Another J.W. Sucide

by moman 26 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  nancee park

  Excellent points. Also the emphasis on Armageddon. I believe it's good to be "awake" to events and realize God might have to do something dramatic regarding our Earth and the people here at any time, but doing so to the point of becoming so mentally unbalanced you don't for example do acts of kindness for your own spouse and kids or grandkids means you're set up for a depressing situation. Meetings, meetings, meetings, pioneer-pioneer-pioneer. Time from family for the sake of the Watchtower's phoney view of Jehovah, who is actually the God of love, joy, happiness.

  It's a cloak of blackness dumped upon JWs leading too many to death.
• 

  Lieu

  Until we have facts comparing the rate of suicides among JW's with suicides in other religious groups and non-religious demographics, the anecdotal reports of JW suicides mean nothing.

  To that quote, I'll just say this site is about JWs and not about other religions. Humans committing suicide does indeed mean something. Truly, who cares about "comparisons" with "other religions"? One is too many for JWs, the "chosen people of God". Its like the child abuse issue when folks state...'yes, but we have less than so-and-so'...LESS!!!!....The answer should have been:

  WE have child abuse/suicides, and we are NOT supposed to, this is a disgrace....from where is the problem stemming and how can this be fixed? ONE is tooo many! Screw comparisons!Got the point?

  Edited by - Lieu on 8 July 2002 1:2:47
• 

  wasasister

  Yes, I "got the point", but you apparently did not.

  Of course, even one suicide is too many. That was not the question. The beginning assertion was that suicides were higher among JW's than the population at large. Of the incidents reported, was the root cause of the suicide the religious affiliation, unrelated mental illness, job loss, economic troubles, etc.?

  There are mentally ill individuals within every group of humans. To blame suicides on the religion without considering other factors is irresponsible.

  The comparison between this and child abuse is a false analogy. The chief complaint about child abuse within the JW organization is the handling of such after the fact. Do they cover it up? Discourage reporting? Punish victims? It's not about per-capita numbers.

  My point is: to rush to a conclusion is fool-hearty and disingenuous.
• 

  Lieu

  I understand what you are saying...wasasister

  Someone made the comment you are talking about but it wasn't made to start the topic nor do I see it as the subject of the topic. I don't think it should have been addresed because its a moot issue in my book. Numbers don't mean anything to me, people do.

  The analogy with child abuse ....The point is how are these issues are handled when they arise. Do we look to help, ignore, or hide a problem? It all boils down to how everything is handled by the Org....all the exact same way....ignore, ignore, ignore....hide, hide, hide.

  People get depressed for various reasons, how, really isn't an issue. The issue is what do we do to assist those who are depressed as an organization?

  People generally commit suicide because they think no one truly gives a crap about them and/or if they die some situation they were involved in will get better.

  Its not the same claim as other religions...we claim to have the all loving close knit brotherhood. We claim to have all this "love" for each other that nobody else supposedly has. We're supposed to be there for one another and the fact is, as a group, we definitely are not. The support structure is the problem with JWs.

  This is the point I was looking to discuss...the prevalent attitude and lack of support for PEOPLE who are in need.
• 

  moman

  Lieu, you summed it up quite well!
• 

  Lieu

  Thanks moman,

  If more JW folks (and there are plenty of decent JWs) could just "be" like Christ....looking moreso to help save others and not worrying about themselves.

  A lot of the folks wouldn't be here on this board if someone just gave a crap about them....I mean really cared about them as individual people.
• 

  eldersdaughter

  I am from San Antonio, Texas and know the sister you are talking about. Her husband is Rudy Greishen (spelling). They had one son. I can't remember his name now. This was very sad. I know for myself it has taken a lot of work from others to keep me alive.