even thinking about born-ins here.
at what stage of your 'bible teaching' were you taught about the practice of disfellowshipping?.
reading john cedars book and the section about when the more crazy shit gets introduced to you is very telling.
It was when I was a child and my mom and I were in the grocery store. I spotted my auntie in another aisle and started towards her excitedly. My mom grabbed my arm and yanked me in another direction. She said we don't talk to Aunt C now because she's disfellowshipped. I wasn't sure what that meant and was disappointed and confused. She was my favorite aunt.
Sadly, this same aunt returned to the cult and shuns me now for fading.
i'm feeling very angry tonight as i watched my mother in law end her relationship with my husband, her son, tonight.
we were happily inactive, enjoying a distant but decent relationship with my in laws until they saw some christmas decorations and everything changed.
i spent two hours getting drilled on whether my husband and i celebrate holidays, to be told that my laws won't socialize with us anymore.
May as well get a bigger tree and enjoy it!
my mother wanted me to know that the co gave a talk that kinda-sorta reprimanded an elder in her hall.
he is not the reason i left at all, and this does not address anything to do with me or our family.. my mother-in-law sent me texts which i ignored and now she has sent a picture to my wife on facebook just for me, and it's a prodigal son meme that says, "you see the signs, come back it's not too late".. yeah, it's not too late to accept a global flood in 2370 bce, or that man was created in 4026 bce from a golem spell, or that an us-and-them cult mentality is at all healthy or loving, or that religion is going to be banned by the un, or that i should expect anyone else at the door to accept these stupid ideas in the information age.. what am i supposed to say?
i usually just ignore them, but before i do that, i see that shit and i storm into this weird internalized rage where i start writing a response and deleting it.
Giordano nailed it. It's disrespect, and not believing that you're an intelligent individual who can think for yourself. You couldn't have good reasons for leaving, so nagging, nudging, reminding, or let's call it plain harassment, are acceptable to them.
I get texts like clockwork from my mother:
Tuesday mornings, she wants to let me know she's going in service now.
Wednesday mornings, she texts that she's going to her study now.
Thursday evenings, she texts that she's leaving for the meeting now.
Sunday mornings, same thing. "I'm going to the meeting, it'll be a great day." She never says good morning, how are you. No, she's clearly got an agenda, to bring meetings and service to my attention.
This infuriates me. I want to tell her to stop pushing. So disrespectful. I'm an adult woman and she's still nagging me. Yet, she's eighty two years old, and to tell her to knock it off because I'm happy at my own church and I'm never coming back to the Hall, would kill her. So for her sake I seethe and fume, which is probably harmful to my own health. I'm torn between, am I spineless for allowing her to do this, or am I being the better person for not shattering an elderly lady's hopes.
started watching this video and the similarities to the watchtower is very similar.
then again evil organizations are basically all the same.. https://streamable.com/the9t.
Yes, I was amazed at the shunning, disconnecting, long periods of shaming and punishment before re-admitting, and disengagement from family members who leave or speak against the cult.
This corresponds with shunning, disfellowshipping and reinstatement, and cutting off ties with family or apostates. They use that word too. Both cults forbid talking to former members. Both spy on members they suspect of wrongdoing, and destroy families. Both have lavish headquarters and their own "language" which only members use. Both expect unquestioning obedience to the leaders as loyalty to God.
A woman formerly high up in SeaOrg was interviewed. She was sexually abused when underage. Her family was told not to go to the police, and that the elders would handle it internally. Sound familiar?
As I watched, I just kept saying, wow, that's just like the Witnesses- two cults which are so much alike.
wow, this is awesome.
this really shows the jw passiveness towards child sex abusers.
there needs to be more of this exposing this!.
Does anyone know what ever became of this matter? My husband and I recently moved and it occurred to me that we're living in this congregation's area. It's entirely conceivable "brother" Ivery could knock on our door. We live near Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs, and Buckingham Rd is just off of GOG Rd.
My husband's reaction might be even worse than mine! ðŸ˜
i just ran across this quote which resonated with me.. by way of introduction, hmp whatton is europe's largest prison for contact and non contact sex offenders against adults and children.
it's based in nottinghamshire in the uk.. david potter is one of hmp whatton's most experienced facilitators of treatment programmes.. in an interview with the bbc he said "in groups, a lot of the work we do is aimed at building the self-esteem of people that have committed a sexual offence, because a lot of sexual offending is as a direct result of low self-esteem.
in groups we try and build their sense of self worth.".
Or, are they attracting people into the org who already have pedophilia tendencies because it's so easy to get away with it in the Hall? I truly don't know. These people could be bringing their baggage with them when they become JW'S. And yes, they could feel increasingly worthless and looking for ways to vent their low self esteem.
It could be a combination. It's kind of a which came first question, imho.
my dad{rip}, was a faithful jw since the year i was born, i'm 60, he died 2 years ago.
his last 12 years were spent in an assisted living/nursing home right in the small town where he spent the last 8 years of being an elder/pioneer.
when he went into the home, one brother would visit him regularly, but after 4 years, that friend moved away, and visitation from the locals ceased, for 8 years!!!!!!!
My elderly mom recently told me my darling cousin, who was a missionary in Central America, got married to a Bethel brother. They're at Patterson now, where dear cousin's husband helps with making the videos. So sad, they never even invited her to their wedding but she's still gushing over them. A letter, a text or a phone call would mean a lot to her. She can't drive any more and days can be long.
I told her point blank these kids are delusional, living in their little bubble, if they think they're the bomb for video production but lack love for their own family.
so my parents continue to pester me about getting baptized.
the other day my dad told me that i was old enough to make a decision, and was wondering why i wasn't ready (assembly is in a few weeks) so i told him calmly that i have many doubts and if i were to get baptized it has to be 100 percent my idea.
he was a little annoyed by this, and now wants to study the "is there a creator that cares about you" book (which is complete bs) with me.
Been there, done that and it still seems like yesterday. My dad was an elder and I was making him look bad. I caved in to threats and got baptized. What a mistake. He threw it at me constantly "You got baptized, you dedicated your life to Jehovah, now keep your vow."
I had to go to meetings, missing as many as I could, and I got a job. I saved every penny. One evening, a buddy I worked with pulled up in his pickup truck and moved me to an apartment I'd rented with two roommates. I planned all of it in advance.
Because I was now baptized, the elders started popping up at the apartment. They pounded on the front door, trespassed into the back yard, rapping on the patio door, and left notes that they needed to talk to me. It was all very stressful for me and annoying for my roommates.
Please, do yourself a favor. Don't get baptized and don't go through this. Hang on a bit longer, plan quietly, and escape.
the last time i spoke to my mother, who is a devout jw, she threatened me with typical jw scare tactics telling me how oh so close the end is and how me and my 2 young daughters will be slaughtered by god himself in armageddon.
knowing that this is just a scare tactic, i respectfully listened, then replied that the jw's have wrongfully predicted the end of the world three times and were incorrect, 1914, 1925, 1975. i asked doesn't that make them false prophets?
her response; " no, because the brothers are imperfect and jehovah knew their heart was in a sincere place.
So, as you search for answers about the false prophecies, she refers you to the false prophets? Oh no.
i disassociated myself 3 years ago but have never told my mother, as she lives quite a distance from me in the uk.
i've have told her that i no longer go to meetings, neither does my son, who is 16.. i haven't seen her for 3 1/2 years.
i offered to come visit this week but she was incredibly offhand with me and said she couldn't meet with me today as she was on the ministry!!
I spent $1700 traveling several states away to visit my elderly mom on short notice, so the flight was expensive. "The Friends" 😬 said she was unwell and I should come. Of the five days I was out there, I saw her three times. The last day of my trip, Sunday, she left me sitting in a motel room while she went to the meeting; afterwards she went to lunch with "the friends." She texted me at 4:30 in the afternoon that she was free and I could come over now.
She wonders why I didn't come visit her this year. Gee, I wonder why.
