by sabastious 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I did not leave because I was treated badly in any way, I left because the teachings of the Watchtower Society are not scriptural in many important areas.
I was not rubbed up the wrong way, I was quite gruntled until I realised that I had been lied to for 58 years, then I became a little disgruntled.Well in fact my gruntle totally disappeared off the radar, (what is a gruntle ?)
They can never entertain the view that anything is wrong with the Borg, it has to be you that is wrong in some way.
I even had family (not mine) that told me that Jehovah diciplines those he loves and that he must REALLY love me. For a while I believed it. I was in denial. I let it define me for a time. But eventually I realized that I was still the same person, I had not changed. they were trying to make out to be someone that I was NOT. REALITY SET IN......then the doubt......
If this was indeed the way it worked then the advice you decribed would be well placed senitment.
But for that to work it implies that God works through the men of the congregation. An interesting concept, no? You wont ever hear an Elder telling you that God is speaking through him that isn't strictly repremanded. You see, they pick and chose from conflicting concepts to suit their agenda.
On one hand if you are DF'ed God must love you because he is singling out your behaviour for correction because you are important. On the other hand these men have been known to make blatent, and sometimes juvenile, mistakes so it's possible that your experience was just the whim of men. So which is it? What rules need be applied to answer this riddle?
The answer is that it is a trick. It's designed to induce ethical confusion. When in this state the brain must resolve the issue, this is the point where the control of the mind is attempted. A very precise move, no? It always works even if a little, that's why it takes longer for some and shorter for others.
It's brilliance actually, and was originall designed to extract harmful thoughts from the subconcious. But some people got a hold of the technique and have been using it ever since for whatever agenda they feel so inclined to further.
-Sab
"Maybe I am disgruntled. Maybe I have a bad attitude. Maybe I'm also old, fat and ugly. None of that has anything to do with whether what I am telling you about your organization is true or not. It's just a form of well-poisoning, in which you believe that you can dismiss anything that I say based on my personal characteristics rather than on the merits of my argument. The question is whether you are a lover of truth. If what I say is true, it doesn't matter what sort of person I am - you should believe the truth that I am telling you. Do you want to know what the truth really is or would you rather simply swallow whole whatever the organization tells you?"
"Maybe I am disgruntled. Maybe I have a bad attitude. Maybe I'm also old, fat and ugly. None of that has anything to do with whether what I am telling you about your organization is true or not. It's just a form of well-poisoning, in which you believe that you can dismiss anything that I say based on my personal characteristics rather than on the merits of my argument. The question is whether you are a lover of truth. If what I say is true, it doesn't matter what sort of person I am - you should believe the truth that I am telling you. Do you want to know what the truth really is or would you rather simply swallow whole whatever the organization tells you?"
This is a perfect example of the description of oppression not by definition, but by example. I would wager that black people, before the Civil Rights movement, held similar woeful attitudes about what happened to them.
-Sab
Good comparison, Sab.
Unless you have dealt with a certain situation and had similar experiences that Ex-JW's/Faders, etc, you can't possibly understand how the other person feels. It is so easy to label us as "disgruntled". I did not understand what an "apostate" is until I started questioning the hows and whys. Everything is great when you don't question anything and you just accept everything that the Borg tells you. It is definately not a "Thinking Man's" religion.
confuzzled-
Thanks for your posting, Witnesses are joing the Board everyday and just like you they gain much needed strength and objectivity by reading everyone's story.
Soldier- You should make your new word a Bumper Sticker [abso-fucking-lutely, just ask]
I agree with everything Ziddina said, I could have written that myself.
I do not have to be "disgruntled" to speak about facts of the WTS, anymore than Mormonism, Scientology, facts about Catholic, Muslim, etc. JWs speak out against all other religions, critical of all, but don't want facts of the WTS, its history and policies, rules and regulations. Ex-members of all these groups are quite experienced in the facts and realities of each of these religions.
Everyone born-in has the best reason to be disgruntled! Nothing like being born into a cult. All of those who thought it was difficult sitting through the boring, never-ending meeting as adults try and imagine what it was like for a five-year-old.
Gayle hit it on the head. Who better than an ex-member can expose the truth about their former religion based on their experience? And if I am presenting credible evidence to support my view, how is that being disgruntled? JWs do it all the time against other faiths, so they should be able to stand up to some scrutiny of their own; that is if they have that so-called truth.
As far as if I as an ex-JW have a reason to be disgruntled, no because I am not disgruntled. I am disappointed that I invested a significant amount of time and energy into this religion just to find it was all a lie, but far from disgruntled. Nor will I allow a J-dub to label me as such. As far as I am concerned, I am living my life like it's golden.
