Why You Shouldn't care about offending Jehovah's Witnesses

by Dogpatch 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Dogpatch

  Why You Shouldn't care about
  offending Jehovah's Witnesses

  [partial quote, please read the whole article with pictures]

  Posted by author Kyria Abrahams

  05.14.12 11:00 am

  http://www.streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/blog/why-you-shouldnt-care-about-offending-jehovahs-witnesses/

  About a month ago, the New York Public School System released (and then quickly backpedaled on a list of words they would like banned from standardized tests.

  To recap what you probably already know, the list included 50 potentially upsetting or offensive terms such as birthday, dinosaurs, dancing, pepperoni, and swimming pools.

  The thinking was this: Words such as “birthday” or “Christmas” should be banned because they might upset Jehovah’s Witnesses who don’t celebrate. The same held true with swimming pools (because not every child has one) and dinosaurs (because they make Jesus cry) and dancing (which is made of rape). They also banned the word Schadenfreude because—little-known fact—it is actually pronounced “Jewfro.”

  However, having been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, I can tell you that the only thing I ever found offensive about the word “birthday” was that I could not have one. In fact, glancing at the word “birthday” on a standardized test actually was the extent of my birthday party. Looks like it’s just you and me, math test. And thus ended the best day of my childhood.

  Here’s the part you didn’t know: Fundamentalists actually want to be offended. I know this sounds counterintuitive—what religion wouldn’t want to be respected, after all? In reality, it’s part of their culture to be seen as martyrs. Jehovah’s Witnesses have absolutely no interest in fitting in or being understood or, god forbid, having people be sensitive to them. They refer to themselves as “no part of the world” and everyone else as “worldly.”

  In that way, they’re much like Hasidic Jews; in fact they even own a giant chunk of Brooklyn, which they are now selling for a ga-billion and four dollars.

  To illustrate the JW’s martyr complex, here’s the cover of a monthly Jehovah’s Witness publication called Awake! This particular issue’s title is: “Youths Who Put God First.”

  Read the rest (see link above)
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  Unlearn

  yes, Jehovahs Witnesses actually WANT to be offended: it serves a persecution complex that has been programmed into them consistently.
  they NEED it, to justify various stipulations supposedly lain out by Jesus about their continual tribulation.
  i know Jehovahs Witnesses who betray a very real sense of disappointment when movies like 'Religiolous' come out and say NOTHING about JW's.
  
  it's all ego.
  all ego...
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  La Falta Habitacion Por Sr Hor-Hey!!

  classic!
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  sabastious

  Looks like it’s just you and me, math test.

  LOL! Thanks for sharing this.

  -Sab
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  OnTheWayOut

  I told Kyria I have mixed feelings on this. Since JW's enjoy crying "Persecution," maybe they should remove "birthday" and things that let them cry it. But at the same time, I think making such lists is a bad idea. Its frustrating not knowing which is actually better.
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  moshe

  JW kids suffer more persecution than JW adults do, that's for sure. Why when I talked to JW adults, they ran away from a little debate they coudn't win. Kids can't run away from school.
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  Hortensia

  "Fundamentalists actually want to be offended."

  Yup, and then they can enjoy the pleasures of being a victim, being self-righteous, complaining and demanding sympathy and support plus beating down other people who just want some peace, dammit
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  Band on the Run

  The phrase about birthday and seeing it on a test was the closest you ever got to having one brought tears to my eyes. This list was absurd, particularly in a multicultural place such as New York City. Dinosaurs - go visit the Museum of Natural HIstory. Sometimes it seems that we are now allowed any reference to culture. None of these examples are religious doctrine but common culture.

  Amen to JW kids having a worse time. YOu can't run away from school and classmates. I was persecuted and I never understood why. My parents chose a loony religion. I did not. How I wanted my parents to be right. Growing up was coming to the certain knowledge that they were jerks in terms of religion.
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  blondie

  I just think non-jws don't really understand what and why jws believe what they do. I think there is a lot of mind-reading going on by non-jws, ineffective explanations by jws, and a school administration that is afraid of lawsuits.

  I grew up with a jw mother, going from school to school, always having to explain to a new set of teachers and students. It was absurd what they would take away from my explanation which I didn't really grasp either. So if I a jw child didn't grasp it, how could non-jw adults.
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  GLTirebiter

  I just think non-jws don't really understand what and why jws believe what they do. I think there is a lot of mind-reading going on by non-jws, ineffective explanations by jws, and a school administration that is afraid of lawsuits.

  Lack of comprehension and fear of lawsuits are some reason people fear giving offense. In addiiton, non-JWs usually don't realize that JWs tend to not put much stock in the opinions "worldly" people hold of their religion.

  While religious differences don't upset them (disagreement only convinces them that they're right and you're wrong), it's a mistake to think they are just as mentally tough in matters beyond religion. In my experience (limited, I admit) Witnesses often are more vulnerable than average in areas outside the WT umbrella. Perhaps that's compensation, because exerting so much emotional strength in one area of their life leaves little for anything else. Perhaps it's because the trained, reflex responses to any criticism of the WT religion blocks any real comprehension of an opposing view. Or perhaps it's because high-control groups like the WT tend to attact, and especially to retain, vulnerable souls hungry for the security of the group, and those members will guard that security at almost any cost.