I'm getting the distinct impression that certain details of
what I wrote have either been missed or are being deliberately ignored
by a number of commenters here.
So, before I offer any responses
to some of the comments made, allow me to recap some key phrases from my
post yesterday so as to reinforce the points I was making. I wrote . . .
The abusive "shepherd" is not the "flock."
The control [the Governing Body] exerts over the brothers and sisters is reprehensible, and several of its key theological doctrines are false and have misled and continue to mislead millions.
The Governing Body and its Watchtower Society is not our "religion."
The Family has been infected by a number of false teachings and has been wounded by the harmful control of the "wolf in sheep's clothing."
Remaining with the Family is not the same
as endorsing the Watchtower Society, just as remaining in solidarity
with abused siblings (though they may suffer Stockholm Syndrome) is not the same as endorsing the abuser who abused them.
I've
noticed many here do not see (or perhaps refuse to see) a difference
between the Watchtower Society and the people who collectively are the
faith Family known as Jehovah's Witnesses. There is, in fact, a huge
difference. By way of analogy, one (the Governing Body) is the "wolf in
sheep's clothing," the other (the Family of brothers and sisters) is the
"flock." They are not one and the same (any more than the Russian
people under the tight control of the
Kremlin during the Soviet era were one and the same; one was a "sheep"
the other was the "wolf")..
I've noticed that the term
"organization" is employed by many here to refer to the "wolf" and the
"flock" as a single entity, as if mutual partners in the commission of a
crime. I reject that characterization outright, and for reasons that I
already explained in my comments yesterday. It is why I rarely ever use
the term "organization." Instead, I use the term "Family" to refer to
the brothers and sisters as separate from the Governing Body and its
Watchtower Society that has taken control over a large part of the
Family (though not all of it, to be certain). It's vitally important to
make a distinction between the two.
Allow me to offer another
analogy. We can liken the situation of the Witnesses under the control
of the Governing Body to the Soviet Union era: the Russian people under
the tight control of the
Kremlin were not in willing collusion (at least not the vast majority of
them) with the fascism under which they themselves were suffering. They
were, in a very real way, captives. The Russian people are analogous to
Christian witnesses of Jehovah as a faith Family. There was the Soviet
Union, which is analogous to the Watchtower Society. It was operated by
the Kremlin, which is analogous to the Governing Body. The population
captive within the Soviet sphere of influence as a politically
controlled group is analogous to "Jehovah's Witnesses." The
communist/fascist ideology under which the people were politically
controlled is analogous to the appellation "the Truth." Yet as a
culture, the people were Russians, not Soviets. Their home was Russia,
both historically and geographically. "Soviet" was an imposed political
designation. When the Soviet Union fell, the people as Russians, though
greatly wounded, remained.
This is how I see the situation.
Yes, many have escaped, and no doubt for good reasons. I do not blame
them for this, nor do I disparage them for it. Yes, many of those
escapees (though certainly not all) have become driven by a bitterness
that blinds them to reason. Yet many, like myself, remain. In my case,
it is by deliberate choice. Because the Family is my home and my
culture; it is my "Russia." I do not support the Watchtower Society (the
"Soviet Union") or its policies ("the Truth") under the control of the
Governing Body (the "Kremlin"). As a dissident I work patiently from
within, with my brothers and sisters. I will not abandon them, nor will I
unfairly categorize them as being in collusion with the Watchtower
Society as one "organization" willfully fomenting a crime of religious
fascism.
So, having recapped and reinforced my key points on this
particular matter, I'll be back later to respond to some of the
responses to my remarks from yesterday.
BROTHER JERAMY
Sorry Jeramy, but it is you that is missing the point. I recognize that you are new to this, and don't see it yet, but to state the most of us are missing or ignoring your points is nonsense. I am calling you on it. You are much too new to TTATT to get all of it. I have been a JW and out long long enough to know that.
I understand why you are comparing the JW experience to Soviet Russia. I have some good friends that are Russian and grew up there in the Soviet era. While it is true that they were not allowed speak their minds openly, the level of thought control that goes with the JW experience was not there. They yearned for the freedoms most of us have. JWs actually think their "way of life" is better than most. Even if it is not the truth. Many JWs I know have said this.
Since you think there is some "brotherhood" that actually was part of some form of "true" worship at one time, again I ask, (if you actually read my post), at what point did that way of worship become false? If that was not the intent of your statement, then I would have to ask why do you the JW are special? If you think they are, than it is you that is being somewhat arrogant. The JWs as a people are no better and no worse than anyone else. If you are hung up on this point, again I ask why?
I know this post comes across quite blunt. I apologize for that in advance. My intent is to get you to think. The ex-JW community are not a bunch of angry disgruntled misfits as you have been told. We are human beings, along with the rest of the 7 billion on the planet. The JWs are nothing special. Just human, along with the rest of us. The GB, and whatever charlatans that existed before them that controlled the WTS, are nothing more than narcissistic individuals that actually believe they somehow had some special knowledge of how the universe operates, like all others that start a religion. No sane person would do such a thing.
d4g
