by captain pugwash 38 Replies latest jw friends
are they keeping people against their will or brainwashing or hunting escaped prisoners down?
Yes to all.
I agree with at least one thing you said though................there are pedophiles in every organization. JW's are not unique there. I also agree that the victims need help, and little is accomplished by attacking the organization. I can see getting the perpetrator to be accountable, but what good is there in going after the organization? It's just revenge.
Captain Pugwash,
Welcom. About the pedophile issue, I'm totally with you. It goes on in all walks of life, no doubt. The obsession that it happens more among Witnesses is absolute nonsense.
About the rest..., different people require different methods for getting well enough in their minds to move on to the next stage. And yes, there are many here that just love to marinate in their past; but, be patient, there may come a time that they'll stop the bitterness and move on.
As for me, I like to come here because I can relate to some scenarios.
DY
Pugwash,
The are many layers to the JW mindset, and I'm sure other posters will mention these layers, but I will mention just this one. First of all the organization is a record-keeping organization. The sign of spiritual maturity to JWs is one who is an active publisher (one who goes door-to-door with literature and the Bible, conducts Bible studies, and makes return visits on people who show interest), turns in hours spent in these activities, how much literature was left with individuals is written down, etc. Therefore he/she is making a record which is permanently put on their Publisher's Record Card which is kept in a file in the congregation he/she is associated with. This "spiritual mature person" also comments at meetings, and just is an all around active person in the organization. If one stops or slows down doing these things, the first thing that is noticed is that the hours are lower. If they stop commenting at meetings, that is noticed. If no time or hours are turned in for one month, that person is considered an irregular publisher and is considered as needing assistance, especially if this trend goes on for several months. Attention is given to that person, such as shepherding calls by the elders, a Bible study is encouraged, by the elders and either a very active publisher or a pioneer is assigned to study with that person to get him "activated" again. These are some of the checks and balances I mentioned.
Another thing, if a person doesn't want to be a witness anymore--they just can't stop going or walk away, and that be the end of it.
The elders will want to know why. And then you may be labeled as an "apostate" and not be able to have contact with your family or close friends, if they subscribe to the JW mindset.
Welcome to the board.
Maybe you need to walk in our "shoes" before you tell us how to cope with life. Experience what we have lived through and then post your comments....Your words will have much more meaning then.
Until then, try to show some compassion and love.
Codeblue
just get on with your life and stop wasting even more of it on the subject
um, dude, you might want to take your own advice. you never even had anything to do with witnesses and you come here telling people how best they should get on with their lives? sorry, but i just cannot fathom what makes you think you have the authority, or why you would bother to waste your time coming here.
pugwash, if you really want to know why witnesses can't just "walk away" and "get over it," check out: http://members.aol.com/beyondjw/, especially the zipped booklet, "Leaving Jehovah's Witnesses." Some highlights:
When Witnesses feel that the doctrine is seriously flawed, they fall back on the idea that this is a "spiritual paradise", and there is no where else to go. "I must stay at all costs," they say, "it means my life". They may also say, "I can't be disloyal" or "Satan is trying to break my integrity".
In other words, to leave is to surrender to evil. I suspect even the conservative wing of the Catholic church doesn't take "ex ecclesia nullum salus" that far.
This booklet includes an illuminating psychological profile of the confirmed cultist, but it's too long to post here. A few salient factors, though:
When you are trained from childhood to idealize as well as maintain this juvenile way of thinking - and about 75% of posters here were raised as Witnesses -- it becomes very difficult even to value nuance, subtlety, Occam's razor, skepticism, and the rules of logic -- let alone to use them.
JW's are very sensitive to peer pressure - but, for the most part, only from within the church; the first thing JW converts learn is that nobody else can be trusted.
Pugwash, how far would you have gotten in your departure from the church if you knew that all other philosophies were wrong? Even if "the one true church" was making you miserable?
I don't think I can expand on this, except to tell you it's the literal truth.
Another self-explanatory factor, and one that hit me very, very hard. It caused me to put off leaving for ten miserable years.
There's much more, but this post is already too long. Please check out the above-named site and www.freeminds.org.
GentlyFeral
Part of the problem w/ pugwash' thinking on JW"s & molesters vs Catholics & molesters is this. Catholics are addressing the problem. The Jw's are not. The Catholics mainly cover up for priests. The Jw's cover up for everyone, leaving more molesters in the cong.s to continue molesting. So, yes, there are more molesters in the jw cong.s because they are'nt in prison, where they should be.
I dont really see whats different - its probably the same in most religions except that like mine where I am its not taken very seriously anymore but I bet it was as big an issue when the churches had more influence if not worse! take the spanish inquisition as an extreme example?
"Simplistic Thinking: Issues are expressed as polar opposites, with no gray areas. Things are black or white, us or them, good or bad."
heaven and hell ring any bells? saints and sinners?
"Peer Pressure: Your conformity is attained by exploiting your natural need to belong."
my mams a good example of this - goes to church for tea with her mates couldn't give that up.there'd be a scandal!
"Insulation: Facts at odds with what you are taught are explained away by saying that they are lies created to mislead you. You are taught that people outside the group conspire to ensnare you. If you continue to be concerned, you are referred to the group's reference material rather than outside sources."
at least you got referred to something - we just get told they're evil sinners the lot of them! it never came up but I'd reckon the old priest wouldn't give much time for the Jws or moomins.they be from the devil they be!
Guilt: You are made to question your worthiness, and your past sins are exaggerated. You are consistently led to believe that you are not "doing enough".
guilt -you dont know the meaning of it till you've been a catholic!
