Posts by TallTexan

29

SELF ESTEEM in the organization

by justice for all in

jw
friends

did your self esteem increase or decrease after being in the organization for a while?

TallTexan

Interesting question. I think in some ways being raised a JW helped me with certain aspects of self-esteem. I read well, speak in public well, and as I was giving #4 talks at a very early age, received much positive reinforcement from those in the cong.

However, overall being raised a JW really takes it's toll on you. You are absolutely destroyed in school for being different. And in the congregation, your supposed "haven" from the pressure of the world, you're constantly being told that you're not doing enough - can't you pioneer, can't you give more $$, or more time, or whatever. You never feel that you're good enough. You feel bad for every 'sinful' impulse you have, like no one else in the cong has them. If you're not given privileges, then you are obviously doing something wrong, or just plain not good enough.

Jesus said that his 'yoke was light' - obviously he was NOT raised as a JW........

43

Bizarre JW stories of enduring hardship

by Vormek2.8 in

jw
friends

i remember hearing of a faithful older brother who was attacked by vicious dogs while in service.

even though his clothes were shredded and he was bleeding he continued walking door to door to finish his assigned territory for that day.

TallTexan

Katie, you're killing me...lol.

And those bloody torture stories! How awful. Im sure they were probably true, lots of them. But what was the point of terrorising a whole generation of children in countries that were unlikely to ever experience that kind of backward brutality. I mean - is it likely that I was ever going to have bycicle spokes pushed through my genitals in the UK? But thats EXACTLY what I spent my entire childhood in fear of! There was no point to those stories, other than the fact that nasty old men used to love repeating them from the platform and got some kind of gruesome kick from imagining that we might have to go through that one day.

See, and I thought I was the only one. I remember during this time they would talk about how the brothers would be picked up at checkpoints and beaten, so every time we drove to the meetings (being as I was about 6 or 7) I was constantly on the watch for roadblocks. I think the Malawi stories, while real (probably), were the 'tabloid' shock value of the time. I think they were supposed to be inspiring, but instead they scared the living crap out of all of us kids.....

15

What are you listening to right now?

by ozziepost in

we've had "what books are you reading", so let's think of another of the senses!.

right now i'm listening to a brand new released cd by opera star amelia farrugia, "joie de vivre!".

amelia was featured in the all-star lineup for last weekend's "carols in the domain" broadcast on channel seven.

TallTexan

Solitude Aeturnus - Downfall

Killswitch Engage

Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

Pantera's Greatest Hits CD

27

"We are the only religion on earth that can claim to be unhypocritical."

by Bonnie_Clyde in

those are the exact words of the po's wife today at the wt study.

i wrote them down as she said them.

the next comment by one of the servants was, "if we accept the authority of the faithful and discreet slave, we cannot go wrong.

TallTexan

What's scary is that while I was 'in', I felt the same way, and I'm sure many of you did too. I hated being 'different', but at the same time felt that I was part of an organization that was honest, spiritual, and had the truth. You really buy into all that 'the world hates you because you're different' crap. The world hates you because they realize how stupid you are...lol. <jk> It's sad because they don't know how wrong they are - and until they become open-minded enough to research the truth, they will never know. I guess I pity them more than hate them.....

22

President Bush wants to spy on us? Can we spy on him as well?

by DavidChristopher in

that is kinda goofy.

he says it is his job to protect us!?

by taking our freedom and privacy away?

TallTexan

Never trust a government that doesnt trust its own citizens with guns

--Thomas Jefferson

Now that's a sentiment I agree w/ wholeheartedly. I hope I didn't give the impression that I was anti- 2nd amendment rights.....

11

what a diehard replies if the phrase "brainwashing" is used

by stillajwexelder in

i have heard quite a few witnesses when confronted with "you are brain-washed" merely reply " well in satans world, my brain was so bad it needed washing, so i am glad i got brain-washed" - difficult when one is confronted with an attitude like that

TallTexan

The problem is they think that true 'brainwashing' is done with lights and sounds (like in "A Clockwork Orange"). They don't understand that true brainwashing is simply repetition mixed with emotional input until you eventually spout the right response even if you're not sure why or even if you can't explain it, as many dubs can't. My grandmother is classic - she says stuff like "Well, I don't really understand it either, but I just know it's right" - this after 60 years as a witness.....if that's not brainwashing, I don't know what is.

16

Pol Pots Paradise

by ballistic in

don't know if anyones mentioned this before, but i found it scary reading the site below about pol pots attempt to create an agrarian utopia.

scary because there are similarities between what dubs would need to do to create paradise and what he did.. http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/pol_pot.htm.

from the link above:.

TallTexan

I agree w/ Ozzie. This relates to a post a few days (weeks?) ago about whether or not the org would kill apostates if they had the chance. I think they would, and rationalize it with the OT stories of God destroying those who were 'disloyal'. Some of the similarities are a little bit of a stretch, but I think the overall thought process is very similar. All totalitarian governments try to remove all remnants of the 'old' (putting on the 'new' personality, in JW lingo), sever all ties with anything they deem 'unfit', 'remove' (in one way or another) all those who disagree, and attempt to control every aspect of that person's life. So there are definite similarities. What you have to ask yourself is, how far would the FDS go if there were no laws to limit their actions?

10

"A Global Problem: Fraud" {from the pages of the WT org}

by sf in

http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2004/7/22/article_01.htm [scroll down a bit].

{at times, i'm astounded at the amount of steel in the balls of the wt men...[ slaps knee silly ]...these are their words!

can they really be this blind as to not see how it is describing wtbts empire??

TallTexan

The next article will explain ways in which you can protect yourself from fraud.

The next article should say "Quick, get out of the WT".....
I don't know if they are bold or just plain stupid. I think they've been telling themselves these lies for so long that they really don't see that they are describing themselves.....

22

Something I wonder.......

by DaveNwisconsin in

a month ago my mother died.

she had been a witness for 40 years.

when she was sick she got me wondering if all the witnesses think that this system will come to an end in there lifetime and they won't have to go thru death?

TallTexan

Funchback,

You and I are the same age, and what you wrote about feeling you would never reach certain milestones could have been written in my words. And I too believed that all the presidents would be the 'one' to turn against religion, especially when 1986 (I believe it was) was declared the "Year of Peace & Security" or whatever it was called. I remember at our summer assembly when we were told that the next year was being declared as such by Reagan, I got a chill because I really felt that it was going to be the end. I remember my mom saying on a number of occasions that "Well, next year we'll probably be celebrating Memorial underground."

It really screws up your view of the future and the importance you place on being prepared for it....

22

Something I wonder.......

by DaveNwisconsin in

a month ago my mother died.

she had been a witness for 40 years.

when she was sick she got me wondering if all the witnesses think that this system will come to an end in there lifetime and they won't have to go thru death?

TallTexan

Gary,

That's a great argument, and one that will, as in your example, be sure to stump JW's the world over....