A question I can't answer... (page 2)

flower

actually when i was a kid i really liked district conventions.

dungbeetle

Your soon-to-be-mother-in-law may not seem to understand what being the child of a JW was like try this: (and show her this from the literature)

1) can't play with any non-jw kids becasue they are 'bad influence'and they are all going to die at armegeddon for eternity, and the birds will eat their bodies.

2) can't be friends with the other kids because they are all going to die at armegeddon for eternity, and the birds will eat their bodies.

3) can't play with a lot of the JW kids because they are reproved/marked/da'd/df'd and they are going to die at Armegeddon for eternity and the birds are going to eat their bodies.

4) those JW's who are police officers aren't fit for privileges of service; they aren't good role models, and they could bring reproach on the 'organization and Jehovah'. If they aren't careful they are going to die at Armegeddon for eternity and the birds are going to eat their bodies.

5) We say thank you to soldiers and police officers etc etc, but we will not grow vegetables for them or mend their clothes or hold their hands while they are dying, and after we reap the benefits of their sacrifices they are going to die at Armegeddon for eternity and the birds are going to eat their bodies.

6) That woman that was expelled and that you are shunning may very well have been a rape/molestation survivor that didn't scream
long/hard/loud/soon enough and you must shun her because she will pollute the organization and if she isn't sorry is going to die at Armegeddon for eternity and the birds are going to eat her body.

What could you 'give' a child that makes up for all of this? What the hell kind of childhood is this? How many Chuck E Cheeses, trips to Disneyland do you think it would take to make up for a childhood like this?

And any JW that says otherwise is a blatant and flagrant liar. Read the literature!!!!

just my 1/2 cents worth!!!

In 1975 a crack team of publishers was sentenced to death by a judicial commiteee. They promptly escaped from the cult and now live life on the run. If you have a problem ... and if you can find them ... maybe you can contact the A--postate Team"

chappy

Skipping out of the convention sessions with a couple of other bad associations looking for sister type bad associations.

later,
chappy

felix a

I can't say I hated being a JW while I was one. I had a great social life, friends I really enjoyed. Playing Domino's, grilling out back and having friends over for a drink was just part of the fun.

As a witness I believed in the bible and I believed that we were the true religion. There are times that I miss that belief, the surety that came with that level of belief.

david

"Vision is the art of seeing things invisible"
Swift

terafera

I guess I miss 'belonging'. If I went back, did all the right things, I would be embraced for awhile..but for how long? Until I wasnt the new kid anymore?

I thought I had true friends in the Hall..but I found out quickly they didnt care too much about me. I guess I miss the feeling that we were all a big family. Even though they proved to me that I really wasn't. It was the ideal I carried though, that I miss.

It is painful to realize you were grasping onto dreams and wishes...reality hits hard when you see what your 'family' turned out to be.

2SYN

I can't think of a single thing about it. I went to a couple of Witness gatherings (which were about the sum total of my social life up to that point) and they were so boring and awkward I wanted to cry.

Damnit.

So much has been taken from me by that damn religion. In fact, it's not worthy of being called a religion.

The earlier in the forenoon you take the sun bath, the greater will be the beneficial effect, because you get more of the ultra-violet rays, which are healing. - The Golden Age

RunningMan

It's tough to think about any good things. The missed sports, dances, and any other normal activity seems to overshadow everything.

It is an indictment of our upbringing when I can look back and think that the high point of the year was the district assembly. How pitiful.

SEAKEN2001

Hi Jayhawk,

of course, that is a personal question and everyone will have their own answer. Perhaps you are looking for a way to jog your memory and loosen some long hidden morsels of the good times. Or, maybe you really didn't have any. Either way, your experience as a child in JW's is unique in many ways, even though there are basic tenets that JW's follow and apply to their young ones. How you reacted to those tenets and how your life unfolded in areas not directly controlled by them shaped how you experienced your childhood in the cult.

I can sympathize with Dungbeetles comments and I hear similar comments by many others who hated their childhood as JW's. Yet, those same tenets of belief were in the literature that our family studied and peddled from door to door. We took Armegeddon seriously and were instructed to be beware of "bad association". But I don't remember ever being hateful or suggesting that all the "other" kids will become bird food.

I certainly was a not a normal kid and I was fortunate to have parents who really loved their kids and one another. Perhaps my parent shelterred me from the "real" truth about Armageddon and the destruction of all our neighbors, I don't know. Anyway, I have to say I had a really wonderful childhood as a JW. I loved the meetings, field service, conventions. I loved the association, the meals, cook outs, picnics. I was happy to stand out as different at school. I got respect from those I cared about and I didn't care that some kids didn't like me because I was a JW. In junior and senior High School I excelled and was very popular. I was given the nickname, the "Preacher". I used opportunities in class to preach and I spoke up about what I believed in. Of course, I was wrong. But I didn't know that and I was full of confidence and had a talent for conversation. That got me through school and I have many fond memories of school activity as a JW. I was not restricted from participating in school as long as I was careful to avoid "bad association". My parents allowed me to find the balance and were not over restrictive.

When my parents were leaving the JW's and I was trying to convince them to stay, I often told them how much I loved my childhood and that I flet they were responsible for my having those memories. I still believe that. Now I know more. I know that I was completely wrong about almost everything I believed in as a child. But I still have fond memories of the experience I had as a youth. Now I know that by far the majority of children do not have the same fond memories of their youth as a JW. I attribute much of that to the teachings of JW's and the heavy-handed message they spew out into their neighborhoods. Still, I can't help but think that my experience as a JW youth was due to having a pair of loving parents who cared more about teaching their children a balanced view toward human interaction than they did about teaching them to hate their neighbors who did not believe in their "truth". So, I thank, not the religion, but my parents for giving me the childhood I had. There were others as well who influenced me and for whom I have fond memories. I guess I was lucky to have been where I was when I was. I certainly am not happy to hear of the many horror stories told my others telling of abusive parents and an almost militaristic approach with their neighborhoods. I wish everyone could have had the same opportunities I had as a kid. Yet, it seems most out of the ordinary for families associated with this cult.

Now I wish that I would have had the same parents but NOT in a cult. That might have afforded me many more opportunities to explore the realities of life and started me down the paths I now find appealing but have less opportunity to explore. So, if I were bitter about what those crazy tenets of my religion as a youth had forced me to miss, I might let my anger cloud out my fond memories of my childhood. I have chosen to keep my good memories, even though they seem now to be an anomoly.

Sean

A question I can't answer...

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