Friends, Romans, countrymen (and women), lend me your ear,
Amazing's recent essay reminded me of some thoughts I have had for along time, but before I begin my essay, let recite a poem for crawdad2:
Roses are red
Violets are purple
Sugar is sweet
And so is maple surple
(From the song, Dang Me)
Crawdad, I will try to keep the paragraphs short and sweet, for your benefit. I may even through in a occasional beer commercial, so you can take a break - smile.
About a year ago, I wrote a post about the good I got from being a Witness. It played to mixed reviews, so this time I will present both the good and bad, first the bad.
Although I had wordly friends, while growing up as a Witness, I was far from fully enculterated when I left the religion. After I left, I was generally suspicious of others, to the point of paranoa, when it came to other people's motives. It took a very long time to be able to more accurately gauge another person's worth.
A closely coupled characteristic, was my judgementalism. It took a very long time to diminish this trait, and be more accepting of other people's behaviour. (Still have to watch this trait in myself to this day.)
(Time for a commercial break - my favorite nondark American beer is Rolling Rock, from Latrobe Pa.)
Now, there were some good things about growing up as a Witness. While the meetings are boring for an adult, I found the reading and answering at the WT study and the book study to be interesting as a child. I think I became a better reader and learner as a result. I noticed that most Witness kids I knew, did well in school, and I think this early reading and answering questions was a contributing factor.
We were taught to say no to authority, i.e., the government. Thus, I developed an ability to question authority. Unfortunately for the Society, my interest in learning and my questioning of authority is what prompted me to leave the religion.
We also, were kept very busy, so when I left, it was relatively easy for me to work full time and take college courses until I obtained several degrees. This sef disipline was a good thing, but on hind sight, I would say that I was a workaholic, and I wish I would have spent more time with my children when they were growing up.
I was in the TMS from the age of ten, and gave one hour public talks at the age of 17. So, when I started teaching, a 50 minute class presentation was a piece of cake. It is interesting that I found my very old speech council slip from the TMS, for the time when I was 20 years old. (I left the religion a few years later) My strengths and weaknesses as a presenter never changed over my life time. I guess I am stubborn and am going to do it my way.
Well, those are some of my thoughts. For, those of you who have been out for a short time and are going through a bad emotional period, I hope you can draw on your strengths, and move on to a better life. I agree with Amazing that the JW experience never leaves us, but its negative effects do diminish over time. I can vouch for that.