Posts by Whiskeyjack

24

When do you tell them------------

by vitty in

jw
friends

ive been fading for a year, we moved, so i am starting to make new friends (still feels a bit strange) anyway, when or if do you tell them you belonged to a religious cult, in my case over 20 years.

should i bother, is it more important to me than them.

will they think im wierd if i do tell them, or if ive been friends for a long time, will they think it strange i never mentioned it.

Whiskeyjack

I agree with Evil,

Friendship requires honesty and for most of us, our JW experiences have had a huge impact on our personalities and social abilities. People see it in us (in me and my siblings anyway-I'm talking friends, not aquaintances). I just try to be "matter -of-fact" about it and try to use humour when questionned or making a point in a conversation in which child-rearing or religion comes up.

A lot of people feel insecure and have doubts about their "worth" (there aren't that many self-satisfied, conceited people out there, some are just better hiding it than others) while the media is constantly telling us "normal" is. You might raise some eyebrows but I don't think you'll blow anyones' mind! There's always somebody else with an even "wierder" story.

W.

43

Your Struggle in the Truth.......

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

mine was being gay.....and it was a huge load to carry...... (another story).

what was your struggle?.

scoob

Whiskeyjack

For me, it was the dysfunctionalism I observed as a young person. A a former "lifer" I decided if I couldn't be reasonably honest (I depise double lifers and had seen what happened to honest kids in the pre-committee dance), what was the point? Also, the point of GB "infallibility" stuck in my craw with no honest debate allowed.

This was without knowing half of the bizarre and humorous history of my own organization!

W.

18

Where else will you find such true friends?

by sass_my_frass in

jw
friends

it always bugged me when i would hear or read that the only true friends you would find would be those you made in the organisation - nobody else will really stand by you when you need them.

it used to puzzle me when (prior to being disfellowshipped...) my true friends and my close loving family didn't make contact with me for years, right when i was very deeply depressed and i needed them.

certainly i could have put myself in their lives more pro-actively, but, it's a very effective control tool to tell people not to bother befriending a non-witness; even if they don't damage you spiritually, they will never be as loyal to you as your brothers and sisters.

Whiskeyjack

Kudos to you! I think I'd rather be in Iraq than in a camp full of young ADD kids! Yikes!

As for true friendship and compassion, Yeshua's followers thought he was pretty "strange" in that department, "consorting" with prostitutes, lepers. etc...

W.

58

WHO IS JOHN GALT? (A survey on Ayn Rand)

by Terry in

since its publication in 1957, atlas shrugged has sold more than five million copies.

perhaps a measure of the book's continuing influence may be estimated from the results of a survey conducted jointly by the library of congress and book-of-the-month club in 1991. the survey asked readers which books had made a difference in people's lives.

the results found atlas shrugged placing second only to the bible.

Whiskeyjack

Dang,

I'm going to have to head on down to the library next week and finally review some of her stuff. I tend to shy away from "academics" because because they tend to be horridly asymetric in their knowledge/experience base (Adam Smith was an exception to this rule and I like to think he would spit on most of his latter day disciples for their levels of ignorance).

It never fails to amuse me to read upper class idiots expounding on individualism from their safe societal perches. A few years among the lower levels of society would do many of them some good. As far as free markets go, even executives are starting to realize that we can't go on ignoring these markets' "externalities" and that neo-classical economics is autistic with only the veneer of "rational" quantitative analysis (former banker speakin' here!).

Human civilization has a long way to go yet - we're still in early innings! (Maybe we'll get it "right" one day!)

W.

149

Do you hate the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses?

by logansrun in

jw
friends

.

a simple question: do you hate the religion of jehovah's witnesses?

feel free to elaborate on your answer.. b.

Whiskeyjack

Using the dictionary's definition, I suppose one could say I hate this organization at the same time while I feel sympathy and heartache for most of its members. An example would be all those young boys still rotting in Rwandan prisons for their participation in the genocide-a lingering tragedy-what to do with them? They're guilty of heinous crimes committed whenm they were morally/ehtically unaware children manipulated by others.

As far as the collective members, there are many different "types" of JW's :

1.- Children duped and programmed from birth (much like Nazi Hitler youth).

2.- Over-zealous converts that feel their new behaviour saved them (and those surrounding them) from disaster (cocaine addicts, criminals, etc...) in life which is often true (though not unique to the org.).

3.- The Social "Positioners"- Those individuals who need to be in some sort of hierarchial organization to feel any purpose and often will commit unethical acts to maintain their status or improve on it forgetting their "prime mission" as outlined by Yeshua. These individuals often make excellent executives!)

4.- The "Worn Out" Ones- those that have invested too many years in the org. and abrogate their personal thinking responsibility which Yeshua placed on every Christian, just clinging to their routine on itnellectual auto-pilot. (my parents)

5. The Truly Dim and Uneducated-No religion can do without these!

6.- The Double-Lifers- Those morally inept lying buggers with little moral fibre of their own.

7.- The Leadership - A-The Self-Duped variety who cling to their mission despite what the truth of reality shows them.

B. The Cynical Manipulators who don't care about anyone anymore except organizational perpetuation.

I'm sure others could expand on this but the point is I feel varying degrees of derision and symtpathy for the humans in the org. but my ethical system requires me to be in oppostion to any group that works against human harmony and truth (harmony to the extent that it's more desirable to get along and appreciate all of our fellow travelers on this planet than giving in to our baser instincts of violence and tribalism, etc...) as a personal duty I can't dismiss.

So I oppose and "attack" them to varying degrees according to their actions in my own little way (I have enough JW relatives to keep me busy for years yet!) but I don't think I'm a "hater". It's a duty.

W.

53

Do you still shudder at the sight of a Elder?

by kls in

i remember so long ago i thought elders were like a god and would always make sure i smiled at them and put on my innocent act in front of them .

even being out of the cult it took me years to finally get it through my head that they are human and not a god as they themselves think.

then one day a jw elder came to my door and at that time i had a newborn baby that i had been up with all night .

Whiskeyjack

I just see red and try to keep my violent fantasies in check!.

W.

87

What's the most thought-provoking novel you've ever read?

by lucky in

jw
friends

i'd have to say for me that it was ayn rand's the fountainhead.

even though i don't agree with a lot of her philosophy, it definitely made me stumble around in a thought-induced haze for a few weeks after reading it.

Whiskeyjack

Hmmmmmmm...

I guess it would be The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It's the story of immigrant exploitation and a damning depiction of run amok capitalism (which we're fast returning to) set in Chicago during the beginning of the last century. I stayed up all night and couldn't put it down.

As a sixth generation Canadian, I had neither patience nor sympathy for the trials and challenges immigrants face in a new society where nobody will tell them the rules (Ontario has been innundated with new Canadians over the last thirty years and there is a lot of resentment and some conflict over who's a Canadian and who's not. as they impact the local culture).

This book made me a more empathetic person!

W.

133

The saddest song you've ever heard

by littlerockguy in

jw
friends

what is the saddest song that brings tears to your eyes just about every time you hear it?

mine is harry chapin's cats in the cradle

Whiskeyjack

Oh Gods... Now I'm really depressed!!!!

For my Money, it's gotta be the Smith's Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (1984-grade 11 for me)

Good Times for a change

See, the luck I've had

would make a good man

turn bad

So please, please, please

let me, let me, let me

let me get what I want

This time

Haven't had a dream in a long time

See, the life I've had

would make a good man bad

So for once in my life

let me get what I want

Lord knows, it would be the first time

(Secod mention goes out to the Goodies (any Brits remember that show where on a game show they had to write a song to make granny dry?)

W.

88

Do You Personally Know Of Any JW That Was Sexually Abused?

by minimus in

,,,,while they were witnesses?

Whiskeyjack

Yes. A couple of youngsters (found out years later and it nearly blew my mind ), one of whom was suicidal but happily still with us.

W.

43

JWs And Ex-JWs--Do You Struggle With Depression Because You Were A JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i've seen how some are so burdened by the fact that they were witnesses, that literally, every day is a struggle.

are you in need of therapeutic help because you are or were a jehovah's witness?

Whiskeyjack

Yes.

I and all of my siblings experience depression. Our parents were hardcore so we were brought up in the proverbial "bubble" with the resultant retarded personal development. To be fair, our family has a genetic history of depression and the org. upbringing (no double-living!) excaserbated (sp?) this latent problem.

We deliberately starting celebrating birthdays years later (we're all faders) to develop stronger senses of self and personal worth, but none of us have any life goals, we're just existing. We try to help each other since our parents aren't intellectually nor emotionally able to tackle any of these issues (we don't respond well to their preaching anymore while we do try to maintain some contact!).

We're attempting to get the youngest into therapy right now though I haven't tried therapy or drugs myself. I've just emerged from one of those "troughs", deciding it's still better to be alive in a world of possibilities than dead despite my lack of accomplishment or my embarassment over my "wasted" life.

W.