Persecution?

robhic

I am not now, nor have I ever been a JW but I have seen their propensity to try to play up being persecuted. A friend of mine who is a JW (and the reason I sought out these message forums) made it abundantly clear that she thought (and I guess was encouraged to think) that most everything was persecution because "People hate JW's."

Now, from my experience I can say that I don't think people actually hate JW. I think most people find them annoying and quite a bother but really hating them seems to be overkill. You don't literally hate mosquitoes (at least I don't) but they are an annoyance like any number of other small things and that's all.

What I have seen as far as the most hostile feelings towards JW seems to be almost exclusively from ex-JW! The message forums I have been reading for about 6-7 months are filled with nice, intelligent and humorous people. But ... when the subject really gets serious about JW topics the ex-JW really get stoked about it. I can see why this would be the case but do other "worldly" people feel this way?

Is this your perception also? Did you experience actual persecution as a JW or more or less people's annoyance and nothing much worse? Am I getting a good read on these feelings? I am curious about JW's need to feel persecuted. Is it some sort of validation? I think it's just kinda sad.

Robert

Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice.

Jay Dudds wear persecution as some sort of badge of honour - the medical term is Martyr Syndrome.

cheeses who likes to be loved.

concerned mama

I am not JW either...never have been, never will. I don't hate JWs, but oh my, I feel sad for them. They're in a cult, and don't have the strength or insight to fight their way out. I think some of the things that they do in the name of their religion are awful, shunning, abuse and death. They aren't even happy in their religion. They spend so much time looking to the next world, they don't appreciate the beautiful one they have. Some are so burdened with guilt of never doing enough and being unworthy, and unable to live up to impossible, artificial standards that they are just plain miserable and depressed, and think that is the right way to live. It is really pathetic and sad.

nowisee

"blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." -- matthew 5:ll,l2

so they are anxious to play up the persecution factor believing that this is a good thing in the eyes of God.

freedom96

I think any real persecution was in countries where religion was banned, or the witnesses made a stink of not belonging to a political party.

Here in the US the most I ever experienced was an occasional door slammed in the face, or at a previous job years ago when I was ridiculed.

Other than that, I don't think most people gave JW's much of a passing thought anyway. We were lumped in with people like the Mormons. Ok, you have a weird religion. Oh well. Next.

DJ

My nephew is a jw who wrote an essay for school about evolution vs. creation. He read it to me and my brother and mother one day. It was good and he got an A 99%. My mom asked him why he didn't get a 100% and he said that he forgot a comma....My brother then very seriously said..."It because he is a witness, that's why". That is the jw mindset!

A Paduan

"persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me"

I think that's the part they don't get - that it's not for Christ - rather, it's about behaviour and 'truth'.

shamus

Very true -
People get attention easier if they feel persecuted. Ever hear of a persecution complex? That is what they have. I find too, that some people are very nasty in regards to speaking of the witnesses on this forum - I don't think it's such a nice thing to do, returning evil for evil. On the otherhand, some of these people have seen family members treated horribly, and, most tragic, the people who post here who were sexually abused and treated like it was their fault - those people have every right to speak their minds - its part of the healing process. I wouldn't be so nice to them if this happened to me, and surely nor would you.

Persecution? C'mon. I was in it - the only time that I was "persecuted" was when my dad told me that I was an idiot for my blood stance. That was not persecution. He was only telling me his mind. It has happened in other parts of the world, but not here in North America. Little wonder - check out how they treat people even in the world. They want to be "no part of the world", and act like they are from outer space. One asshole witness whom I worked with was asked by a receptionist at our workplace, very nicely, "So, do you and your wife want kids?". The jerk says "In this world??? NO WAY", then storms away. Some persecution. He acted like a self-rightcheous ignorant jerkoff. Pretty typical of how weird they are - most of them.

DJ

Paduan,

Excellent point. I may use that one day. thanks..dj

A Paduan

It's pretty simple - they're persecuted (occasionally) because of lies, not because of Truth.

Generally though, there isn't persecution - someone else speaks the truth and that becomes their tribulation, which they call persecution.

That's another example of jws employing different meanings for words, to facilitate their ideas - it leads to full-on confusion (and delusion).

paduan

Persecution?

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