I find it utterly wrong as wrong can be to make fun of someone who is claiming to have demonic occurances. Yes, this is an uncomfortable subject and many here are filled with fear when the subject even comes up. Some choose to make fun of the situation while others declare the person to be insane.
I think it is fine to believe whatever you want to believe on this subject. However, I am in total disagreement that folks deem it necessary to make light of the situation. This is very injurious to the newbie and I am dissapointed that YOU, of all people would be so freekin insensitive and downright rude to someone who is reaching out. You may not believe in it but that does not give you the right to cause further harm to a person who is vulnerable and frightened. Is that how we should handle other subjects. What about scientific evidence???? Science is totally unable to explain plenty of things!!! Science gets their own version of 'new light' every day too!!! Treating others with respect and comfort is something alien to you. You still act like the dubs, for crying out loud. You are entitled to your opinions but you should use your common sense to decide if your opinion will help or harm someone. You sound like elders who demand 2 witnesses for something to be valid.
This is certainly not meant for many on this board, but it is an issue that needs addressing and those folks know who they are. It is unwise at the very least to offer your advice when it could cause further harm to one of your fellow x's. Didn't you learn anything since you left the dubs? Self-righteous, ignorant behavior should be thrown away along with the NWT and Johannes Greber. dj
I don't think that anyone intended to cause any pain here. Most of us were brought up with a fear of demons - demons more than Satan! - and one way of dealing with it is by laughter. Humour can be a very healing emotion, and what I have read seemed to be well meant.
JT.......I never claimed that scientific versions of 'new light' claims to come from God. The anology merely suggests that on any given day, science claims one thing to be true only to change it the next. One only needs to tune into the local news channels to see this! People here claim that science cannot prove the existence of demonic activity. I am only saying that they cannot prove it to be false either.
Englishman..........i am not sure if you read the thread by Wednesday or not. I felt that she was treated disrepectfully. She did not need to be told that she is crazy. I know of many people who have encountered this sort of thing and it stopped and they are fine. Telling her to go to a mental health professional will cause her to be labeled as a schizophrenic and medicated for the rest of her life. Basically, her life would become totally thrown into an upheaval. She would be labeled for life! I have seen this problem effectively handled without the use of medical science. I am not saying that all people with mental illness should not seek medical attention but she is not an extreme case. I have seen many people freed from this horror. dj
I am one of several who suggested seeing a psychiatrist. In no way do I indicate that I felt she was crazy. I mentioned extreme stress as a possible cause. Our minds will go to extreme lengths to protect us from ourselves at times. Some times this results in the unconscious mind doing some things that we do not understand. Extreme stress, sometimes self induced due to situations or the environment can triger these things.
Seeing a professional for help does not automaticly cause us to be considered schizophrenic. Or needing medication. If we find we are then it is urgently needed. Unfortunatly this some times causes some to labeled. However I would rather have that than be untreated and suicidal or murderous.
The poster states that she is seeing a counselor. That is a good step but not necessarily the correct one. I recommend a psychiatrist because they can medicate. This may only be a relaxant or an anti depressant.
I have no reason to think she is schizophrenic. I tend to think it is due to stress-anxiety-guilt and fear. But I am not qualified to say that any of these guesses are correct.
It's possible that Wednesday is psychic - some of us are - and that the JW imprinting is tricking the mind into interpreting this gift as demon attack. IMHO, she needs to talk with someone who understands this, rather than see a psychiatric bod.
All that I am saying is that Wenesday is new and some posters were rude to her. She should receive better treatment than that IMO.
Her experience is not uncommon, however in my experience ( as I stated above) most shrinks will label her as a schizo......hearing voices and seeing things...I mean that is what a schiz is.
I think that that diagnosis is incorrect many many times. Especially when someone was involved with the jw's. I have met many people who have had this experience and even worse. A few of these people had a friend with them who saw the same thing. Wed. would more than likely be labeled with a mental illness and have to carry that with her throughout her life. It is an innacurate diagnosis! I read what she said and it is not too extreme.....I know of many who have had this experience last for weeks at a time and they are perfectly fine now. IMHO....it is because of the WT's dabblings into spiritism (ie: Johannes Greber, etc) that this stuff occurs with e jw's more than most religions. Generally, once they are free from the influence of the WT's teachings and indocrination, they are no longer troubled. She can be free of this w/o the medical community labeling her. I am not saying that she should go it alone, she needs help from people who understand. dj
I supose that is true. I too remember being frighned since a small child of things that go "bump in the night". I will tell u though-the most bizzre stores i ever personally heard-and I remember reading one in the wt too, are the stories of women who report demons having sex with them. i remember a totaly sane sister who was rather pretty telling a few of us siters that she had to sleep with Bibles in all the "stragetic places" to ward off demons. Now we all beliieved her.Was she crazy? no. She beoieved what every JW believed. I again repeat-i have seen a lighting up on demon stores since the 80's. there are less of them in the mags. used to be a regular feature.
I got this far on the other thread and felt the urge to respond; the above was posted by Wednesday.
She was having an erotic dream and when she woke up and realized what fun it was (and how bad in Jah's eyes) she justified it herself and others with "I had sex with demons."
How would you know whether the diagnosis by a professional would be correct or not? Just from the few short posts that you've read from Wednesday, already you can tell that this person doesn't have any problems? You just said that hearing voices and seeing things will label you a schitzo... now I wouldn't go that far, but I think we both agree that something may not be right - possibly stress... possibly mental illness... or possibly it's nothing more than an overactive imagination. (I won't entertain the idea of demons as I would not entertain the silly idea of elves, trolls, space aliens, or the easter bunny - all which have the same amount of evidence backing them... none).
Why the hell would you think that you could provide a better diagnosis over the Internet than a professional could in person? Simply ridiculous. Why would you ever discourage someone from getting professional help when they may have a serious problem? Your armchair diagnosis isn't helping and is plain irresponsible.
rem
PS: And your criticism of science is completely unfounded. The scientific method is self correcting... the best method of gaining knowledge that has ever been devised. Unfortuntately, you are basing your views of science on "news reports" which are many times inaccurate and are almost always exagerations of scientist's claims.
