Posts by Alive!

47

Are JWs "mind trained" to be habitual liars?

by nonjwspouse in

i don't mean overly obvious, or otherwise meaning to cause harm, but taught to lie for the purpose of avoidance.

this type of lying can be pervasive in areas of life that are not just to avoid discussions with people who have questions about the jw, etc.

my husband will lie/be deceitful about the silliest, simple things.

Alive!

Chipping in.....

This 'trait' of deceit was something that I noticed from early years of association with witnesses...

It started off as 'avoidance' or twisting of words and reinventing realities...all of which has been mentioned in this thread.

My own husband was not brought up as a JW, but like the OP, he absolutely cannot seem to just 'tell it as it is' - and I don't mean simply embroidering a good story for entertainment value! He chooses avoidance nearly every time, and it can be exhausting as he also has a history of lying about very serious matters.

But I know this is a family trait which developed through a dysfunctional parenting situation...and I should mention, both my husband and his family are relatively 'decent' people. Intensely law-abiding, honest in money matters....but this strange avoidance thing, keeping them 'personally' unattached and a bit of an 'island'....some of the verbal dances they perform are hilarious, if it wasn't also unsettling and uncomfortable 🤔 - one constantly had to readjust expectations when talking about things with them.

I believe JWs have a similar dysfunctional global 'family' upbringing.

So yes, this odd and unsettling deceptive behaviour is ingrained....and often done with a smile and a hug 😆

I learnt how to talk this way myself, in their company...after awhile it became second nature to not directly answer questions about the bible, witnesses etc when around the 'outside' world of people. 😞🤔

50

A JW explains Blood Fractions

by OrphanCrow in

i was looking around from some information on the wt's stance concerning the use of stem cells, and i came across this article on a defending jehovah's witnesses blog.. rather than informing the reader all that much about stem cells, the author diverts the conversation into a discussion of "blood fractions" (*note: the term "blood fractions" appears to be another one of those wt bloodspeak terms coined by the wt.

"blood components" or "blood products" are the terms used more frequently by the medical world.

"fractions" implies tiny amounts).

Alive!

Through the years, following my baptism and conversion in the 90s....I was ever bewildered by the amount of literature on blood and 'fractions' - and changing medical directives etc.

I reasoned with myself, during the initial process in which blood is artificially removed from the living body, does it cease to be blood? No.

Surely, I reasoned, the abstaining of blood finds its moral and scriptural beginnings in the actual taking and donating of blood. An upholder of this doctrine would surely refuse any substance that initially involved the donating and taking of blood. It's that simple, because whatever you call the end 'blood fraction', blood was donated in order to produce it.

But anyway, the real issue is that a life isnt taken or snuffed out in order to sustain another humans life through the taking of blood. We don't kill a human to get their blood, in order to 'sustain' our own lives.

That, in anyone's book is repulsive.

Blood taken from a willing, voluntary and living being is a mere transfer of 'organ'.

A life is not lost or murdered.

This doctrine is another embarrassment to JWs and also a danger.

52

last convention before global attack on witnesses

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

so it's not enough that i'm dealing with post traumatic stress/anxiety and panic attacks all related to my life as a jw (50 years baptized -- i stopped going a couple of months ago) at 3 a.m. i get an email from the other side of the world.

'you have to go to the convention.

bro sanderson says we must watch the news, things are happening.

Alive!

Hi Phoebe,

I'm guessing you must be in your 60s at least, given your 50 yrs of baptised activity.

How brqve you have been to pull away from the organisation, to question all those things that felt so wrong.

Dear lady, your post really resonated with some of my experiences in the past few years.

The witnesses aren't trained to think carefully about the timing or impact of their 'missiles of warning'....how many emotionally or mentally fragile folk did we disturb with our frighteningly illustrated tracts or publications....leaving them in the loneliness of their lives to read and look at pictures which were frightening to view and didn't need to be realised in an illustration.

I can imagine your anxiety, the process of upturning your whole life is anxious making enough....without loveless emails that took just a few minutes to dash off.

I've kept my life in hope, hope in our universal creator. I grew ever weary of 'speaking on his behalf' the twisted judgemental thinking of those (aka the FDS) who demonstrated a poor grasp of scriptural understanding over years and years of foolishness. And now, they use emotional manipulation more then ever through videos, short movies. No to that.

Try not to read any social media or emails in the wee hours...definitely not helpful to your emotional state.

Take care, breathe through each hour.

And if you can, speak in your heart to the One you trusted all these years.

The nature of whom you measured against the nature of these 'men' and found them entirely out of synch.

22

Are JW's non- violent

by notalone in

jw
friends

okay, i keep reading something and though jw's do not get involved in national wars, my experience has always been they are very violent people.

every convention i have ever been to was filled with children being beat within an inch of their lives for just not being able to take a third day of mind-droning silence without being able to move or now even sleep.

i have seen whole congregations laugh at stories of children being beaten and calling out to "jehovah".

Alive!

I used to feel terribly uneasy about the garish illustrations....such as just posted here.

I like to create, draw, paint.

I find my heart kind of feels the same emotional colour as my subject matter, so, I'll feel a sense of reverent love if I trace the outline of something beautiful in my own way. if I walk away from the painting, that feeling and image stays with me. I look forward to returning, to 'perfect' or work on it.

i don't draw violent things, I don't draw or illustrate people suffering. If I did, it would be from compassion and outrage at the violence, at the suffering.

What sort of Christian heart meditates on capturing the terror of children, old men and women's faces as they get struck and destroyed by falling buildings and bolts of fire? How does that heart feel concentrating on depicting such images which are not about compassion but 'deserved destruction' ?

Interesting.

65

My Introduction - An ex-elder's story of waking up later in life.

by doubtfull1799 in

background:.

my parents got the “truth” while i was in primary school.

i was baptised at 14. i loved school and was extremely studious.

Alive!

On reading your OP, I identified with how utterly painful and 'unreal' this late age awakening must have been for you.

I was a convert, a dedicated convert.

I found that little by little my personal intergrity felt violated by the 'tone' of the Watchtower - and so I started to dig deeper.

A few years ago, I had tried to reach a beloved relative with a couple of our publications - and was knocked back when they answered with an expose of misquotes, that is quotations placed out of context, unashamedly reframing the original thought of the original writer.

I knew this was not the way of 'holiness'.

This was just a small ( relative to other unacceptable issues) but defining point in my Watchtower life. You know how it goes.

It's been a hard, hard and hurtful path.

'They' do so much damage. They truly do.

35

"would you drink a glass of water if it had just a tiny bit of poison in it?"

by stuckinarut2 in

no doubt we have all heard that well used "illustration" in public talks etc over the years:.

"if you were handed a glass of water that looked pure, but were told it has just a tiny drop of poison in it, would you drink it?".

the society has used that illustration at length to say we should avoid all influences of every part of the world.. but, as we know, the society has had a track record of errors, false ideas and doctrines.

Alive!

This illustration used to impress me.

So much used to impress me.

Then one day, over time, more and more....I heard a certain 'tone' in the voice of the Watchtower magazine.

That same 'tone' started to become apparent in public talks and assemblies.

It wasn't a 'tone' that left me feeling uplifted, spiritually safe, secure.

I had to walk away.

58

baptised nearly 51 years

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

been reading this site for awhile now.

i have had a long and often tragic life as a jw.

my story is so long because i'm pretty old :) i feel sad i've been locked in fear and guilt for my entire life.

Alive!

Hi Phoebe,

I just popped in here and your intro caught my attention, so please may I add my voice to this thread of lovely welcomes and encouragements.

I'm 60 years old and wearily said 'NO!' to all that Watchtower 'stuff' three to for years ago. We walked through some seriously painful days, as you can understand.

I started this post with the words 'popped in' as I haven't contributed here for awhile - slowly but surely life has taken on a new breath of its own and I can actually be happy and at peace with myself and with God....living apart from all the WT chaos and the hurt that goes with it.

Yes, I keep faith, stronger than ever, yet totally understand why many don't after the manipulative and dishonest faith bending tactics of the WT.

Like others here, I want to send you words of support. You are not alone here.

Keep brave dear.

Love Alive x

56

"You Wouldn't Believe How Many Have Crawled Back To The Meetings"

by minimus in

jw
friends

that's a comment i heard from an elder i haven't seen in over a decade, yesterday.

i mentioned it all on my other thread.

i responded that i knew of no one that was crawling back to the meetings and gave him an incredulous hearty chuckle.

Alive!

'A believer'

When I read Minimus account of this conversation, I didn't flinch when I read the quoted phrase 'crawling back' .

I know a few elders who I can imagine using such wording - with their own style of humour. I've heard worse amongst elders when talking about the flock and individuals - so really 'crawling back' wasn't so out of the ordinary to my ears.

46

New Resolution?

by NikL in

jw
friends

had our midweek meeting last night.

they had a resolution to send an extra (i wanna say $1100 but i only remember it was at least $1000) per month to forward the kingdom preaching work etc.. you know how they work in the kh...no one votes against anything.

i abstained as i almost have always done.

Alive!

I noticed that everything about 'donating grandmother/widow' is not only healthier and generally 'weller' in her blue ladies suit and blouse, but her hair is a perfect silver blue coiffured halo, so she appears abundant in 'blessings'

it's not fair or right -as every illustration is carefully framed, and the message is clear.

And how sad, the message to the lonely and elderly who may relate to the 'hungry/empty larder' illustrations is that just like Widow mark 2, they should show up looking smart and beautifully turned out to the KH, despite being hungry?

Well fine, but an interim illustration of the widow making a call for help and getting a warm, practical response with food before heading out to the meeting is the only 'sane' picture story that 'sane' people would approve.

Horrible. This illustration is horrible.

So thankful I don't have to spread their brand of 'christian' encouragement anymore.

10

I think Watchtower online library filters results it does not like.

by NikL in

i was trying to find that scripture that talks about recognizing a false prophet.

in the watchtower online website, i did a search for the words false prophet and filtered it for scriptures only from the bible which brought up zilch in the way of results.

i did a google advanced search for the same thing and it brought up the scripture i needed which happens to be deuteronomy chapter 18:20-22 which reads... 20 “‘if any prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name that i did not command him to speak or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.+ 21 however, you may say in your heart: “how will we know that jehovah has not spoken the word?” 22 when the prophet speaks in the name of jehovah and the word is not fulfilled or does not come true, then jehovah did not speak that word.

Alive!

That scripture must give them grief, it really points the finger and requires a lot of explaining to dodge the implication.