Balaamsass2
JoinedPosts by Balaamsass2
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12
Jehovah's Witnesses' "disfellowshipping" examined in Psychiatric Journal. "How Religious Shunning Ruins Lives".
by Balaamsass2 inif it is illegal for minors to get married, enter into contracts, drink, and smoke, why is it legal for them to enter into lifelong religious contracts they can not break without family shunning and community ostracism????
how religious shunning ruins lives.
a form of institutionalized estrangement, shunning hurts health of the excluded.. updated march 27, 2024 |psychology today magazine.
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Wanting advise on a draft copy
by joe134cd ini’m just curious what you think.
this is in its draft stages.
so excuse the mistakes and grammar.
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Balaamsass2
If a Service Dept worker bee can't ascertain who you are, he will toss it in the trash.
If he can identify you, (or the postal cancelation) he will return the letter to your congregation along with a form letter to the Cong. Elders to "help re-adjust you" code for: "deal with this apostate".
Now if the return address is that of your least favorite, pompous Elder....the response could be most entertaining. :)
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Blasts at assembly in India
by InquiryMan inhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/29/explosion-hits-jehovahs-witnesses-prayer-meeting-in-indias-kerala.
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Balaamsass2
I remember many experiences from the platform from our visiting COs as a kid claiming "angelic protection" for JWs attending conventions, and bad things happening to those missing the convention.
I guess this and the German Hall shootings disprove those theories. 8 dead. :(
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JWmatch dating site
by sspo inafter my divorce four years and still attending the meetings i joined jwmatch.com as a non-paying member, eventually.
after i stopped going to meetings i wrote on my profile that i was inactive and after four years i have 63 "fans"...... sisters.
interested in me, from all over the world, as young as 29 and very pretty.. it looks like the sisters are so desperate for a mate that they would be interested in almost a 58 year old man.. very sad that many will stay single and will never have a chance to find love.. anyone interested in meeting them?
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Balaamsass2
At under 1% of the general population, JWs are a very small pool of people to date. EX JWs would be an even smaller subset.
A few extended JW family spinsters took the GB's advice to "only date servants"....time marched on, the "end" never came, and they never married or had children. In their 20s they were looking for "Circuit overseers with a Gold Card", and movie star looks, but they never found one :). They are approaching 50 now, broke, and alone. :(
We have an old POMO friend who uses JW dating sites. He is astounded how many "sisters" could care less about his disbelief in Watchtower's "inspiration" and the Governing Body's advice.
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Prediction: no more changes for a long while
by slimboyfat ini’ve noticed a pattern where things don’t go the way i expect them to go and/or whenever i realise there is a trend and, i mentally adjust for the idea that the trend will continue, the trend stops in its tracks.
so on that basis, and given many people, including myself, and active jws, have been asking ‘what changes will the governing body make next?’ perhaps the (disappointing) answer is: ‘nothing much for a while to come’.
maybe they’ve made the changes they want for now, and will wait a while and see how it’s received.
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Balaamsass2
If it was up to them, they would implement no new changes for a while...but it is not up to them. Japan, the UK Commonwealth, France, Norway, Czechoslovakia, USA Civil lawsuits, et al will be cramming changes down Watchtower's throat. I believe they will need to amend their child baptism stance, and allow people to quit/leave without repercussions. Minors (under 18) can not enter into a contract in any developed country in the 21st century. Jesus himself was not baptized as a child.
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Jehovah's Witnesses' "disfellowshipping" examined in Psychiatric Journal. "How Religious Shunning Ruins Lives".
by Balaamsass2 inif it is illegal for minors to get married, enter into contracts, drink, and smoke, why is it legal for them to enter into lifelong religious contracts they can not break without family shunning and community ostracism????
how religious shunning ruins lives.
a form of institutionalized estrangement, shunning hurts health of the excluded.. updated march 27, 2024 |psychology today magazine.
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Balaamsass2
As society and the medical establishment become more aware of the actual harm of Disfellowshipping I see another financial drain on Watchtower. Lawsuits for "Intentional infliction of emotional distress" following their defamation for simply leaving the organization.
https://www.fightingforyou.com/resource-center/articles/can-you-sue-for-emotional-distress/
https://www.injuryjusticeattorney.com/mental-emotional-injuries
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WHAT IS INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS?
IIED is a type of intentional tort that occurs when one person commits outrageous actions for the intended purpose of causing another person to experience severe emotional distress.
The emotional distress caused by the outrageous behavior may manifest in physical symptoms such as insomnia, headaches, and stomach problems, or it may result in mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and extreme fear.
Severe emotional distress may include feelings of suffering, anguish, shock, grief, fright, humiliation, anxiety/worry, and more.
Most notably, you don't have to experience any physical injury to sue for IIED or prove conclusively that the defendant intended to harm you. Instead, you only need to show that the actions were intentional and that you suffered as a result.
HOW CAN YOU PROVE IIED?
There are different elements your California attorney must prove in an intentional tort lawsuit to recover damages for IIED:
- The defendant's conduct was “outrageous.” The outrageous actions must be considered outside the bounds of decency;
- The defendant was willful and intentional in their behavior. They either intended to cause you emotional distress or acted with reckless disregard for your well-being;
- You suffered severe emotional distress due to the defendant's conduct. In other words, your emotional distress must be more than just an annoyance or hurt feelings—it must be severe distress, meaning it must be profound or long-lasting to the point that no reasonable person should be expected to endure it;
The different factors that are considered to determine whether the defendant's conduct was outrageous include the following:
- Whether the defendant abused their position of authority or a relationship giving them the power to impact your interest;
- Whether they were aware that you were especially vulnerable to emotional distress;
- Whether they knew their conduct would most likely result in some emotional harm.
As noted, you are not required to prove physical injury to recover damages for severe emotional distress. Damages are usually covered in cases where you have high medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, or other compensatory damages.
You are allowed to recover punitive damages in cases of recklessness and intentional wrongdoing. Since intentional infliction cases require outrageous conduct, they are more likely to result in an award for punitive damages.
IIED IN THE CONTEXT OF OTHER OFFENSES
Intentional infliction of emotional distress can be filed as a lawsuit on its own. Still, IIED lawsuits are often filed in addition to other offenses (both criminal and civil) that may have caused other types of damage. Common instances where it might be appropriate to file an additional IIED suit include:
- Cases of sexual abuse or assault;
- Retaliation for whistleblowing;
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12
Jehovah's Witnesses' "disfellowshipping" examined in Psychiatric Journal. "How Religious Shunning Ruins Lives".
by Balaamsass2 inif it is illegal for minors to get married, enter into contracts, drink, and smoke, why is it legal for them to enter into lifelong religious contracts they can not break without family shunning and community ostracism????
how religious shunning ruins lives.
a form of institutionalized estrangement, shunning hurts health of the excluded.. updated march 27, 2024 |psychology today magazine.
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Balaamsass2
?? If it is illegal for minors to get married, enter into contracts, drink, and smoke, why is it legal for them to enter into lifelong religious contracts they can not break without family shunning and community ostracism????
How Religious Shunning Ruins Lives
A form of institutionalized estrangement, shunning hurts health of the excluded.
Updated March 27, 2024 |Psychology Today Magazine
KEY POINTS
- Religious shunning is a social death penalty that results in long-term detrimental effects on mental health.
- The brain registers exclusion as physical pain that cuts deeper and lasts longer than bodily injury.
- Ostracism instigates actions to recover thwarted needs of belonging, self‐esteem, and a meaningful existence.
- Over one million disfellowshipped (shunned) Jehovah's Witnesses are alive today—10 percent of active members.
A former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Josh Caswell Sr., reached out to me after reading one of my posts about estrangement. He asked that I explore the policy practiced in some religions of shunning.
In religious communities, shunning means cutting ties with members—even family—who don’t explicitly follow religious beliefs and the leaders’ demands or who wish to break with their religion. Religious shunning is a form of institutionalized estrangement and emotional abuse.
Shunning is widely practiced among certain religions—including the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Scientology, the Amish, and Orthodox Judaism—to control the conduct of its members. A silent form of bullying and rejection, the practice—more common among cult-like denominations—ensures that the identity of a collective group does not tolerate individual thinking.
The Watchtower, the official Jehovah’s Witnesses magazine, reports that 1 in every 100 Jehovah's Witnesses is “disfellowshipped” each year—a total of more than 80,000. Of these, fully two-thirds will not be reinstated. This means that more than 1 million disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witnesses are alive today who are being shunned—more than 10 percent of the number of active Jehovah's Witnesses.
One man's personal journey after shunning
“I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness in Massachusetts,” says Caswell, 45, who now lives in Arizona and works as a diagnostics specialist for Pep Boys auto services.
“In my 20s,” he says, “I ‘faded out’ of religion. I felt it was too restrictive and didn’t allow me to be a human being. The cost was losing all my family and friends.”
That’s a high price to pay for being human. Recent studies show that shunning has a long-term, detrimental effect on mental health, job possibilities, and life satisfaction. Intense loneliness and a feeling of loss of control over one’s life are common after leaving. The culture of informing on other members inside the Jehovah's Witnesses also leads to a continued sense of distrust and suspicion long after leaving.
“The religion teaches that if someone decides to leave the religion,” explains Caswell, “the entire congregation—including family members—shuns that person by not talking to them and avoiding them as much as possible. My family has shunned me for over 25 years. I know first-hand that the result is devastating.”
Research has shown that shunned individuals often experience feelings of depression, helplessness, hopelessness, low self-esteem, suicide ideation, and self-harming behaviors. That’s certainly what happened to Caswell.
“I was very smart in school. I was taking 11th-grade subjects when I was in 9th grade. I had a full scholarship to MIT, but I wasn’t able to go to college because that’s not something they believe in. Why waste your time going to college when the end of the world is just around the corner? I was forced to give up that educational opportunity.”
Caswell says that pursuing any career was discouraged because religious leaders preferred that potential husbands devote their time to the church, as elders in the congregation, or as pioneers who preach some 90 hours a month. To protect these priorities, he was allowed to date only within the congregation.
At 17, Caswell left the religion. He says his father, an elder in the congregation, had raped six of his eight sisters. The church said it would handle the abuse internally, but his father was disfellowshipped for only a month before being reinstated. He believes his mother orchestrated the sexual abuse.
RELIGION ESSENTIAL READS“I honored my parents when I was living with them,” he says. “But I was never happy. So I set forth to find out who I was.”
By the time Caswell was 20, everyone in the congregation, including three sisters, had stopped communicating with him. In abandoning his religion, Caswell left a safe “bubble”—but he knew nothing of the outside world. Consequently, he went from one extreme to another, following a dangerous path on which he drank to excess and used crystal meth. Eventually, he became suicidal and ended up living in his car.
For the last 19 years, he has been clean. However, he has had no relationship with his mother or other family members for decades. His father passed away years ago; they were estranged at the time of his death.
Studies on ostracism
Humans have a primal need for social support. Without a sense of belonging—a feeling of emotional safety and context—people come to fear that their very lives are at risk. They lose the ability to trust and connect with others, instead becoming consumed by the task of surviving alone.
Shunning, therefore, is like a social death penalty—and studies prove this point. Exclusion has been found to cause pain that cuts deeper and lasts longer than a physical injury, according to Dr. Kipling D. Williams, a distinguished professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University who is noted for his unique studies of ostracism.
When someone is shunned—even by a stranger, even only briefly—Dr. Williams has found that they experience a strong and harmful reaction, activating the same area of the brain that registers physical pain. The crucial difference between physical and psychic injury is that physical damage heals, while social injuries linger. In his studies of more than 5,000 people, Dr. Williams used a computer game to show how just two or three minutes of ostracism can produce ongoing negative feelings.
“Our studies indicate that the initial reaction to ostracism is pain,” he explains, “which is similarly felt by all individuals regardless of personality or social/situational factors. Ostracism then instigates actions aimed at recovering thwarted needs of belonging, self‐esteem, control and meaningful existence.”
Caswell, who asked me to use his real name because he wants his voice heard, says that religious leaders know full well the profound psychological impact of shunning. “That’s exactly why they do it,” he says. “Shunning is not love; it’s how Jehovah’s Witnesses discipline members. It’s a form of punishment.”
References
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brothers-sisters-strangers/202403/how-religious-shunning-ruins-lives#:~:text=Religious%20shunning%20is%20a%20form,the%20conduct%20of%20its%20members.Williams, Kipling D., NidaView, Steve (2014) Ostracism and Public Policy, Sage Journals, Volume 1, Issue 1, https://doi.org/10.1177/237273221454975
Harper, Janice (2011) A Reason (and Season) to Stop Shunning, HuffPost, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-reason-and-season-to-st_b_1146103
Luther, Rosie (2022) What Happens to Those Who Exit Jehovah's Witnesses: An Investigation of the Impact of Shunning, National Library of Medicine, PubMed
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Disaster preparedness
by ElderBerry inas your family considers its disaster preparedness plan, please ensure that the secretary has up-to-date contact information for you and your emergency contact.
also, we have re- peatedly seen good results when brothers and sisters are prepared with go bags and are ready to obey direction when they face various kinds of disasters.
please be sure you have a go bag, and review its contents at least once a year.
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Balaamsass2
Another Watchtower dream is that the "brothers will check on me and grandma". Nope. No phones. No one wandering around- except criminals. Once evacuated, and the looters start, entire neighborhoods are sealed by law enforcement, and National Guard. I doubt few people want to argue with National Guardsmen sitting behind a 50 cal machine gun on top of a Humvee. We had a few at intersections entering the neighborhood, no sightseeing, or visiting. If you leave a sealed area you might not get back in. Options: Leave or sit tight.
PS: Always keep extra BBQ coals on hand. As your freezer starts to defrost without power, you can have daily BBQs of defrosting meat. :)
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What was the strangest situation in your JW Kingdom Hall? Was it weirder than siblings having SEVEN kids together?
by Balaamsass2 inthis is chart-topper: "jehovah's witness whose parents were siblings opens up about their twisted relationship - which saw them having seven children together".
vanessa, from ohio, appeared on an episode of the we're all insane podcast.
the 46-year-old explained she is 'one of seven kids born to a brother and sister'.
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Balaamsass2
I can't top Ron W.s bookstudy story.
One Hall I was in had lots of poor rural territory 40 ++ miles from city limits in the mountains. The traveling C.O. would meet with me on Tuesday afternoons to go over congregation records, and ask if all the midweek lunch providers had indoor plumbing and if the food was safe to eat. :)
Ye haw!!
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What was the strangest situation in your JW Kingdom Hall? Was it weirder than siblings having SEVEN kids together?
by Balaamsass2 inthis is chart-topper: "jehovah's witness whose parents were siblings opens up about their twisted relationship - which saw them having seven children together".
vanessa, from ohio, appeared on an episode of the we're all insane podcast.
the 46-year-old explained she is 'one of seven kids born to a brother and sister'.
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Balaamsass2
I have seen child abuse, domestic violence, incest, theft, fraud, JW kiddie porn rings, and even murder, but never even heard of a case like this one.
Just another day in the JW "Spiritual Paradise?"
