Problems of Dating the Watchtower Way

by enigma1863 61 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • NewYork44M
    NewYork44M

    Everyone wants to have sex. It is as natural as any of our body functions. The problem is that the watchtower indoctrinate young men that the only acceptable place to ejaculate is in the vagina of your lawfully wedded wife.

    So, the concept of dating has a very different meaning to a young jw. It is a process with a very specific end goal.

    Once you are out, it is difficult to transend this concept into one where you are attempting to have fun and eventually find love. As I learned love and sex are very different concepts. I say that from the perspective of someone who never found love until later in life.

  • apostatethunder
    apostatethunder

    One of the things that becomes crystal clear with time is how the talks and articles are synchronized with whatever is happening in the congregation, even if it is a private thing between a couple. This not only relates to dating though.

    It is a shame all the effort they put in finding out about people's private business is not put in creating healthy relationships with them instead, and all their emphasis in providing food at the proper time is rather not put on doing good deeds at the proper time.

    Once you leave you realize that you were in an abusive, controlling relationship with THEM with everything that this entails.

  • EndofMysteries
    EndofMysteries

    I know of one couple that were married for 15/20 years and he only had relations with his wife on the wedding night. She decided she didn't like sex and never did it again with him after.

    One of my old friends got married and told me shortly after she wasn't into it and he was lucky if once a month.

    Not being compatible in that department I'm sure would have many problems.

  • Apognophos
    Apognophos

    That's not rendering the marriage due, JW mates don't have to put up with that crap. They can get the elders involved (yes, I know this is terribly intrusive, but if you are going to be trapped in a crazy fundamentalist religion that dictates all your life choices, you might as well take advantage of it when it can work in your favor). If the mate doesn't accept the counsel, the mate who's being deprived should be able to get a separation.

    At that point you're supposed to wait for the other mate to be seen with someone else, but unfortunately if you're dealing with a true asexual nun, then she may just keep to herself as a woe-is-me-I-guess-I'll-just-spend-all-my-time-in-service spinster, and you're stuck in the marriage without getting proof of infidelity. At that point I guess the only option is getting divorced anyway, getting DFed, and working to be reinstated.

    Personally I don't have much interest in sex, but hell if I would put up with that from a marriage mate. A close relationship needs sex as a bonding tool. Unfortunately this somewhat exploitative use of the JW system that I described above is not something that comes naturally to sincere JWs, even if the lack of sex is hurting them emotionally and causing stress from a pent-up libido. All of us born-ins in particular were conditioned from childhood to just soak up capricious punishment and emotional abuse.

  • dozy
    dozy

    One of the problems is that you are expected very early on to commit yourself to the person you are dating , even if you hardly know them.

    I recall one woman that I went out ten pin bowling with together with a few friends , having a nice time with her but hardly counting as a "date" and the next meeting her elder father pulls me into the back room and wanted to know if I had "serious intentions" towards her otherwise she wouldn't be permitted to see me. I just said that she seemed a nice person and I was only just getting to know her but he basically wanted to know if I was intending to marry her. It was all really heavy and just killed at birth what could have eventually developed into a really good relationship.

    Another sister told me that she wasn't allowed any physical contact with anyone , so when we held hands she wore gloves ( in the middle of summer ?!). Eventually after a few "dates" of this type , I just told her that it wasn't going to work out if she was going to act like that & she needed to loosen up a bit. She just stomped off and she is still single to this day ( now in her mid 40's. )

    Looking back all of this seems a bit crazy & many JW youths ( myself included ) were forced to do lots of things away from the oppressive rules of the religion. Virtually all the young ones of my generation would have been DFd if the elders knew what they had got up to in the courtship. Nowadays of course with all the electronic means of communication such as texting , facebook etc I would imagine developing a relationship is much easier. Still I see JWs getting married as teenagers , often little more than children , because they can't have sex or any normal kind of courtship.

  • gingerbread
    gingerbread

    The Watchtower Society sends a clear message that women are to be treated like 'property'. They are to be quiet, modest, in subjection (to husbands and elders) and controlled.

    The approved dating methods are only for the selection of a marriage mate i.e. men shopping for a wife. That is why young sisters are trained to get all fixed up for the conventions - to attract a 'spiritual' brother.

    It's a no brainer that marriages resulting from this method are unhappy and artificial. It's all fantasy - til the day after the wedding.

  • Apognophos
    Apognophos

    Wow, am I glad that I missed that crazy train of JW dating.

    Another sister told me that she wasn't allowed any physical contact with anyone , so when we held hands she wore gloves ( in the middle of summer ?!).

    ...Was she, by chance, Rogue of the X-Men?!

  • AndDontCallMeShirley
    AndDontCallMeShirley

    dozy: One of the problems is that you are expected very early on to commit yourself to the person you are dating , even if you hardly know them.

    .

    Wow, does this bring back memories! I had this happen a few times. Go out with a sister one time, and it's viewed as an 'engagement'. If I/we decided I/we weren't interested, the "too-much-time-on-their-hands" sisters operating the congregation Rumor Mill tag me as a "womanizer". All because I didn't marry a sister after one date!

    .

    It's so true- in JW World, you really are marrying a stranger.

  • rebel8
    rebel8

    My biggest problem with it is that you're only allowed to date if you're contemplating marriage. Once again, wts prohibits normal activities that develop social skills.

  • Adiva
    Adiva

    I remember 2 folks that got married after a short wts approved courtship, went on their honeymoon and came back each having gained about 20 pounds. My guess is that once they got the sex over with, they discovered that they really didn't like each other or, at least had nothing in common, except food.

    Adiva

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