Was it internal or external? I know of some that pioneered because they felt they HAD to. We know of many that felt awful because they were ridiculed because they were Witness children and HAD to get baptized and face school pressure, all the while hating it. What was the worst pressure that you had to endure because you were a Witness?
What's The Worst Pressure You Endured Because You Were A JW?
by minimus 29 Replies latest jw friends
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blondie
Hey our limit is 30 now not 25.
The worst pressure I have ever had has been applied by elders who listened to gossip and reacted without checking it out. Then when they realized it was completely unfounded, they disappeared without any apology or acknowledgment that the accusation was totally without merit.
Except for the pressure growing up in an abusive household, the above was the worst because it came from people who claimed to "love" you like Christ does.
Blondie
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teenyuck
Going in service....
Feeling the desperate need to be baptized, just in case armageddon struck in 1975
Being on the outside with people at school
I think the going out in service was worst. I really did not understand anything except that armageddon was on its way and I was too tell people. I was a very bad magazine salesperson. I literally could not give them away. I was shy and did not want to be knocking on doors on Saturday morning. I wanted to be watching Bugs Bunny.
I HATED going out in service..
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Lost Diamond
Not being allowed to be around my boyfriend as often as I wanted or HOW I wanted. The dating scene pretty much sucked. I married this guy.....it didn't survive.
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minimus
How many of you had to field service on your own neighborhood street. This is cruel and unusual punishment....Or having to give a talk and always being petrified.
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jws
I think the worst pressure was the Kindom Ministry School. When I was a kid, I was quiet and shy in the first place. Facing a room full of people, with all eyes on me was pure torture. I never wanted to join the KMS. It's been so long I don't remember whether I was made to or whether my parents signed me up without my OK. And the KMS never did anything to help me with public speaking either. The problem was probably confidence. All I felt before a talk was scared. All I felt afterwards was rage for having been made to sign up and go through that. Now I have more confidence and can speak to groups if I need to and I didn't learn that from the KMS. The KMS never addressed my confidence. Especially when they publicly critique you from the stage afterwards. Like that's supposed to boost my confidence.
And yes, another of my worst fears was going out in service in my school's neighborhood. I felt terrified of running into a classmate at the door and then being made fun of at school. For some reason or another, I don't think the school's territory and the congregation's territory overlapped by very much and my parents were somewhat sensitive to this when they requested territory cards. But, there'd be times when we'd go out as part of a group and end up in the school's territory because somebody else checked out the territory card.
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freedom96
My place of work years ago gave me tons of grief over being a witness. I was not happy about being one, but just out of school and did not know much better.
It was so bad there could have been a large lawsuit for violating my rights. Good for them I am not lawsuit happy.
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sandy
I was terrified to go out in field service in my school's neighborhood too all through JR High. I pretended I was normal and lied to all the kids about my non-existant worldly life. As far as they new I celebrated all holidays........ LOL I can't believe the pressure that was.
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blackout
My worst pressure was at 14 yo was feeling that I had to tell my dad that he was no longer my father and that Jehovah would be my father from now on. This was because my dad was disfellowshipped and my mum had divorced him. My mum and an elder we were studying with put a lot of pressure on me that this was the only way to prove my commitment to Jehovah.
I shunned my dad for 15 years.
It made me miserable.
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garybuss
2nd grade, age 7, having to explain why I HAD to be different and then dealing with BEING different. It was REALLY bad.