by Phaedra 79 Replies latest jw experiences
I realized before I stopped going to meetings that whatever sense of "belonging" I thought I had was only a product of belonging to a cult where everyone thought the same, felt the same, acted the same, dressed the same, talked the same. I had mistaken cult conformity with "togetherness."
So any feeling of true social connection weren't real because they only wanted to hang out with my cult self.
Tragic, JWs are really tragic.
Frank, "This society has changed dramatically for the worse as any decent person will agree. (UK)."
I don't live in the UK, so I will leave most of the response to your statement to those who do. However, the latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showed that, for the offences it covers, there was a 7% decrease compared with the previous year’s survey, and the lowest estimate since the CSEW began in 1981. The incidence of rape has increased sharply from the year before, however.
Your personal experiences aside (and I am sorry that you have suffered wrong), the state of the union is better than ever based on the data. The same condition exists in nearly every industrialized nation; the are safer and more secure than ever.
Telling us that things are bad as any 'decent' person would agree is an "Argument from intimidation", which, based on John T. Reed's Debating Strategies, is "its appeal to moral self-doubt and its reliance on the fear, guilt or ignorance of the victim. It is used in the form of an ultimatum demanding that the victim renounce a given idea without discussion, under threat of being considered morally unworthy."
It is an intellectually dishonest (emotional) tactic used by those without either facts or logic.
The feeling of closeness, camaraderie, friendship with like minded people you could trust.
Haven't read all the replies, but the last part of this sentence stood out. "...people you could trust"
Yes, there was closeness (within in some cliques), camaraderie and friendship with like minded people. But that's true in most social situations, whether it's church, school, work, the neighborhood bar.
The last part is debatable. Trust. You can't trust most people in the KH. The ones that aren't always ratting you out to elders for every little infraction are either jealous of anything you do or have, or if they're the haves, instead of the havenots, they rub it in your face.
Not true of all JWs, but common enough that most dubs have to watch what they say, watch what they do, who sees them in public, etc etc.
I learned to keep my life so private that most people really never knew me. I couldn't trust em. And when I slipped up and trusted someone, it lead to my undoing. I had friends, but I learned somehow to keep most of them at arm's length.
These people are not your friends. The fact that since you left, no matter the circumstance, and they are no longer your friends proves that.
I think that the feeling of solidarity has to do with elitism, such as we have felt when we were younger and training at high levels in the many sports we participated in : bodybuilding, XC skiing, cycling, etc. The same applies to all high level sports, we get to the point of having maybe a higher opinion of ourselves coupled with some narcissistic traits. Walking around as if we owned the place and were due respect by all, plain entitled. Thus we stuck together and fed off each others ideals of grandeur. I now look back on this with slight embarrassment. I sure made an ass of myself !
Hi DJS,
Interesting that you agree with the JWs that worship of the state is a religion. I know several Marxists who would take issue with you on that.
However, out of curiosity, which country today do you consider most secular and atheist in which the population is the most happy?
I think that the feeling of solidarity has to do with elitism
I think there's a lot of truth in that, especially amongst a subset of brothers. The witnesses do tend to attract people (elders) who like to lord it over others, be a big fish in a small pool and they do have a whiff of elitism around them. Not true of them all but from memory, definitely true of a significant proportion.
Hi DJS,
Interesting that you agree with the JWs that worship of the state is a religion. I know several Marxists who would take issue with you on that.
However, out of curiosity, which country today do you consider most secular and atheist in which the population is the most happy?
I think you can take it most western countries, with the exception of the US, are fairly atheist. The UK certainly is despite queenie being head of the c of e.
Anastasius,
It matters not what I feel, believe or think. My only objective on this site is to try to get people to follow the evidence, to become empiricists rather than relying on feelings, beliefs and confirmation bias. The following is a very small slice of the evidence. There are tons:
I'll check it
