how we get trapped!

by the mole 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Cicatrix
    Cicatrix

    "When you do hear people say it, can't you just kind of hear the capital "T" they use when they say "the Truth"?"

    Oh, yes, yes, yes! I even remember vaguely a talk that was given at an assembly about truth with a capital T.

    I had issues with the words "the Truth" after I left.I didn't slip into using the the words, I couldn't use the word truth AT ALL, lol. I started going to another church. The reverend, who has some insight into what it's like for people who have left a high control group, gave a really nice sermon, and clarified that at that church, everyone is on their own journey for truth WITH A LITTLE T. It kind of helped me be able to feel a little more comfortable with the word "truth," but if it's used in a religious context, or the words "the" and "Truth" are strung together, I still have a tendency to want to bolt.

    I now refer to the organisation as the Watchtower Society, and I always say "they" when I speak of other members. After two years, I don't feel as though I am one of them anymore. Now all I'm dealing with are the strange issues of being an "ex" JW, like not having references to look for a job, and not having anyone to put down as an emergency contact on my kid's emergency cards in school.

  • myauntfanny
    myauntfanny

    I've been out for 30 years, and I still have those words and phrases floating around in my head. Maybe because I was raised in the Borg, I'll never get rid of them. Recently I found myself wondering if one of the children of my JW relatives had "fallen away from the Truth". It gave me a very strange feeling, like I'd just slipped back into my slot for a second and all the years since hadn't happened.

  • A Paduan
    A Paduan

    Maybe you should develop another name for it - like

    • "the bad taste"
    • "the group"
    • "the cult religion"
    • "the cult of jehovah"

    hey I like that one - "the cult of jehovah"

  • Terry
    Terry

    I get angry. Instantly angry. When my buddy Johnny says "in the Truth" or, so and so "left the Truth", etc.

    My back goes up!

    Co opting language to rape minds is the lowest of lows.

    I always respond with:

    "Truth corresponds with reality; reality is how things are and not how we wish them to be."

    I'll repeat that as often as necessary. I'll interrupt a sentence and repeat it.

    If I get an objection I'll say: "Oh? You mean like the Truth about 1884, 1914,1925,1975? The Truth? Such as the resurrection of the 'ancient worthies' who were going to live in California? The Truth? Like 'Millions now living will never die?' The Truth? THAT KIND OF TRUTH?"

    I never fail to do that and it snaps the other person into a really bleak mood, I must say.

  • JH
    JH

    If it was "the truth", then their teachings wouldn't change from time to time, and they wouldn't need new books.

  • AlmostAtheist
    AlmostAtheist

    Douglas Adams theorized in one of his books (one of the Dirk ones, I think) about the "Electric Monk". This was a device designed exclusively to believe things for you. The latest models could hold twenty contradictory doctrines in active memory at the same time. When faced with a new belief, one monk called it "The Way", intentionally using capital letters. (Adams was an atheist)

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