If you can, take the time to read this beautifulfully written piece on what its like to live as a gay, enforced celibate witness. The writer details experiences working for an organization that ostensibly lauds singleness, especially in the higher echelons and bethel , yet inevitability rewards the hard working singleton with a lonely old age and the "increasingly sinister " label of ' that weird single brother'. The author compares this outcome with that of " eunuch for the Lord" Paul pondering the silence on his later life and wondering whether he similarly died " alone, largely forgotten and desperately waiting for the paradise ".
http://avoidjw.org/2016/01/apostle-paul-complex/
Apostle Paul complex
by Diogenesister 5 Replies latest social relationships
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Diogenesister
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talesin
That was a very touching, and real, essay. And I like the term "Apostle Paul Complex". As the article said, we will never know for sure, but even so, it is a good theory.
When I was 17, one of my pioneer buddies hung himself. We had always known he was 'effeminate' (remember, it was the 70s, we were ignorant -especially me, lol- and naive). We all loved Mark, he was so sweet. So, he was found in his room, with a note. His single JW mom was a zealot, father had abandoned them. Mark didn't feel he was good enough, and that his true self (gay and a cross-dresser) was an abomination. He couldn't live with it.
Six months later, I told my maternal unit that I would NEVER return to the KH, got kicked out onto the street, and the rest is history (my history). But it gave me a passion, a passion to defy homophobia, to educate my friends about the fact that gay men do not, universally, molest children (especially for my friends who were molested by priests - that is a pedo who seeks his victims through the priesthood).
Thanks for sharing, Dio, great essay! xx tal
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KateWild
I read it it was really good and emotional. I feel for anyone who is in that position
Kate xx
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Diogenesister
Tal you broke the mould...we can't help what we are spoon fed as youngsters ..
I am so sorry about your friend Mark 🌾
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talesin
Yes, I did. : )) And am happy for that!
I wish that Mark had been born later; maybe he would have been okay. I got very ill after this happened, for about six months, and not many memories of that time. I wonder, sometimes, if I was the one that found him .... but that is a secret that is kept deep in my subconscious. I truly feel it was my 'kundalini'.We need to support our members who are LGBT, and trans-gendered. There is so much hate in the world, and in the JWS. It saddens me.
Glad you're okay, Dio, and don't let anyone get you down! xx : ) tal -
Sabin
What a beautiful & honest story, & what a sad situation for this man to have found himself in. The Borg is just an illusion of happiness.