked about those days. He had a whole album of pictures of him racing.... now if only I could pry them out of my step-monster's claw-like fingers....
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bottleofwater
Yup. Definitely a cult.
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Scully
Finally-Free:
One day when I came home from work my ex proudly exhibited to me the photo of me, which she had cut out of the poster and framed. The portion with my old friends couldn't be found, not even in the garbage. Knowing her, I suspect she burned it. In fact, all the photos I had of my pre-JW life were gone.
You just reminded me of a similar incident from when I was a teenager: a young Pioneer™ Sister™ had moved in to our Congregation™ and had teamed up with another Sister™ who had started Pioneering™. The newcomer had moved into the local girl's apartment and depended on her for drives - she was the one with a vehicle. IOW, the newcomer was a leech. Anyway, going back a few years, the local girl had worked abroad for over a year and had a very serious relationship (i.e., cohabited) with a Worldly™ guy. When the relationship ended, she came home, rejoined the JWs (but was never DFd, despite it being common knowledge of her overseas relationship), and jumped in with both feet. She had photo albums of her travels, including pictures of the ex-boyfriend.
She went out to buy groceries one day, while her Pioneer™ partner stayed home, claiming to have a headache. When she came back to her apartment, all of her photo albums, photo negatives and mementos from her time away from the JWs had been burned. Apparently the newcomer decided that the reminders were holding back the local Sister™ from progressing Spiritually™ and took it upon herself to destroy all evidence of that part of her past. It very nearly destroyed their partnership. I remember everyone hearing about it at the KH being horrified, that the newbie had "no right" and that they would never take it upon themselves to attempt to erase someone else's memories.
However, a quarter of a century later, some of the same people who were shocked and horrified, are doing exactly the same thing with the pictures of their DFd family members. The difference is, though, the pictures belong to them - they are the ones choosing to "1984" any memory of these people.
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jookbeard
It's happened to me , in the handful of occasions I've been to my folks house in almost 20 years all evidence of my existence has been removed my sister has access to my FB where there are loads of pics of my wife and young family yet not one of her lovely grandchildren has even made it to her place. I suppose what would the friends think seeing mugs of an "evil apostate" plastered over her house it would be tantamount to having pictures of the Devil/The Pope or a Cross.
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Scully
From wikipedia:
A memory hole is any mechanism for the alteration or disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a web site or other archive, particularly as part of an attempt to give the impression that something never happened. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The concept was first popularized by George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
In Nineteen Eighty-Four the memory hole is a small chute leading to a large incinerator used for censorship [ 4 ] :
In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages, to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and in the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building. [ 5 ]
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SnakesInTheTower
I cannot pretend certain things did not happen in my past life. I cannot ignore the fact that I was a judgmental JW elder, despite the fact that I wanted to be understanding. I tried but by being an elder I was, by default, judgmental. I hurt people. I cannot change that. I can LEARN from it.
I cannot change the fact that I was once engaged to a JW from India. 20/20 hindsight is great, and I of course realize how bad an idea it was from Day One.
I learned from both parts of my life. I have rid myself of almost all traces of JWdom in my life. I have all but rid myself of all traces of my time (brief as it was) in India. I deleted all the emails and got rid of most (if not all) pictures of her. I still have the watch she gave me, I only have not rid myself of it because it is a $200 watch. It sits in a drawer. I keep meaning to take it to a pawn shop.
I learned that I can love someone and I can love kids. Both lessons have served me well with my fiancee and my soon to be step son. I also learned one does not need a religion to shape ones "spiritual" life.
My fiancee, never a JW, also made mistakes, but if she went back and undid any of it, she would not have her two great kids, and we would never have met and gotten together.
Lesson here is learn from our past but don't bury it so deep as to pretend it doesn't exist. Scully's reference to memory holes is right on target. I just did not know it had a name. (I always called it Personal Revisionist History... Memory Hole is easier.)
Snakes (Rich )
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blondie
An article in the 1-15-07 WT "Remaining Steadfast When a Child Rebels" page 17, shows a picture of 2 parents looking sadly at a picture of their son on the family picture wall. I can't scan but maybe someone else can. If people do it, it is their choice not by direction of the WTS.
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wasblind
Good morning Scully,
I was never told to get rid of pics, but I was told that may daughter needed to start associating more with witness kids
and to cut contact with worldly kids (who she grew up with), and another sister told me that I needed to start with a clean
slate everthing that I taught her needs to be done over (no joke). My daugter was 14 at the time How can you eliminate
14 years of a childs life? No they didn't tell me to throw away pics but if I had of stayed they Probably would have gotten around to it