?Do JW only see the Negative Side of Life?

by azaria 3 Replies latest jw friends

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  azaria

  Please allow me to vent for a while. Both my parents are staunch JW for about 30 yrs. I have never been, and thankfully neither my three brothers. I did look into it a few years ago just to make sure if it was the truth. ( I have to admit though it scared me - I mean what if they were the truth). But I found that the more I looked into it the farther from the truth I thought they were. I do feel a lot of sadness for them. I have made a commitment to myself to keep in touch with my parents. My dad is 82 so I don’t want to have any regrets when he passes away. I do love my parents but I find it very difficult to have a relationship with them. I try to phone at least every other week, but after talking to my mother it takes me a while to get back to normal. I feel drained. Everything she talks about is the negative side of life and I almost feel that she is enjoying it on some level. I tried to change the subject to something positive so I mentioned that Elizabeth Smart was found. She couldn’t understand how this girl could be so brainwashed, could be so easily manipulated, doesn’t have a mind of her own (this is a 15 year old girl!). All I could do was shake my head. After I hung up I was so frustrated. Asked my daughter for a hug and then proceeded to clean out some of the closets. It does make me feel better. Is this typical behaviour among JW’s? My mother has always been a very depressing person even before becoming a Witness. My father is very arrogant. He believes that most people are very stupid and ignorant. Again I just shake my head. I can’t change their views. So I pray for them.

  I only found this site a few weeks ago. A number of postings have moved me to tears. Really enjoyed "You know what, you people RAWK". I have read about frustration and justified anger but not hatred towards the JW’s. If these people only knew that most people who post here seem like genuinely nice people who really seem to care about each other. You don’t seem to have horns on your heads. CTM (chuckling to myself)

  I think I have ranted long enough.

  I wrote this last night. It’s a brand new day. The sun is shining. Five of us are getting together tonight at my place to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It’s going to be a great day!!
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  jgnat

  Welcome, azaria. I am glad you found this fun place. Yes, from the outside looking in, Witnesses are a depressing bunch. I think this is because for a Witness, happiness is deferred for the New World Order, Just Around the Corner. "These Last Days" are "Full of Woe", to be endured, not enjoyed.

  Everything she talks about is the negative side of life and I almost feel that she is enjoying it on some level.

  Yes, every peice of bad news is jumped on, because it is one more nail in the coffin for this old world, and one more day closer to when the Witness can finally put his feet up and stop trudging from door to door.
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  dmouse

  First, Hi there azaria!

  Can you please allow ME to vent for a while...in future please use a bigger font, my tired old eyes strained to read your post!

  However, your post was well worth the effort, it was well written and an insighful comment on the life-attitude of many JWs.

  I think what you say is generally true, especially of the older JWs. They are constantly trying to justify what they believe - that the world is sinking deeper into a moral and spiritual quagmire. Therefore, anytime something bad happens they jump all over it and make a big issue because they WANT/NEED bad things to happen. Acknowledging something good almost seems to them to show a lack of faith in the prophecies of the WBTS. They expect people outside of their religion to be evil (worldly) and look for evidence to support this expectation. Of course, there are bad people in the world so they don't have to look far. But as you say they seem to dwell unnecessarily on such things - this makes them very depressing people to be around (my JW mother-in-law is a prime example!) The sad thing is they completely miss the fact that the vast majority of people in the world are good honest people just trying to do their best in life.

  When I have JWs visit I do my best to be upbeat, praising good deeds of worldy people, and how the world seems to be getting better every day - it drives em nuts!

  TTFN

  dmouse
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  Shutterbug

  This doom and gloom apparently comes from the WT publications, in order to sell books and magazines. The pitch is, the big "A" is coming soon and to prove it we can look at how horrible conditions are in the world right now. What they don't point out is the fact the world has never been in perfect condition. The next step is to sell the idea of a paradise earth. This has worked for over 100 years, as they still are getting more recruits. Bun