Is There "Something Of The Night" There?

by Englishman 7 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Englishman

  All this talk of subliminal images has got the old brain-box working overtime.

  I'm just recalling being taken to the Kingdom Hall as an 8 year old child. My parents had great difficulty in actually getting me there, I would kick and yell the house down in protest every Sunday afternoon when it was time to leave, so great was my dislike of the meetings that we attended at Staines Kingdom Hall.

  You see, what upset me, was that I felt a sort of sinister atmosphere present there. Something was definitely not right somehow. I got the same sort of vibes from the societies books and magazines and loathed having to read them. Something was making me recoil, although I'm still not certain what exactly.

  Could it be that I was detecting the so-called subliminal images in the artwork of the books and mags? They do say that children are very susceptible to this sort of thing, has anyone else experienced anything similar to this?

  Englishman.
• 

  Matty

  I think the illustrations in the society's publications are particularly scary for kids. They have such a vivid imagination, and they really live what's going on in them. So if they see someone torturously dying at Armageddon, they embellish it with even more blood and guts!

  Where is Tallyman when you need him?!
• 

  Celtic

  Resounding YES!!

  Always very sensitive and known for being a rather astute kid, I was often appalled as a child upon seeing / sensing the society's imagery in the books and magazines. In a nutshell, they often gave me the creeps and made my waking hours in the night quite terrifying.

  Many, many years later I developed an enormous fear of entering the KH building, attached directly to what, perhaps still, I am unsure, but my suspicion is that these early experiences, were being reflected in latter years, developmental behaviour.

  Immediately prior to April of '95, when I was DF'ed, the two years before then, I would literally be in the KH carpark shaking from fear, it was as though there was an invisible barrier preventing my presence from being welcomed in the KH building. No way could I cross the threshold of the door and it took years of counselling and personal development exercises to get through, over this situation.

  Cheers Mike for bringing the subject up, take care and kindest regards.

  Celtic Mark - Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
• 

  Matty

  Come to think of it I find the pictures of happy smiling witnesses more scary than the Watchtower's pictures of horror. Those vacant grins are truly gross.
• 

  els

  I don't remember feeling as strongly when I was little but when I got married and had my two children I got to where I couldn't take it any more. The last meeting I went to we were huddled together in the back row and I was just crying and I couldn't stop. We left and never went back. Maybe having kids triggered something, I had to protect them.

  els
• 

  Englishman

  I did touch on this subject last year, some interesting comments are included:
• 

  sleepy

  Some of the older Kingdom Halls did seam a bit creepy to me as a kid.Don't think there is anything sinister to it though, any old building was creepy to me.
• 

  Sentinel

  Michael,

  I definitely believe your feelings were valid. It was the same with me. I had a difficult time reading or discussing any JW material wherein there were pictures. I always felt uncomfortable and even some of the so called "good" pictures, held an undercurrent that I could never explain. I never even knew about subliminal stuff in those days.

  I always remember how the early bible studies went, with lots of attention given to the pictures and what they meant. All I can say is "what better place for evil to reside, then in the "light of the truth". What a clever ploy.

  I can't tell you how good it feels, to time and again, read experiences here that validate what I had to keep quiet about for so long. Thanks so much for this thread!

  Sentinel/Karen