There is a legal concept called, "femme couverte," which means upon marriage, a woman is absorbed into the person of her husband. the 18-century British scholar Sir William Blackstone said, "The very being of legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection, and cover she performs everything."
When I read this I thought, that's what happens to a JW when they get baptized. The person who they really are becomes "suspended" and they are "incorporated and consolidated into that of the" Watchtower Society. The baptized person is no longer John or Jane Doe, but they become one of the Watchtower's Jehovah's Witnesses--they are femme couverte. . . . and I've been calling them Dubs. :)
THIS IS IT -- JWs are a Legal Concept
by JAVA 9 Replies latest jw friends
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JAVA
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JamesThomas
This is a good observation Java.
It is a much, much wider and deeper phenomena than just the Witnesses, this having our existence suspended and being absorbed into another entity.
Personally I know of only a very few people who actually know who they truly are; whereas 99.9 percent of people take on the identity of a chosen religion, or political ideal, or some other social/physical structure or paradigm. To see it in the Witnesses, is a start to see it in ourselves.
What we truly are can not be written in an autobiography, or presented in words and thoughts. How many actually know this, or even consider it? We have grown incredibly fond of lies.
j
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Golden Girl
Cute!...
If you really think about it when you become a J.W. all the JW's become your brothers and sisters!
So if you marry a JW..you are in reality marrying your brother or sister!...
Shame on them!
Snoozy..goofing off...
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rebel8
The person who they really are becomes "suspended" and they are "incorporated and consolidated into that of the" Watchtower Society.
Kinda like Star Trek....."You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
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JAVA
JT -- As always, I enjoy your comments and ideas. At the end of each Lone Ranger episode someone would always ask, "Who is that masked man?" To one degree or another, most of us put up a persona for the outside world to see. I guess we do it without thinking because it's an unspoken expectation. We become so good at it that it's possible (maybe probable) to forget or never know our very own essence. As we ride off into the sunset will others ask, "who is that masked man" or will they even think to ask the question?
Maybe it's more important that WE ask that question about OURSELVES. Dropping the mask of "I'm a Jehovah Witness" can leave one standing on unchartered ground, and finding the person within might seem daunting. It's frightening to look into the mirror and not know who's looking back. The mask is safe; we know it, and what to expect from it. Taking it off is a journey without a map, and I might get lost--forever! It could also be a way of finding myself and still being lost forever. God knows I enjoy the History Channel and reading biographies. :)
BTW, the picture used in your post is very interesting. It's better than a thousand words. -
La Capra
And this is the reason why psycho-analysis is so frowned upon by the WTBTS. The whole point of therapy is coming to terms with who you are. WTBTS discourages the notion of the individual, calling it "goat-like," or by trying to make people feel guilty for thinking selfishly, independently, etc. No mind-control system can survive if it encourages self discovery, satisfaction and actualization. In a word "CULT." I wish I had known my mother before she was assimilated. I bet she was on her way to being really cool. Shoshana
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Carmel
JT, perhaps the following holds no water with you as its source is religious, but I offer it as a possible counter point. While you may be correct that many who are "believers" tend to give up their identity, it is not necessary or desirable. Those organizations bent on gaining and maintaining membership over the spiritual welfare of their members, have perverted the essence of the intended relationship. But then of course my belief system is pretty much outside of the mainstem religions that evangelize without knowing why! carmel O servants! If ye be informed of the wonders of My generosity and grace which I have deposited in yourselves, ye will certainly be cut from all directions, and, seeking to know your own selves, which is identical with knowing Myself, will find yourselves independent of all else save Me, and will see the ocean of My providence and the depth of My beneficence in yourselves, with your outward and inward eye, as manifest and clear as the sun shining from the name of Abha. (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 223)
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Carmel
My apologies! That last post didn't separate well! carmel
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outoftheorg
Just who am I ?.
I was a baby at the breast.
I am now a child, then a teen ager, then a young man and employed also a cult member.
I am now a husband then I became husband and a father, later I was only a father and employed.
I am now a father and a husband again with adult children and out of the cult and retired.
I am now an old man, father, husband cult free and retired. Slowly approaching my death.
I have built, changed, lost, regained, adjusted and readjusted my identity many times over.
I am just me, whoever that might be today.
Outoftheorg
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JamesThomas
Maybe it's more important that WE ask that question about OURSELVES.
Exactly! We believe ourself to be many things, and most especially we believe we are a distinct and individual "me". But beliefs are just that, and can not capture the true essence of what we are. Most people seem content bound to the believed-self, but there are those who are haunted by a mysterious sense that there is infinitely more going unseen and unrecognized. I suggest that there is absolutely nothing more important than seeing clearly our true Identity, because only then is there a living true to Life and actual meeting with others, where as before we strove to be true to an illusion, a self that existed only in the mind. How can we know the universe when seeing through eyes so blind?
Carmel, as far as I know the Baha'i faith is aware of the problem and states it in the following which I cut and pasted: "We have lost sight of our true nature, we do not realize who we truly are and, as a result, we have become enslaved to our passions and desires, have lost our orientation, and are wandering aimlessly, trusting to the prescriptions and instructions of unskilled doctors while ignoring the remedies of the True Physician. And so, in the Baha'i scriptures, Baha'u'llah issues His call, summoning us to a realization of our true selves, urging us to free ourselves from the illusions of the world and to turn ourselves toward the Divine, the transcendent reality that is the true orientation of our lives. Only in this way would we find what will give us peace, contentment and lasting happiness."
I concur totally. However, at best, a religion, belief system, teacher or Master/Physician, can only point to the Divine already within you. To identify with the finger pointing, with the religion, or deity is to stop way short of inner discovery of Wholeness. It's like setting up our beach chairs and towels around a road sign pointing to the west which reads "Beach - 20 miles".
The truth of Divinity, is in the very same consciousness which is reading this right now. The way to discovery is to simply investigate sincerely and earnestly deeper within that which is closer than close right now. The more empty, free and open, the more clear awareness is aware of itself. The deeper the gaze. Don't need religion for that.
Outoftheorg, when you sit and run down the list of all the many things that you believe yourself to be, have you noticed that the consciousness which is viewing the list, is not the list, and in fact is untouched by the whole story and has never changed? Admittedly all these events happened, and there is indeed a body that was born and is growing old, and which will eventually die. Even the sun, will die. However, is it really you? Have you actually investigated?
It is common to spend a human lifetime looking outward, and never ever questioning or shifting attention inward at what is looking. We never take the first step, and instead only dream of travel.
j