Mind Reading and Reinstatement - Part 1

by RayPublisher 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  RayPublisher

  I've published a new article on my blog about the agony that people go through in seeking reinstatement. Part one includes a personal experience of one that crawled throught this field of glass in order to be able to regain a relationship with a close friend that is asleep in the JW movement.

  Part Two will have a transcript (and accompanying audio on my YouTube channel) from a sister that recorded her entire reinstatement hearing, including what the elders said about her after she was dismissed from the room while they deliberated.

  Here's a peek at the article on JWStruggle:

  

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  There are likely a number of you on JWnet that have "been there and back again" and gone through it.

  • What was the hardest thing about getting reinstated?

  • How long did it take?

  • Would you do it again?

  • Was it worth it?
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  RayPublisher

  BTW this makes my one thousandth post on JWnet! Wow time flies when you are having fun!

  I know it is nothing compared to a lot of you so in 20 years when I hit 10,000 maybe I'll boast about it again lol...
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  happy@last

  A good read, thank you
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  wannaexit

  Thanks RayPublisher! Love your site and the article is captivating.
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  2+2=5

  I feel for JWs who have left or been df'd, but still believe that it is the 'truth'. There would be many that have their lives consumed from negative thoughts because they feel they are living a life that is disapproved by god. Df'd ones trying their best to make the right impression on a few elders so they can restore their relationship with god. Pretty sad really.

  The truth certainly does set you free.
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  sd-7

  A great topic. And very accurate. There was a time when I thought about trying for reinstatement, just for the family's sake, but it is thoroughly denigrating to the human spirit to tolerate the kind of treatment one must deal with from one's fellowman during this process. By the time it's done, they are clearly hoping to have a dog that has been taught to roll over and speak with no incentive whatsoever offered.

  I wish they'd thrown me out sooner, to be honest, years ago. I would've had a much better life by now. But it is clear that, as this article bears out, scripture has nothing at all to do with their decisions in judicial matters, pretty much they follow only the Society's handbook in making their choices. There's no point in attempting to play a rigged game as if one hopes to change the rules when the rules will be variables anyway.

  I, too, understand what Londo meant, about the sense of nearly PTSD about attending meetings. I've had the same experience. And an excellent reference to Mr. Frodo, I might add...truly, the Third Age is over and my time has passed...

  And being interrogated about where your ex-wife lives during the reinstatement process? Man, that's ballsy. Hard to imagine keeping one's cool with b.s. like that goin' down. It really is like dealing with dirty cops, trying to get reinstated...just make sure you give the answers the 'slave' needs to hear, and you're set.

  --sd-7
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  sabastious

  Very good read! Thank you so much, it will help a lot of people.

  -Sab
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  Christ Alone

  Absolutely perfect! Not sensational. Not fully of bitter anger. The article had exactly the perfect tone that I've come to expect from you, Ray and Londo! Not exactly the "apostate" info that JWs think they are going to be reading.

  The only thing I could think of through reading through it was "abuse". Everyone gets up in arms about the WT covering over child abuse (which they do). But there is a larger abuse that takes place on a much greater scale in the organization. Mental and Spiritual abuse. The GB are the main culprits with the Elders being their minions. They are abusing millions of people. They are forcing toxic shame and guilt on honest hearted people that only want some relief and hope from what they view as an evil world outside of the WT. But they are abused by the very people that are supposed to be a protection for them.

  Some elders are unintentional abusers. They don't mean to drag people down, but they know no other way. If they are to follow the WT, they must practice some form of abuse. And this abuse, in my opinion, is why so many leave God after leaving the WT. I know that there is the lack of evidence argument. I don't see it myself, but that's beside the point. The WT is extremely bloodguilty, again in my opinion, for forcing people away from God. "If we don't have the truth, no one does", is the mantra of many JWs. So when they find out that the organization is just a sham, they don't even consider Christianity. Some, like Cofty, are the exception. But it IS an exception. They don't experience what it's like to worship with others. They isolate themselves, and begin to form opinions about God without really seeing what being a Christian is all about.

  Eh...I'm sure many will disagree with some of that. But my main point is that regardless of your beliefs or lack therof after leaving the org, you have been abused. Every single one of you here that were a JW (or ARE a JW), you have suffered abuse whether you know it or not. And acknowledging the abuse and understanding the abuser is the first step to moving on.
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  l p

  Ray - great article....

  the borg is sooooo wrong!

  thats all i can say....and i left them...i walked away and had the last word....i told 2 elders why i was walking away to quote a scripture John 13:35 "by this all will know you are my disciples if you have love among yourselves" or words to that effect (its been a while since i even opened a bible)......and then i concluded that the congregation did not have love in it - so i basically stopped short of saying they were not the true religion...that is what i meant...and the F***ing idiots didn't even get it....oh well i guess that's the price the GB pay for not letting the R&F get an education....not able to deduce or come to a logical conclusion.....

  they did over the time later try to have the last word and get me to a meeting with elders +/- a JC....but i had my wits about me and dodged them....

  its around 10 years on now....

  lp
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  sd-7

  But my main point is that regardless of your beliefs or lack therof after leaving the org, you have been abused. Every single one of you here that were a JW (or ARE a JW), you have suffered abuse whether you know it or not. And acknowledging the abuse and understanding the abuser is the first step to moving on.

  Absolutely a good point you make there, Christ Alone. One of the earliest books I read during my journey out of the Borg was a book about 'The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse'. I only went to one other church after leaving the JWs (a Christadelphian church), but I admit that you're right--for me, I went elsewhere expecting further spiritual abuse, so I could never trust religion again. The pain was too deep, and eventually the faith died in all of that.

  Of course, I did actually consider Christianity for a time, recalling that Jesus found the blind man after he was expelled from the synagogue. But I think it became clear to me that any entity, book or system of thought needs to be subjected to the same kind of rational inquiry as the JWs were, and so yeah, I formed my own opinions about the Bible as was my right to do. After having our basic rights stolen from us, would you have us surrender them again to a system based on faith in third hand stories from millennia ago? No thanks.

  --sd-7