Thanks for the great replies ! Appreciate it very much.
SNOWBIRD- Hey thanks for the kind comments . Things are great now, thanks . Sounds like you saw your share of crazy happenings with elders as well. In your experience about the young gardener- I saw SO many JW men who were jealous of other men's financial standing or success - that it caused a lot of sniping at times. And I saw just as many wealthy JW's looking down in a snooty way at poorer JW's as well. Good point you make about the sharecropper thing. Many elders I knew didn't care one iota about equality. Favoritism happened way too much within congregations.
LANDY- Of course there were some nice elders, but many of them were not in my area. Your statement, " Being a JW doesn't make you an arsehole... " I tend to disagree with that statement. The whole systematic indoctrination of JW's from the top of the organization down to the lowest publisher in the congregation makes not only elders, but ALL JW's tend to think that they are better than everyone else on the planet. The only way a JW can fight or resist becoming an asshole is to get back their authentic non-cult personality that's been stolen away from them by the WT Society. THEN , and only then if they retrieve their authentic given humane personality that they were born with ( the non-JW personality ) can they learn empathy, compassion, and kindness. JW's aren't taught kindness from the WT Society- they are taught obedience, conformity to WT standards, rigidness, and the judging of others- including each other. I'm glad that you were lucky and didn't receive abusive or judgmental treatment from elders- that doesn't minimize the pain or lessen the severity of others negative experiences with elders however.
FREEMINDFADE- Hey guy, nice hearing from you. I'm probably aware of some of the folks involved in what you experienced. LOL. Isn't it crazy how petty the elders in JW land can be- making a big fuss over younger people playing music ? It's like the elders felt they were put on the planet to squash every bit of enjoyment we ever had in life . Sorry that you had to experience those adversities as well. I'm so glad we escaped that madness ! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
KONCEPTUAL 99- I agree, due to the WT mind control the JW hat DOES turn people into assholes for awhile. I know many folks here on this board who said that as a JW they themselves were judgmental, hardline JW's - but once they escaped the JW cult became much more accepting of other people, kind, considerate, and caring. It does have an effect- indeed.
WASANELDERONCE- Wow. Sounds like you went through some of the same things I did ! Sorry you had that experience. It's amazing how the elders try to think we are having sex with females in the congregation - when in actuality we are either just working doing our jobs or eating food or having coffee. Shows us what's on their minds constantly. Perverts that they are.
TALLON- So sorry that you experienced that bad treatment of you and your wife when your wife's health went sideways. The admonition of the elders to do more, more, more when people just needed rest and recuperation was indeed not kind at all on their part. I'm glad to hear that you folks got out of the Witnesses. I hope your wife is doing better now. Hang in there.
LONG HAIR GAL- Thanks for your kind words. You know- I think many of us just reached our breaking point where we could only stand being abused for so long. In time the pressure just builds up that we either get out of the JW cult- or we will have a breakdown ourselves. I don't think I was quite to that point- however- if I had stayed any longer I may have gotten to that point. As you mention- the violation of our personal boundaries, the violation of not being able to use our own free will, and being disrespected and exploited - it's all too much. You are right- the longer we are away from the JW cult the more clearly we see just how messed up the people AND the organization was - and still is today. Thankfully we escaped with our senses and can enjoy freedom of mind now. As Martin Luther King said " thank god I'm free ! "
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