social death: the practice of disfellowshipping among jehovah's witnesses
many societies establish rules or norms for inclusion in their membership.
adherence to the established norms permits full membership in the group.
That fact has been already been established, thats not the question. People are disfellowshipped because they arent repentant for what they have done
When someone asks this type of question it seems they are forgetting that many dubs are raised in the LIE. They naturally try to please their parents long before they know the full ramifications of being baptized.
i actually have several reasons why i don't resent my witness upbringing, but it sure came in handy today.. last year i posted about helping 50 kids run in the seattle kids marathon at my daughter's school.
the event was a blast and while it was a ton of work, seeing the joy on the kids' faces when they crossed the finish line made it all worth it.. this morning i spoke to the entire student body at my daughter's school at their monthly spirit assembly.
if i hadn't been raised a witness, giving talks from the time i was five, i never would have attempted such a thing.
First, I know many good public speakers who were never dubs.
Second, I was in MS from age 8 until I was forty-two and I'm still a bad public speaker.
i thought of this question as i've been talking to different family members about the situation with my parents and grandmother.
i wondered if they'd get upset by me telling other non-jw family members what was going on.
i recently told a family member in coventry who i'm sure will end up telling my grandmother's sisters.
Most of my family are dubs, dyed in the wool. The few that aren't have been around the dubs all their lives. They are aware that the rest shun me, but they accept it as part of dubdom. It seems like they're semi-brain washed themselves, even though they don't like the JW religion. They're used to it. If has affected their lives even since they can remember.
jehovahs witnesses and education a brief history .
it is only the ignorant who despise education.
publilius syrus, moral sayings, first century b.c.e.
Thank-you. Good example of dub flip-flop.
is it maybe cause i have only learned the "truth?
" i have a hard time sitting at worldly weddings.
like in the catholic church, up down kneel, up, down, kneel!
No way.
do you think the wt has become more lenient or stricter over the year?.
i am 21 and i remember just 4 years ago going to college was looked at as something negative.
girls my age, we had plans to be ft pioneers and become secretaries.
I started college at age 50. I didn't go when I was young because of the 1975 crap. I don't think 21 is too old!
A mind is a terrible thing to waste! I wasted mine believing the lies and false Christianity we know as Jehovah's witnesses. Now at 50 I doubt that I ever get that education - not enough years to pay for it now.
It's not too late. I started at age 50 and am now finishing my master's degree. Even if I never find a job in my field, I know I'll never regret it.
i was raised as a dub, and i suppose when i was quite young i found some of the bible stories interesting.
however, the older i got the more boring the bible seemed.
obviously, it had a lot to do with repetition.
I was raised as a dub, and I suppose when I was quite young I found some of the bible stories interesting. However, the older I got the more boring the bible seemed. Obviously, it had a lot to do with repetition. Over and over again. I especially hated the "creation" story. It seems like the botchtower went over that one a million times. I never did think much of the dramas, but I liked the modern day ones over bible-times ones. Of course, many were a mix to show how the bible applied to modern times. The mental gymnacists necessary to "understand" how everything foreshadowed the "slave class" were oppressive. Not just in the drama, but in all the "socities" lit. The thought of reading the bible as literature leaves me cold, even after 14 years. Anyone else feel this way?
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for your reading pleasure:.
from fundamentalist to humanist
The first definition of humanism in Encarta is:
belief in human-based morality: a system of thought that is based on the values, characteristics, and behavior that are believed to be best in human beings, rather than on any supernatural authority.
I'm an atheist, but I don't see how anyone could believe in Human beings when you consider how many republicans there are.
the higher education thread got me thinking about the thing i loathe, despise, hate with the intensity of a thousand suns about the wbts, namely, the loss of my childhood.
i remember when engaging in blistering arguements with my parents about being able to play sports or take up an instrument or dream of being an astronaut, or whatever thing the society frowned on that i wasn't allowed to do at the end i would always get the same final reply, "when you are 18 and out of the house you can do whatever you want.
i can go back and play pop warner football, or little league baseball, or play in the school band, etc?
Thanks everyone for sharing. This has always been a big issue with me. Long before I left the dubs I started feeling angry that I hadn't gone to college. I actually made a good living working as a computer programmer, but that's not the point. I didn't follow my dream. I could have done it. No one held a gun to my head, but when one is 18 he or she needs support from family and friends. The only way to get that support was to follow the dub-line. Like I said earlier in this thread, I've done it in my old age, but it's just not the same. Even so, I don't regret having started at age 50.
the higher education thread got me thinking about the thing i loathe, despise, hate with the intensity of a thousand suns about the wbts, namely, the loss of my childhood.
i remember when engaging in blistering arguements with my parents about being able to play sports or take up an instrument or dream of being an astronaut, or whatever thing the society frowned on that i wasn't allowed to do at the end i would always get the same final reply, "when you are 18 and out of the house you can do whatever you want.
i can go back and play pop warner football, or little league baseball, or play in the school band, etc?
I agree 100%. I started college at age 50 and am about to finish my master's degree. But like you say it's not the same. For one thing I don't have a full life ahead of me to build a career based on my college degrees. I'd like to do a Ph.D. but at age 55 I wonder if it's worth it.
