The life of a JW is a "Military Religious Dictatorship"
Describe The Life of a Jehovah's Witness
by minimus 46 Replies latest jw friends
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JH
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XBEHERE
Looking at themselves in a mirror and seeing a person that they are as opposed to a person they really want to be. A sad life... ...
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trevor
There is no such thing as an acceptable level of service within the organization. There is always pressure to do more. Members are told that they cannot stop moving forward, because however much they do it will not be enough to earn their salvation, if there is any chance they could be doing more. There is an overriding feeling of guilt and fear that permeates the whole movement, and a feeling of isolation from the real world around, which is going to be destroyed at any time.
This is bound to affect the mental balance of some members. A study of Jehovah?s Witnesses in Western Australia showed that they are more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital than non members; three times more likely to suffer from schizophrenia; four times more likely to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. The study carried out by John Spencer concluded that:
?The study does not shed light on the question of symptom or defence mechanism, but suggests that either the Jehovah?s Witnesses sect tends to attract an excess of pre-psychotic individuals who may then break down, or else being a Jehovah's Witness is in itself a stress which may precipitate a psychosis. Possibly both of these factors may operate together.?
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minimus
When you have elders and others in charge that are a "little off"----it makes it harder on the rank and file to stay in line and keep the leadership happy.
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Wife of An XJW
My mother-in-law spends her life rushing around to fit in all the things she has to do before Kingdom Hall. Cook, clean, dress, study, practice a part if she has one that night all before her husband gets home for work. This is after SHE gets home from work...
What is the life of that family like? Only my husband's parents are JW. He got out and so did his brother. I watched this woman miss her sister's funeral cause it was at a Catholic church and they can't step into another of course. I saw her leave her mother's 7th birthday when they rolled out the b-day cake and started singing. (This was AFTER they changed the party form a b-day to a REUNION just so they would show up, and just had a cake at the end. On the video, you see them look down and sulk off.)
She runs around to her new Study's house, babysits for them for free, let them stay there when out of a place to stay.
But never, never, does she get to kick back, throw on some fun music and have fun. Go to a Anniersary, or Christmas party. She is sometimes the type to give a gift to the kids the day after their birthdays, but her husband frowns upon it. Her life and theirs is boring!
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Wife of An XJW
Thank you Jez. I have been reading here for years. This was one of the many things I located years ago when I cemented for my husband that I was not some "apostate" or whatever he said I was. That I was simply sane. He was on the fence when we met. 8 years later, he can deck the halls better than anyone I know, and now goes to a non-denominational church. The one thing my mother -in-law said that surprised me, as I was raised catholic, was, in refrence to the Pope. She said, oh, it's very sad. I am not catholic, but he did many good things, and he had strong beliefs. Her husband was not there when she said that, or she would never HAVE said that, but my husband says that the father is more gung ho than the mother, and it's true. When she gets going toward buying the kids a gift, or giving money for the teeth they lose, he looks at her correctively.
Hope to see more of everyone.