by Sabin 25 Replies latest watchtower bible
The Gestapo Body, brought out a brochure, I believe it was called Return to Jehovah. in it they gave 3 reasons why some-one left the Borganization. If I remember 1 was because the person is angry at some one in the cong, or something along those lines. I stand to be corrected of course. Cant even begin to know the other 2.
Does any-one know? PLEASE.
The 3 reasons:
1. Anxiety
2. Hurt feelings
3. Guilt
The reasons were irrelevant to me, except for the hurt feelings part. But that was not the main reason either. My main reasons were:
1. Gross misinterpretation & misapplication of scripture / man-made rules - 2 witness rule, blood, organ transplants, etc.
2. False prophecies - 1914, 1975, millions now living will never die, etc.
3. Changes in doctrine / flip-flops - this generation, etc.
4. Scandals - Child abuse, Malawi, UN, etc.
5. Hypocrisy - JW's are supposed to be "no part of the world". Then why is the organization "riding on the back of the wild beast" by being affiliated with the UN???
6. Lack of remose for actions - The organization has NEVER once sincerely apologized for the damaging effects of its policies even after backtracking or being proven wrong! On a side-note, neither does it apologize to those who they are trying to reach out to in this brochure. Something like: "We are deeply sorry if you have been affected in any way by the actions of some fellow believers. Please let us know what we can do to help!" A sincere apology goes a long way. Sadly, this is not the case in WT-land
7. Lack of love in the congregation - The brochure addresses "hurt feelings", but misses the root cause of the problem altogether! There wouldn't be hurt feelings if there was true love in the first place! The brochure attempts to put the blame on the individual who was hurt, RATHER then telling the individual that if they return, the elders would do their utmost to address any problems with the individuals involved!
8. You can NEVER do enough - The 2nd part of the brochure is titled: "Anxiety - Hard-Pressed in Every Way". My problem was that the congregation WAS the source of that very anxiety & causing me to be hard-pressed! Asking me to "DO MORE" does not help!!!
9. I couldn't believe it anymore - I couldn't believe the common belief that God would destroy 99.99% of the world's population at Armageddon & only JW's would be saved. Wait... NOT all JW's would be saved - those "spiritually weak" ones would probably be destroyed as well. That DOES NOT fit the description of a loving God at all! I realized that the only reason why I was a witness was because I was born-in. If I was not, there was no way that I would be!
10. I am NOT proud to be a JW anymore - It is an undeniable fact that the organization has more negative points rather than good - If you ask people what their impression of JW's is, would it be more positive or negative? If you think about it, the organization has brought more reproach upon God's name rather than glory, by means of all their scandals & man-made rules! They can't blame Satan as they are the ones shooting themselves in the foot!
That cult has used/and is still using hate speech to dehumanise and demonize persons such as myself who have every right to leave any organisation and freely express my views as a former member. They are so deluded they think that the people they have controlled,damaged and hurt psychologically and spiritually
are the ones that need to come back to them.
Yes come back so we can exploit you in are publishing empire for money and labor and during this time we will assert are power and control over you drawn out for reading and emulating the social moral standards of the ancient Hebrews who existed 3000 years ago.
Sound good ?
Thank you for that link, wannabefree.
This brochure is awful. Horrible. Disgusting. I could see its insidious pull for a person who is lonely or missing their family -- it's all geared to your EMOTIONS --- and they try to make you feel like THEY are your true family.
The brochure is full of talk & experiences about "coming home", etc, and lots of touchy feely stuff. Beware! It is clever and tricky, trying to pull at your heart, the same way they say Satan tries to get you by appealing to your heart! You remember that treacherous heart? (from scripture in Jeremiah) -- that ole' tricky heart that deceives us and lies to us and can't be trusted? Yes that's the one, that's the same treacherous heart the GB has no qualms about tweaking & playing with and using our emotions!!
Oh they are very skilled at using all kinds of tactics & psychological tools to keep their members controlled through guilt, fear, obligation, loneliness, anxiety....
... That brochure is a mind sifter all right! Those bastards, they know their shunning policy is one of their best weapons against a person who has woken up and become free from their control - they know they can hurt you by taking your family away from you. And so they beg you to come back, the smiling-faced, soft-spoken abusers that they are -- "look and see how nice we are -- can't you see how much we miss you? Can't you feel Jehovah's love? Why would you not ever FEEL like returning? And coming HOME? To be welcomed back into this loving fold and into Jehovah's (read: the governing body's dictates & rules) family of loving kindness....?" Ugh.
But let's say a person really does go back, stumbling into the horrible Kingdom Hall with their hearts bursting from lonliness and heartbreak, missing their families so damn much, while their families sit there so self-righteously and so blinded by their trust in the evil shunning command. They can't see how hateful it is and how manipulative it is.
And so you are back. And you get all the questions, gossip, stares, judgements, and personal boundary intrusions. And going to all the endless repetitious meetings, and all the time spent getting ready for the meetings. And wearing 1950-prescribed clothing styles. And having all your literature choices, music choices, book choices, recreation choices, holiday choices, educational choices, etc., being all replaced by their agenda. Remember?
And then they will start expecting things from you. They will ask "innocent" yet probing questions to keep tabs on your spiritual status: ".... Are you going out in field service tomorrow?" (Oh shit, after being "inactive", don't you know you have to APPLY for "re-activation", but only after being at meetings faithfully for at least 6 months, as per Jesus' instructions at ..... uh.... verse, um.... In the book of ..... well anyway. 6 months at least, as per the elder's secret handbook or secret branch correspondence book or some secret reference in a letter to the Body of Elders.... all equivalent to the bible anyway!)
And so you slog for them, week after week, meeting after meeting.... Ugh, I can't go on. Would you?? Why?? Only for your family & because you love them so damn much?? Yep, that's what they're banking on, and is pretty much the whole gist of their brochure.
