How Screwed Up Are You Because You Were A Jehovah's Witness??? (page 6)

blondie

The fact that you acknowledge that some "are almost destroyed" is sufficient evidence that WT influence is not healthy for anybody.

And I agree that the WT influence is not healthy, herk. I'm just saying in my situation, just about myself, which is a valid point of view, the alcoholism and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse had more of a lasting effect on me. I still have trust issues but I have learned it is not good to rush into relationships; trust is earned. I don't define myself by my past but my my present.

But each person's experience is unique. The damage done by the WTS is unique to each person After 25 years with people in AA, Al-Anon, ACOA, abuse support groups, I have learned everyone is affected differently and heals at their own rate. There is no timetable. People relapse, leave and come back, get worse, but if they stick with it, I have seen most improve, including myself.

So, in my opinion, some people are affected more deeply than others by the WT propaganda and cruelty. Yes, all are affected, but some have more to work through. I should have left sooner, but let myself be fooled into thinking that it was just human imperfection. I have learned that the so-called few decent people I knew, realized that the organization is founded on lies and lying and stayed anyway. I did not want to become like them, devoid of conscience and concern for others. I had enough of that with my parents.

Blondie

Bibbitybobbityboo

It's ironic really. My mother was disfellowshipped when I was 12. She was completely shunned by the family when she needed them most. It devastated her emotionally which affected her ability to parent.

This inability to parent led to emotional neglect of her children which lead to dysfunctional children. When I was 19 I got baptized so I could have some kind of stability in my life. I do admit that being a JW helped me to grow up, stay off drugs and avoid pregnancy. The org was like the parents I never had in a way. However, once I grew up I found the 'parent' too controlling & manipulative and I needed to get out on my own.

I'm thankful that I've come this far. I don't know what would have become of me if I had not become a witness. However, I don't know what would have become of me had I stayed a witness. My life has so much more joy & meaning now.

Undecided

Good question. I really don't know the answer. I may have been able to provide a better life financially but how would I know now? I had a good life and enjoyed it all. I don't feel that I was mistreated by my parents, they were good people and showed a lot of love to me and my brother. I had a lot of good times while in the "Truth" and don't know what life would have been in another environment. I was given a lot of leeway in my life but I felt the load of being a good JW there too.

I'm not angry at the JWs but feel a little pissed at the organization for their self righteous attitude amid their deceit and self aggrandizement. I can live with myself without too much hatred, unless they try to push me back in.

Ken P.

fjtoth

Proplog2:

I personally know of many people whose lives are better because of the moral direction they receive as member of the organziation.

Really? How moral is it to constantly listen to lies and then pass them on? This is something JWs do just about every single day of their lives. One of the things that led me out of the organization was the constant requirement to lie in order to defend the organization.

In "field service" people would tell me that we let defenseless little children die rather than allow them to have a life-saving blood transfusion. I hemmed and hawed in trying to show that what we were doing was scriptural, but in effect I was lying to myself and to the householder by denying that we simply allow little children to die instead of permitting doctors to give them the help they need to stay alive.

Sometimes I'd be questioned by a householder or a new JW about 1975. I knew clearly what the Society was teaching before that year, but to "keep weak ones from stumbling" I whitewashed the fact that the Society led all of us in the organization to believe that the millennium would begin in that year.

Many examples could be given where JWs are required to lie in order to protect the organization's image. We become like our instructor. If the instructor--in this case the WTS--is a liar, those who follow the instructions will likewise prove to be liars. In time, it becomes easy to lie to one's parents, marriage partner and children, as well as neighbours and friends.

It's so easy to dismiss the damage that the Society does because there is, of course, a "good side." But the credit for whatever good the Society fosters should be given to others. Whatever it teaches about science, history, the Bible, human relations, etc., is selectively copied from the writings of others. Perhaps the only thing unique to itself--of its own origination--is its deceptiveness, treachery and arrogance.

When people defend the Society for its so-called "good" and "beneficial" aspects, I think of the following statement in a letter I recently received from a person studying to become a JW. After I showed him from the 1934 Yearbook how the Society tried to snuggle up to Hitler, here's what he wrote:

I was very interested to read the 1934 Yearbook. In one sense it shows some support for Hitler but in most ways it makes me think JWs are rather honest. It seems to make clear that JWs were politically nonaligned. They correctly pointed out that it was the League of Nations that had imposed harsh compensation requirements on Germany after WW1. In the early 1930s the great depression had hit Germany extra hard because of its war repayments, and US Jews calling in there loans. This created mass unemployment and helped bring Hitler to power. The JWs took the heat off German Jews by blaming US Jews who Hitler could not persecute. I doubt that the publicly expressed goals of the Nazis in 1934 was to kill all Jews, Slavs, Gypsies and start WW2. Hitler would not have been elected had his demonic agenda been known to the people. With Stalin looking dangerous it was understandable that Germans would vote for anyone who appeared to offer hope.

While there is some measure of truth in the above paragraph, the fact remains that the president of the WT Society knew of Hitler's views and intentions in 1933 when his letter was written, including Hitler's grossly warped view of the Jews. The Yearbook shows that the WT president said regarding the "principles" of the Nazis that "we stand squarely for such principles, and point out that Jehovah God through Christ Jesus will bring about the full realization of these principles"!!! He identified those "principles" as "the greatest desire of every honest heart" and then said those "principles" of the Nazis were "very high ideals" and were "set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized in our publications."

Just like today's neo-Nazis, some people who should know better are willing to keep a blind eye to the evils of the WTS just because they happen to see something of the Society's "good side."

RAYZORBLADE

Well said Fjtoth.

dannyboy

Yes, well expressed, fjtoth.

---Dan

minimus

Some are legitimately screwed up because of being Witnesses. But there are those that will blame EVERY problem in their life because they were Witnesses.

fjtoth

Minimus,

Some are legitimately screwed up because of being Witnesses. But there are those that will blame EVERY problem in their life because they were Witnesses.

I think it would be more correct to say, "But there is a very small number of people who blame EVERY problem in their life because they were Witnesses."

I've met hundreds of ex-JWs, and my experience is that it's very rare that I meet up with one who fits your description.

fj

minimus

Frank, I don't have your experience. But, I have heard on this board more than a few blame all that is bad in their lives on being Witnesses.

How Screwed Up Are You Because You Were A Jehovah's Witness???

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