Posts by bledback2life

50

CHEATING ON FIELD SERVICE

by chuckyy in

towards the end of my time as a jw, i must confess to cheating whilst out on field service.. 1. i would turn up at the field service arrangement with my wife, and we would say that we were working together that day to do return visits.

as everyone went out, we would simply get into our car and drive home.

(hypocritical i know).

bledback2life

I'm not surprised if this is a widespread occurrence, considering the WTBTS's constant instilling in the minds of everyone to 'put in the hours'. At times it seems little more than a drive to have statistical proof that 'headway' is being made in the business of preaching.

13

Anyone here from New Zealand?

by bledback2life in

hey everybody!!

*feins a nick riviera (a la the simpsons) accent* .

i'm new to these forums.

bledback2life

Hey thanks for all the other greetings and welcomes. Shout-outs to my fellow Kiwis, the people across the Tasman, and everyone else out there.

It's good to see all you ex-JWs exubberant and full-of-life, in direct contrast to the way the JW organisation portrays ex-JWs as depressed, lost souls, endlessly and fruitlessly searching for meaning in life.

I will endeavour to become active on these forums in due course as there seems to be a wealth of knowledge, experiences and good advice circulating these threads. (I have final year Law exams coming up so between now and mid-Nov you won't be seeing much of me here...)

Steve2:

Thanks for your well thought-out exposition on the relationship between religion and mental illness. Indeed, establishing the element of causality can be tenuous at times, as we often come across in the legal cases we discuss in lectures with regards mens rea etc.

I was thinking more of how the social conventions you have to adhere to within the JW organisation can serve to compound one's sense of guilt/shame, thus resulting in the suppression of one's natural inclinations and hence some form of mental breakdown. (I have very rudimentary knowledge of Freudian/Jungian analysis so you might have to fill me in here.) I'm not sure whether this is a credible/sustainable hypothesis, empirically speaking. Through observation and experience though, I know a good number of JWs who indulge in covert activities who later feel really guilty about things and become chronically depressed because of this tension inside. Moreover, they are forced to keep this to themselves, for fear of being shunned - another cause for grief/anxiety.

You're right re the constant doctrinal flip-flopping that is masqueraded as New Light. This doctrine of the New Light is nothing more than a cloak explaining inconsistencies in the development of thought, as well as a vehicle for attaining acquiescence and compliance. Mind control is indeed an insidious and powerful tool. Hitler pulled it off remarkably well; the WTBTS is doing just that.

13

Anyone here from New Zealand?

by bledback2life in

hey everybody!!

*feins a nick riviera (a la the simpsons) accent* .

i'm new to these forums.

bledback2life

Hey misspeaches and steve2!

Thanks for your replies. I've read both your profiles.

misspeaches:

Indeed, friendships within the organisation are conditional. While JWs go to great lengths to condemn worldly peer pressure and the superficiality of worldly friendships, they fail to realise that the peer pressure within the organisation to conform and toe the line is actually much more insidious and endemic. Also, the so-called friends disappear from your life like a mist when you're disfellowshipped, or in my case, disassociated myself. (I was never baptised, despite murmurings and pressure all around me, like "brother/sister so-and-so already got baptised when he/she was 15; have you given any thought to doing likewise?" Also: "Why aren't you baptised yet? You were brought up in The Truth." Right... So now I'm a faithless wannabe-goat 'cos I ain't baptised yet. )

I was having a heated debate with my best friend (now ex-best friend...) recently, whom I've known since the age of 2. He now considers me less of a friend simply because I cease to believe in the JW faith. On top of that, I get the blame for 'ruining our friendship'. (Errrrrr no dude, you choose to think less of me just because I have renounced the faith.) So it's not that ex-JWs don't wanna remain friends with their JWs friends; it's the other way around.

I really feel sorry for the people still trapped inside who wanna leave but are too afraid to do so due to the fear of ostracism. And there are many of them... Some continue to lead what WT doctrine would deem 'double lives', and these individuals continue to live in guilt and remorse, much of which is unnecessary and unfounded.

steve2:

Wow - you're a psychologist? You know, I'd always wanted to study psychology. Somehow I ended up doing law instead. That said, I did a paper entitled 'Psychiatry and the Law' last year and found it immensely insightful. (Yeah I know there's a difference between psychiatry and psychology, but there's overlap too...)

There's studies that have been done to show that the rates of depression and mental breakdown among JWs are markedly higher that the rates of the general populace. Do you know about and/or have the details/statistics on this?

I too am agnostic 'cos, like yourself, I find that atheists can at times be as dogmatic and narrow-minded as fundamentalist Christians. Just as it is hard to empirically prove God's existence, so too is it hard to disprove God's existence.

Which part of NZ are you from btw? I'm from Auckland.

13

Anyone here from New Zealand?

by bledback2life in

hey everybody!!

*feins a nick riviera (a la the simpsons) accent* .

i'm new to these forums.

bledback2life

Hey everybody!! *feins a Nick Riviera (a la The Simpsons) accent*

I'm new to these forums. I've been surfing the web for JW resources (the 'anti' and 'ex' sort, of course ) and chanced upon this site.

Just wondering if there's anybody here from New Zealand? (Ok dumb question; sure there are, but I haven't been able to browse through the entire membership database...)

I'm just about to pop back into a lecture, so I'll post a wee background about myself soon.

But here's a brief spiel about myself

I left the fold back in 2001. I found, inter alia, the mind control tactics of the JW hierarchy rather abhorrent, to say the least. The powers that be within the organisation would intimidate you into silence, and any doubts you have will be 'addressed swiftly' - i.e. the Elders Brigade being sent around to your place, trying to ensure that microchip lodged in your brain is still functioning up to Governing Body dictated standards. (Incidentally, it shows you how paranoid and insecure the JW hierarchy is...) Having a naturally inquisitive mind, even from young, the institutional practices, ethics, policies, beliefs and attitudes of the JW organisation eventually drove me out.

Since leaving, a number of JWs have asked me "Why do you wanna leave the fold?", as if my life would end up in tatters now that I'm 'part of the world'. Some added "You should come back; you know you will and want to". Right... My reply was as follows:

"Why would a bird that has been freed from the cage want to fly back in again?"

Ok, more irreverence next time...

Btw, if anyone wants to get hold of me, whether you're a New Zealander or otherwise, I can be reached at [email protected] for correspondence and/or MSN chatting. Peace and until next time.