e-watchman has decided to embrace the unholy watchtower whore and uphold her disgusting burdens on blood transfusions.
for the record, i now have e-watchman's email address and will be sending him copies of my commentary shortly after they are posted.
i have edited the content where necessary for sheer space (his verbiage is excessive and tiresome).
Hmm, I'm wondering if that was entirely wise because of this:
9) Invading people's privacy
Please don't post private addresses or phone numbers, including your own. You may post email addresses so long as you make it clear who they belong to.
Might be worth editing it out because it can be picked up by the search engines too.
Just my 2c. Hope it's ok to say it :)
i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.
well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.
here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.
The wifely subjection one rung a lot of bells for me - how bloody frustrating! Hmm when I think back, I was married when I was a JW but I don't think I took a lot of notice of the subjection thing. There is some kind of driving self-respect that stopped me being like that I think. If I'd been the ideal witness wife and repressed the uncomfortable feelings that arose when I tried it I can understand how that might cause MH problems.
i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.
well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.
here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.
Yes you would think so wouldn't you.
I've got a few theories. I can well imagine JW's getting depressed when they have questions they are afraid to get answers, things that need explaining, doubts etc. There's also the 'not doing enough' syndrome - you know - where you're told to do more, study more, pray more to find relief from mental health issues.
If these things went unaddressed for too long one might think depression would be the result. Maybe ppl might also get depressed about being depressed, because of the negative judgement placed on it by the society. (I hope that made sense :)
i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.
well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.
here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.
I've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info. Well I think it's interesting because I've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.
Here's an interesting abstract:
J Spencer
The function of religion in human society is complex. The part played by religion in psychiatric disorders is even more obscure. Previous literature and theories are divided into two groups: one school believes that intense religiosity is a symptom-complex indicative of psychiatric disorder, while the opposing view is that religious belief in some way acts as a defence mechanism protecting the individual and his psyche. The present study of 50 Jehovah's Witnesses admitted to the Mental Health Service facilities of Western Australia suggests that members of this section of the community are more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital than the general population. Furthermore, followers of the sect are three times more likely to be diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and nearly four times more likely from paranoid schizophrenia than the rest of the population at risk. These findings suggest that being a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith may be a risk factor predisposing to a schizophrenic illness. Further studies would be interesting in investigating whether pre-psychotic people are more likely to join the sect than normal people and what part (if any) membership has in bringing about such a breakdown.
More: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/126/6/556
It is a common observation among mental health personnel, supported by all published studies, that the mental illness rate among JW's far surpasses that of the population as a whole. Many factors are found to contribute to this - JW's tend to recruit individuals with emotional problems; there is a great deal of pressure to conform within the congregation, and there is a belief structure which clearly causes emotional turmoil. The fact that JW's are recruited from the lower socio-economic statuses of society and tend to seriously alienate and often force out of the movement the more intelligent and better educated members is also highly instruments in contribution to the mental illness rate. Once a JW develops emotional problems he is actively encouraged to avoid accepting "worldly advice" either from secular books or secular mental health personnel. The psychiatric profession as a whole is severely criticized, and Witnesses are encouraged to consult only their Elders, most of whom are poorly equipped to deal with most normal interpersonal relation frictions let alone what be termed neurotic and psychotic maladjustment. In dealing with members, Elders tend to offer poor advice and rely on punitive criticism or threats ("If you do not….you will not survive Armageddon…") to change behavior. This approach typically elicits increased guilt and/or a high level of aggression in the Witnesses. This factor is probably influential in the high rate of aggression crimes found among Witnesses.
More: http://www.rickross.com/reference/jw/jw73.html
Cultic Studies Journal Psychological Manipulation and Society Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997
I'll add more if I find them.
.
if science made us eternal, and we could control everything on earth as if we were in the new system, would humanity still need a higher intelligence or god to worship?
in other words, is god only a provider?
Hi Waymores Ghost :)
Perhaps, but I think the concept of "god(s)" more likely started as a result of natural disasters such as drought, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Then some a$$hole figured maybe these things were a result of human behaviour, started coming up with rules and promptly discovered CONTROL . The rest is history.
You could well be right, I hadn't thought about that. Hmm human behaviour having an influence on natural disasters, it's a big jump to make I guess (well it would have been back then anyway). Interesting :)
in the arnold schwarzenegger movie "the sixth day" (not to be confused with "end of days") people are cloned by having their brain memory pattern copied and saved on a disk.
human bodies without memories called "blanks" are also made.
at the appropriate time the duplicate memory pattern is stamped onto the "blank" human body.
OMG - wierd, that's science fiction. Scary thought indeed.
.
if science made us eternal, and we could control everything on earth as if we were in the new system, would humanity still need a higher intelligence or god to worship?
in other words, is god only a provider?
Interesting question!
Personally no I don't think God becomes unnecessary as it is within human nature to want to be grateful for happiness and joy. I read somewhere that that is why religion started, because ppl wanted to give thanks.
I am not however commenting on whether I believe God exists at all :)
i've been in therapy for some years now (on and off - currently on) and during that time have managed to build my self-esteem and self-acceptance to a level where i am actually starting to like and value myself (after having abuse issues to address).
about 12 months ago i started reading conventional christian literature and web sites, by this time i had forgotton most of the jw beliefs (although the fear of armageddon still ran deep, disturbing my inner equilibrium.
i (re)discovered that to call oneself christian one had to admit to being a sinful human being who is deserving of death because of my very inbuilt nature.
Thanks everyone :)
Mysterious,
Like the parent that pushes the child to be a perfectionist and distroys his or hers own self worth in the process.
I so agree with you there, it is such a shame that this kind of thing happens.
Mouthy :)
Get up every day & say I am O.K
Thanks for your post, you're very kind. I appreciate getting the non JW Christian perspective as well :)
Gretchen956
This is, imho, only one path to the divine. There are many others.
Yeah - that seems to be one of the key issues, the belief that there is only one way to God invalidates every other belief system and that is just plain unfair.
In my faith, as mysterious said, I believe that there is a piece of the divine in me. I believe that I am a whole person without need for redemption. When I need help, my higher power has always been there for me. When I pray I feel a deep connection with that power. I feel much more connected to that spirit and to my spirituality than I ever did as a witness.
That must be a wonderful place to be at - thank you for sharing :)
DanTheMan :) groovy hat lol
Fundamentalist religious groups/cults get their membership from people who feel intense self-loathing.
Oh yeah - I totally agree, when I look back to how I was when I got involved I am quite shocked. Self-loathing is something I am working on. Self-acceptance being key.
Navigator,
Our pastor is just as likely to quote from the Bagavad Gita or the Upanishads or the Tao Te Ching as from the bible.
That's really neat. I think acceptance of other belief systems is the way forward.
Thanks again everyone :)
i've just started book one.
just wondering if anyone has read the books and what they thought of them?
:)
Rick Aust - check out www.leftbehind.com
i haven't had a chance to read crisis of conscience yet, it's a 2 month wait here unfortunately for delivery and i feel it will probably answer some of my questions regarding the gb but it occurs to me - i wonder if they *really* believe what they teach, if they *really* believe it's the truth or are they really manipulating money makers operating a dysfunctional mlm scheme that ruins people's lives.
or perhaps somewhere in the middle lol.. oh yeah, and if anyone knows how the 'new light' is supposedly delivered i'd love to hear about it.. what do you think?
if anyone has read coc and has any quotes that might be useful please post :)
Fascinating! - thank you everyone for your replies.
Hmm, think I'm on the fast-track to understanding - in less than a week I have learned so much from the community members here. Thank you all so much!
