JW Code and Silent Lambs

by Goodboy 44 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  EvilFlyingCow

  >>Currently, you are one of three groups:

  - (C)urrent JW (baptized)
  - (X)-JW (was baptized, now DF'd, DA'd, Shunned, etc.)
  - (A)ssociates of either. <<

  I think I fit in a different category: R-F-B (Raised Forsaken Believer)

  I was raised in a JW family but never got baptized. I was a publisher because it was pretty much required of me since I was 5 years old. I never really agreed with them and always felt shunned by other witness families being dubbed as "bad assosiation".

  My dad was an elder, and I really think he always tried to be fair and was sincere. But the other elders hated him because he was not afraid to stand up to them and tell them when they were wrong and that they had man-made rules beyond the bible (e.g. in our congregation, the elders had outlawed dark shirts, if you wore anything darker than a pastel colored dress shirt to the hall, the elders would pull you aside and lecture you).

  By the time I was 17 in 1996, the elders started attacking me. I wasn't even doing anything scripturally wrong, but because I had formed a band with some of the other guys in the congregation and we played rock music (which BTW had no questionable lyrics or anything, it just sounded "worldly" to the elders), the elders kept coming to see me and threatening me and telling me that my hair was too long and I needed to get a haircut, which was completely ridiculous to me. I felt like it was none of their business. They told me that I would be publicly disciplined for "loose conduct", which, when I asked them why, their only answer was "because you're influencing the other boys in the congregation with your worldly music". When they asked to meet with me I refused, I had had enough. My dad was also demoted from being an elder because of me, because the elders who hated him finally had a reason to get rid of him. After this I really begin to question their religion, because why was I supposed to believe it was the truth just because I had been born into it. It was like, if I had been born into a family of Flat Earth Society members, does that mean I would have to believe the earth was flat? But nobody would understand my questioning and completely shunned me. So I got sick of it and when I was 19 I moved halfway across the country just to get away. A year later when I decided to move back home I found out strange things that had happened while I was away. Everyone had turned on my dad, the man who in my eyes has always loved Jehovah and was more devoted than any witness I had ever met. They tried to disfellowship him, those same elders who kicked me out for no valid reason, calling like half of the people in the congregation as witnesses against him, for what? For telling the elders that they had gone beyond the scriptures and for having me as his son.

  For like a year or two I had completely lost all belief that there was even a god because of the questioning and rethinking this caused me to do. But I am a believer in God now, I don't know if there is a right religion but I do know that I love YHWH and his son. I guess I am still a little confused about everything, I'm 23 now, but I am a believer.
• 

  Swan

  Dear Goodboy,

  I like your code. It is very much like the Geek code in some respects, but much easier and simpler. It will take some getting used to.

  I would suggest adding Eric's M for marked. There may be a few other cracks, but I think you have most of it put together pretty well.

  I am concerned that we might start misusing these codes as labels, though, which is a very human trait, but one that seems to always get us in trouble. Those FXB's are always doing this. You can never trust an FXB. You see how easy it is. (No offense to FXB's; I was just popped you out of the air to make my point.) We should resolve not to do this.

  Also it is never a clear delineation . My alcoholic grandparents were Fs (Found) when my mother was age 7 and she took to the religion right off and much stronger than her parents as an escape. So was she an R or an F?

  I am an RXU, but on the U strong agnostic leanings, which would make me borderline N. I might become an N someday if presented with strong evidence. So Yes! I agree that it can be changed.

  My husband is a *AB. He was never a JW. Is the * being correctly used here?

  How would you class someone like Christain Longo? He is an X but still believed in the JWs to the point of murdering his family to send them to a better place. Perhaps he was an RXC Raised X-JW but still believes in the Cult?

  Having done that, and speaking as a RXU, I can say that there are many people I love who are still *CB's. They are beyond my reach, yet I love the memory of the person who was inside them. Understand; this is the only reason I am even here on this message board. I am quite happy to walk away from the Watchtower forever.

  I feel the same way. This is one of the most tragic of situations, IMO.

  You aren't Bill Bowen and you aren't sitting at the gameboard. Remain silent until the game is done. Moves, which make no sense, become "Brilliant" if the game is won. I don't know how good Bill Bowen is at chess, but I know brilliant moves when I see them. Here's hoping he (or the next guy/gal) brings the 'tower crashing to the ground because I'll be the first one sifting through the wreckage for the people I loved and still love.

  That is such a good point. I think Bill Bowen is very good at playing the game by their own silly and illogical rules and within the limited resources available to him. In doing that, he exposes to the world how ridiculous the rules are. I think he doesn't stand a chance of getting them to meet with him, but I do think they have taken notice. And put on notice, they can't say they never knew. Bill and the abused lambs may be the little shepherd boy who brings down the giant. (Just because I am a U doesn't mean I don't appreciate the archetypes in the Bible stories. )

  This was a great post. I hope your code catches on.

  Tammy

  P.S. Your codes just gave my spell checker fits!
• 

  GentlyFeral

  GoodBoy, I just want to call your attention to a false assumption: that B = inerrantist Christian. I believe in gods, but not the god of the Bible; St. Paul's writings mean nothing to me at all, except maybe 1 Cor. 13.

  Otherwise, a thoughtful post. Thanks.

  Gently Feral
  FXB
• 

  Goodboy

  Wow, glad to hear you folks found this thing useful. I spend so much time typing code that I forget if I'm speaking like a human or a computer.

  I'd say "Marked" is relatively the same as shunned, but anyone can feel free to modify this thing as they wish. Just don't repeat a letter or it gets confusing, and don't complicate it too much. Some of you say, "I don't fit" and then your mom was a JW or whatever-- Look, if you were dragged to meetings below the age of ten, I'd call you an "R". That's the point" You didn't "discover the truth" with a fully-formed adult brain.

  Hell, this code could be modified until it's useless, but really, like I said, the last component, B, U or N is the most important. Either you believe is a god who gives a crap about us (which also makes him responsible for tornadoes, deformed babies and ovarian cancer) or you don't. I can accept the idea that Jehovah exists, the bible is true--and he's a total prick who doesn't give a flying **** about us. That seems quite plausible, but it still makes me an "U", because I don't believe he cares, see?

  Goodboy
• 

  sf

  Hahaha, men and their 'codes':

  "Men are predictable and if you understand their patterns, their size and strength become non-issues."

  Truly!

  sKally, STILL not a rocket scientist...FORCED IN AT TEN...BAPTIZED UNDER DURESS AT 14...DFED AT ALMOST 18...NEVER WENT BACK
• 

  TTBoy

  Great post - thx

  RX* - * = I have no clue - 2000 years nothing from God but I don't believe my ancestors were apes either..........

  TT
• 

  IslandWoman

  Goodboy,

  Your post reminded me quite a bit of the JW world I left a couple of years ago.

  You aren't Bill Bowen and you aren't sitting at the gameboard. Remain silent until the game is done. Moves, which make no sense, become "Brilliant" if the game is won. I don't know how good Bill Bowen is at chess, but I know brilliant moves when I see them. Here's hoping he (or the next guy/gal) brings the 'tower crashing to the ground because I'll be the first one sifting through the wreckage for the people I loved and still love.

  ****You aren't Bill Bowen and you aren't sitting at the gameboard*** sounds like: "Only the FDS represented by the Governing Body is in the know when it comes to Jehovah's direction of his people"

  ***Remain silent until the game is done*** sounds like: "Co-operate with the GB and do not promote disunity"

  ***Moves, which make no sense, become "Brillant" if the game is won.*** sounds like "Trust in Jehovah and do not lean upon your own understanding"

  ***Here's hoping he (or the next guy/gal) brings the tower crashing to the ground*** sounds like "Can't wait for Satan's system to come crashing down!"

  ***I'll be the first one sifting through the wreckage for the people I loved and still love*** sounds like "After Armageddon the first thing we will do is regroup and find our brothers and sisters."

  On a personal note, I sat for many years "silent" at the KH, never voicing disagreement with the Watchtower or the elders though many times I did disagree. Those days are gone!

  IW
• 

  sf

  " On a personal note, I sat for many years "silent" at the KH, never voicing disagreement with the Watchtower or the elders though many times I did disagree. Those days are gone! "

  A(men)! I am beginning to hear the ROAR of not only 'SILENT LAMBS' but of the 'SILENT MAJORITY' who have broken the chains that bind them too.

  I had some slight F.E.A.R. talking to Bill on the phone yesterday. I had questions and I went to him dircetly. I felt my heart pound hard and fast. It was very liberating though, to feel the f.e.a.r. and do it anyway. Yet afterwords, I felt no fear at all. I realized...I'M ON MY OWN HERE. I realized that I am not under anyones thumb or dictates. I realized and discovered alot yesterday, about mySELF and about others. It was a good day all in all.

  Thx I.W. Have I ever told you that you inspire me , somewhat? Well, ya do.[)]

  sKally
• 

  IslandWoman

  Thank you Skally, thank you very much. Yes, I agree the silent majority is learning to not only speak out but also to know in their hearts that what they have to say is worth a great deal.

  It does feel good.

  IW
• 

  sf

  Inserted from related thread:

  [ Yes, thank you to the 'SLO'.

  'Without 'Silentlambs.org' and it's founder, 'we' simply would not have gotten this far. To take this all the way to Crooklyn itself, is/ was and will always be, a great accomplishment. Many of us DO comprehend just what it took to get there. Yet:

  ". While this may help future victims, it won't help the present ones.

  These lambs have experienced a major loss of control in their lives, and to throw all their eggs in the Silentlambs lap is to repeat this loss of control. Should Silentlambs 'fall thru', it would further devastate the lambs, whereas if they take their cases into their own hands, justice will move forward.

  My opinion, for what it's worth."

  It is my opinion as well, and it IS worth a great deal...to ME.

  sKally, who has summoned her attorney and is NOW on her own....klass