What Happened to Jehovah's Witness Young Men - and WHY did it Happen?

by Terry 6 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  Terry

  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lo9jTMhF4B1-j9cN0enojsHYw0ROgV-qSwXnrMe-K6E/edit?usp=sharing

  _____
  Within the last 6 months, I was contacted by one of my fellow JW's incarcerated with me and about 50 other Bros. in the late 1960s. We served time as convicted Conscientious Objectors in Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution.
  Surprise surprise!
  We were going to be able to use ZOOM for a REUNION!!
  
  My heart soared like an eagle - until - I reminded myself I haven't been a JW for a long, long time.
  In fact, I would be Public Enemy #1.
  What to do?
  I had profound feelings bubble to the surface and ethical self-questioning commenced.
  I decided I would get the names and phone numbers and email addresses of each of them. I would contact them personally and get to know them as human beings again.
  
  One by one I would walk them through their experience and my own after we were paroled.
  We'd discuss what a shock it was to be free again but facing a few short years until 1975.
  I refused to lie to them about my status if asked.
  Not one of them did ask, oddly enough.
  
  Yes, by SHARING what it felt like as co-equals, I'd give them a chance to know me as a human being BEFORE suddenly
  facing the fact of my leaving, being Disfellowship, and gradually re-examining WHAT HAPPENED to us and why.
  
  The link at the top is information I researched and compiled.
  
  At some point in our newly developed bonding and renewal, I would evaluate exactly where each of them was in regard
  to OPENNESS, skepticism, self-questioning, and curiosity.
  If they felt damaged and were hanging on by their fingernails - I would email them my research.
  If not - I would not shake them up with a slap in the face. No. I would not harm them psychologically.
  
  A person who has remained absolutely "FAITHFUL" to the Organization for the last 50+ years simply could not
  handle such an assault on their cognitive dissonance.
  
  All this began about ten months ago.
  The best-laid plans of mice and men go astray.
  My old friends were heartbreakingly wonderful human beings who have been through hell.
  We still LOVE each other in a way that only a Band of Brothers who have come through the Valley of the Shadow can bond.
  
  Most of them are physically wrecked. They haven't had colorful lives.
  They stayed in the rut. Empty lives creatively. Most but not all.
  They have heard "Wait on Jehovah" a few too many times.
  Regarding 1975 without wincing is very embarrassing for them.
  But are they ready for my research and my hissing stick of dynamite? Nope. Not yet.
  
  Only one Brother has read it. Without push-back or blinking or argument. He is my Rock.
  The really smart ones are wary of being sniffed out and will hardly tip their hand to me for a while. I must be patient.
  
  I am posting this (above link) research to get YOUR OPINION and SUGGESTIONS if you'd help me with it.
  
  I need it to be possible for them to get through it without horror.
  I've re-edited it many, many times taking out stinging condemnations and accusations.
  You know what I mean.
  I'm trying to be NEUTRAL and stop editorializing with a ranting screed.
  
  Read it and reach out to me with your thoughts. Okay?
  
  
  
• 

  Terry

  
• 

  waton

  are not opposed to all wars because they heartily endorse the indiscriminate killing of civilians in the battle of Armageddon.

  loosely quoting from wt publications.
• 

  road to nowhere

  Long makes it hard to read and follow. The thinkers probably already know the points but are too entrenched; family, time, position. A few may still think they are a force for change jnside.,(Simon once felt that way from what he said)

  By our age we mostly discover we are wrecks and have not had colorful lives whether jw's or not. A lot of us do have successful marriages, and homes. The pioneers, COs etc. do have things to regret.

  We born ins are more likely to regret careers not taken because of education lack. Forest ranger, doctor, etc. Then there is the overtime crap.
• 

  Terry

  I find myself whipsawed (if you are familiar with that expression).
  Whipsawed: subject to two difficult situations or opposing pressures at the same time.

  My natural desire is to tell the Brothers how I've traveled, met extraordinary people, lived a creative life in Art and music, and how I've written books, articles, liner notes for music venues; remained healthy, fit, and adventurous WHILE THEY have languished in a mental prison wasting away like pork chop left on a table to rot.
  
  I went from janitor to Beverly Hills.
  I've been to London, Paris, Spain. I've composed over three hundred pieces of music.
  In other words: I DID SOMETHING rather than "wait on Jehovah."
  I want to shout: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
  
  I love these guys and they are good-hearted, stolid, completely abused, abandoned, and over-worked.
  But I can't stand here with my fists on my hips like Superman with the wind blowing my cape demanding admiration for leaving the Watchtower ever-ending world of hopeful despair.
  
  As an EX-JW, I can only feasibly be seen as demonic: a condemned and aberrant criminal "dead man walking."
  I would like some suggestions for this task I've set before me.
  My generation isn't overlapping: it is dying off. These guys are circling the drain and I must figure out what - if anything - is possible for me to do.
• 

  pistolpete

  I must figure out what - if anything - is possible for me to do.

  Honestly, it's a difficult thing to wake up a JW. All I can say is you have to tread carefully, be extremely smart, not allow emotion to take over, and be very patient. (like disarming a bomb with a hundred wires)
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDd8C8TqgAE&t
  
• 

  Terry

  Excellent analogy: disarming a bomb.
  
  There appears to be a line of demarcation, a trip-wire, a no-fly zone.
  On the one hand, how could an intelligent human being living inside a cult half a century NOT notice the constant revisions? The awkward analogies and lame, ham-fisted excuses - never-ending self-praise by leaders???
  
  Yet I do understand many of my fellow travelers are humble, simple folk - unquestioning and meek.
  NOT STUPID but passive and yielding to what appears to be the vested authority of the one living and true God.
  
  The extraordinary BURDENS, PRESSURES, and goading of the Governing Body mark a striking contrast to the words of Jesus:
  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
  
  Here is a stark true Truth and a bitter one, indeed.
  Telling somebody, "Did you know your Mother is a whore?" (even if factual )- it is cruel and vicious truth with no purpose other than inflicting a wound from which they may never recover or escape becoming embittered.
  
  A 75-year-old man whose entire life, friends, family, support structure, and heartfelt loyalty are bound up in a life of religious devotion, service, and self-sacrifice is NOT BEST SERVED by such a revelation as "YOUR RELIGION IS A CULT, your leaders are liars, your friends will shun you, and you will be condemned as a mentally diseased apostate if you acknowledge these facts openly."
  
  It is too late for me. My eyes are open. But should I "save" the others by reverse witnessing?
  It is a heart-wrenching decision I do not take lightly!