mr. comacho,.
you call people dumb but many of them have first hand knowledge about the jw religion.
and, they do control their followers...did you know that non-jw are considered goats?!?
I remember a talk in which the witnesses were praised for being "sheep-like ones" who heeded the voice of their Shepherd....not like the "goats" we meet, who when we offer the truth say "but, but, but.."
Probably a CO special talk...
Aaah yes, "delightfully correct words of truth" and "spiritual food in due season"
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth......
my daughter and i went to our very first yule ritual/celebration.
it was a beautiful ceremony with masks and costumes of the sun lord, white lady, and the raven of annwyn (sic?).
we witches (i'm in training) sure eat a lot of food (for grounding).
I will observe it by attending the annual Veterans for Peace concert in my town. It is always full of wonderful music, and humor (some political, some just downright silly) and is held on Solstice each year. The Vets for Peace organization figures that if those who have served and seen combat can't state their opinions about war, who can? It is a powerful and emotional occassion - and my only holiday "must do".
As a solitary practitioner, I do not engage in any ritual - just observe the wheel of the year turning as an internal devotion.
Lynne
over the past few days... someone who i'm no longer associated with has been out on vendetta to discredit me.
it started with a mass mail to my myspace friends, which caused nothing more than a few eyebrows to be raised.
that was the reaction of people who know me in real life.
Richie,
I am mostly a lurker, but have followed your story with interest. I, for one, will miss your updates and latest body art/modifications.
All the best,
Lynne
i live in tallahassee and i'd love to meet other exjw's that i knew before or that are from around here that i've never met.
please get in touch with me if you are close by.
also anyone that wants to do demonstrations let me know.
I am in the Gainesville area - was in the Cross City congregation for a number of years out in good ol' Dixie County! Would love to get an Apostafest together, what do you think??
the 3/1/06 wt questions from readers is discussing 1 cor 14:33,34 and explains the phrase "keep silent".
after the usual claptrap and disclaimers (like how sometimes women have to substitute for baptized men in a congregation setting) - it concluded by saying women keep silent by "not raising argumentative questions that could challenge the authority of those who teach.
" how do the women swallow this stuff and still feel grateful for "rich spiritual food"?
The reason for my name on this forum! The way women were treated in the organization was a HUGE part of my leaving....we had elders in our cong who could barely read (really, I mean it - they would stutter and stumble over long words), the ministerial servants were similar, but NO WAY could a sister even consider something like a bible reading on the TMS. I would sit and cringe at meetings, and know I could do a better job....only time I've ever had penis envy LOL!
The way women were treated in judicial matters was another big reason for my fade and then DA. I had been the recipient of several counseling sessions about my lack of wifely subjection...grrrrrrr
(adds found on pictiger are not associated with jwd) urls for watchtower scans can be found at the bottom.
(from kent's old archive).
this was the title on an article in the watchtower 1987 9/1, pages 12-15. this article should scare any employer that do have employees that are jehovah's witnesses.
WOW! I wonder if there will be "new light" on this now that in the US we have HIPAA regulations that are very explicit about the right to privacy - you know, that annoying paperwork you get every time you go to a new health care practitioner.
When I was director of a midwifery service all employees and students assigned to clinical rotations had to sign a confidentiality agreement, renewed annually. Breaching this was grounds for instant dismissal. The penalties to employers are substantial, and enforcement is by the Office of Civil Rights - and nobody wants an OCR investigation of their facility!!
And BTW - what was "Mary" doing working somewhere that provided terminations of pregnancy? I do hope she cleaned up her act and went to work doing something that will maintain her spiritual cleanliness (though perhaps provide her with less titillating information about the medical conditions of her fellow dubs)
this is the watchtower for april 1, 2006, page 9.. 'parents be a fine example for your children.'.
'....of course, children are children, and some are prone to be contrary, even wayward.
(genesis 8:21) what can parents do?
Brigid,
I hope you did not read my post as dismissing your experience. Far from it - I took a lot of flack from elders, older sisters in the congregation (attempting to do their duty and "recall me to my sense"), and my (mentally unbalanced but VERY theocratic!) now ex-husband. At various times I was told that I should not breastfeed my babies "on demand" because they would manipulate me..."they know how to get their own way" apparently at less than 6 months old....should not pick up and hold my babies so often, lest I spoil them....should start spanking early (and often!) lest I become too soft on them....and on and on and on.
I chose to ignore most of this wise counsel, having looked long and hard at the results of the excellent childrearing practices being pushed on me LOL! It may have helped that I was not reared a JW, and grew up in the UK (albeit during a time when spanking was considered normal). I was aware of other children in our KH who were punished harshly and had unreasonable (considering their age and developmental stage) demands placed on them - but given the prevailing climate and the fact that some of the parents of these kids were elders did not feel able to intervene.
I feel a good deal of guilt over the years I spent subjecting my children to meetings, field service and assembly attendance. I resent the years that we lost to the borg, and am relieved that none of them has any interest in returning to the "fold". They see the hypocrisy and lack of love in the way that I was treated and the way their father is still considered a "fine theocratic brother"....
this is the watchtower for april 1, 2006, page 9.. 'parents be a fine example for your children.'.
'....of course, children are children, and some are prone to be contrary, even wayward.
(genesis 8:21) what can parents do?
When I attended a cong in a very rural area of the south (soundtrack of banjo music, please) it was very much the norm to take children out of the KH for "bad behavior" ie fidgeting, playing...being normal kids..for a spanking. Use of a switch or belt was not uncommon. I was counselled on a number of occassions by elders (some of whom had as much as a third grade education!!!) that I needed to punish my 4 more often and more vigorously. Their father also tried to get me to stop letting them sleep in meetings, and not to bring toys for them when they were really small..without success.
My crew got spanked but NOT beaten (and will now admit that my spankings never hurt, and they richly deserved them - and would have got more had I known half the stuff they got up to LOL)
i am trying to build a list of hipocrisy with in the borg.
i dont mean things like the un scandal as people in the hall wont have heard of that, but smaller stuff that goes on all the time with out the rank and file noticing.
infant baptism.
My ex was a MS in good standing, and an auxiliary pioneer - while refusing to pay court ordered child support for our four children. I wrote a letter to the elders of his congregation (out of state) and attached all relevant legal documents - including a statement from the court of the amount owed. Nothing was ever done....I'm sure he somehow convinced the body of elders that he had no need to pay legally ordered support since I had DA'd myself when I filed for divorce. He even remarried (a large and lavish wedding) in the KH..to a godly sister, who wrote letters to my children offering to be their "spiritual mother"..YECCCCCHHHHHHHHHH.
Needless to say, my 4 children, though up to our divorce regular at meeting etc etc, now have NO time at all for talk of "the Truth" and their only contact with their father for a full 10 years was the occassional long letter from him full of rambling preaching and exhortation to "stay close to Jehovah" or risk eternal destruction. (and yes, I'm SURE he counted the time he took writing to them as FS hours).
Bitter? Me?? well, perhaps just a little, LOL
i posted this recently inside another thread where i think it was rapidly buried.
i think it's an important piece which shows from a medical person's perspective the problems encountered when dealing with a pregnant jw woman.
i sincerely hope this post is read by jws who are planning to have children.
Thank you so much for posting this, and please compliment your wife on such a thorough and thoughtful (not to mention well-referenced) essay. I am a midwife attending out of hospital births, though probably at low risk for having a JW client, since my status as DA'd is probably widely known LOL!
Food for thought indeed, although I have to say that in my experience (since 1986) I have only encountered one postpartum hemmorhage severe enough to require transfusion, and my back-up obstetrician is very reluctant to give blood if it can be avoided (NOT for religious reasons). He will accept JW patients, but talks strongly to them about the possible dangers.
Again, many thanks
