The one thing I don't like is how most JW's are unable to form a real opinion without consulting the publications. One of the other things that got to me was when young people got DF'ed and they had no support group and in many cases they started abusing drugs and alcohol. When this happens the ones in the congregation will say that this is evidence that they are the true religion because they weren't doing that while a JW. The actual reasons that those things occur is that the JW life is so rigid and strict that when you are out and you have freedom, you don't know what to do with it and sometimes you engage in risky behavior.... Now that I think of it, seeing that stuff as a kid may have been the beginning of when I started questioning the "relgion" (cult).
Regretful_J
JoinedPosts by Regretful_J
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Consequences of being a JW
by Regretful_J ini've been thinking about what its like to be born and raised as a jw and the mistakes that parents make as an almost direct result of this cult.
for one thing, the children are not allowed to think freely, and if they say or do one little thing their parents disapprove of, they are chastised and basically bullied into abandoning that thought or action.
another thing is that no matter what you do, and no matter how good your reputation is among friends, teachers, administrators, etc if you don't want to go to meetings, and don't believe in this faith, they do what they can to make you feel lower then dirt for this and will often resort to verbal abuse, and sometimes violence to force you to believe in them and conform.
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Consequences of being a JW
by Regretful_J ini've been thinking about what its like to be born and raised as a jw and the mistakes that parents make as an almost direct result of this cult.
for one thing, the children are not allowed to think freely, and if they say or do one little thing their parents disapprove of, they are chastised and basically bullied into abandoning that thought or action.
another thing is that no matter what you do, and no matter how good your reputation is among friends, teachers, administrators, etc if you don't want to go to meetings, and don't believe in this faith, they do what they can to make you feel lower then dirt for this and will often resort to verbal abuse, and sometimes violence to force you to believe in them and conform.
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Regretful_J
I've been thinking about what its like to be born and raised as a JW and the mistakes that parents make as an almost direct result of this cult. For one thing, the children are not allowed to think freely, and if they say or do one little thing their parents disapprove of, they are chastised and basically bullied into abandoning that thought or action.
Another thing is that no matter what you do, and no matter how good your reputation is among friends, teachers, administrators, etc if you don't want to go to meetings, and don't believe in this faith, they do what they can to make you feel lower then dirt for this and will often resort to verbal abuse, and sometimes violence to force you to believe in them and conform.
Some of what I say I speak from personal experience. Because the JW parents don't allow their kids to think for themselves and make their own decisions; their mental/emotional growth is stunted in a drastic way. As I reflect on my life and how I am up to this point, I carry with me a fear of displeasing people, and ive been told that i sometimes seem "apologetic for no reason at all" when i am giving a presentation or talking among aquaintences. One thing I can credit my parents with is they taught me to respect those in authority, however their actions caused me to have low self-esteem my entire life.
Its one of the reasons I hate the society is because they have turned my family into mindless zombies basically. They are unable to develop an original thought without reviewing a watchtower, awake or whatever to make sure its acceptable. They also make a point to make me feel less sure about myself so that I don't move out anytime soon, though its hard because i don't have a good job yet. Their reasons for keeping me around are financial and control issues.
They are such miserable people and I wish like hell i could get them to open their eyes but its no use....Just thought i'd vent a little lol, add your thoughts if you like.
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The Convention Is OVER!
by B_Deserter inthankfully i was able to milk my cold this week enough to skip friday.
saturday i sat with friends of mine and was able to sufficiently tune out everything i heard.
there was one guy giving a talk that looked just like david koechner, one of my friends wrote a note to me that she could just picture him with a cowboy hat yelling "whammy!
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Regretful_J
The convention in my area meets at the Dow center in Saginaw. They don't meet at the pontiac silverdome anymore. This year like the years before it was unbearably boring. But yeah thankfully its over now.
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What do you thing the next big announcement will be about?
by 5go inremoving a another meeting.. doing away with door to door and concentrating on business and phone witnessing ( my guess ).
new light.
new something else..
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Regretful_J
those suckers would lick the floor at the assembly clean the Governing Body told them to....I can't understand why most can't see that this is a cult, seriously
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Just thought I'd share this
by Regretful_J inhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23337807.
hindus claimed the highest retention of childhood members, at 84 percent.
the group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing jehovah's witnesses.
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Regretful_J
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23337807
Hindus claimed the highest retention of childhood members, at 84 percent. The group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing — Jehovah's Witnesses. Only 37 percent of those raised in the sect known for door-to-door proselytizing said they remain members.
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Were You Ever Snubbed In The Hall & Didn't Know Why???
by minimus inwere you ever treated by the elders, their families and "the friends" in a way that made you feel you were unwanted?.
there's probably nothing worse than realizing that you are not being treated with the same dignity and love as others.
once we come out of the organization, we expect better but sadly the real world can be cruel too.
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Regretful_J
Yeah I was snubbed alot too. People just found me weird and they all hanged out with my brother, which i dunno was their decision i guess. It was for those things that I gained the courage to question their teachings and in a way it made me a better person. Being traped in a cult can mess you up mentally and because i was never really accepted to begin with, it wasn't hard for me to turn to different people for help. The challenge for me though is getting past my parents that are just plain nuts as far as im concerned and they can't face reality.
When I leave the state im in I plan to finally start a new life. While its scary and who knows I may die in the process; It will be worth it because I never had much here and its better to take a risk than constantly live your life in misery. Thats my story somewhat and I will try to add more later. Take care
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Were you ever afraid of demons?
by Regretful_J inhello everyone, my story is a unique one i suppose but here it goes.,, ever since i was a little boy whenever i would voice my objections about this religion my parents would tell me im making satan happy and that i'm inviting demons into are house by saying and thinking things like this.
my parents are such religious fanatics that it seems like nothing i do can ever be good enough for them.
to this day they always claim that they come down hard on me like this because "they're trying to protect me".
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Regretful_J
hello everyone, my story is a unique one I suppose but here it goes.,, Ever since I was a little boy whenever I would voice my objections about this religion my parents would tell me im making satan happy and that I'm inviting demons into are house by saying and thinking things like this. My parents are such religious fanatics that it seems like nothing I do can ever be good enough for them. To this day they always claim that they come down hard on me like this because "they're trying to protect me". Growing up I never felt quite right and I always had low self esteem. I have lots of issues that haven't been resolved yet and I'm not sure if or when they ever will be. This religion does alot to keep control over their "followers". I grew up out in the country and in a conservative environment which probably alienated me even more. Even though I liked landscape where I was at and all the nature, the people were way to backwards thinking for me and I never clicked with any of them. This however didn't stop my parents from forcing me to get involved with all their activities and I was miserable almost all the time.
Anyway enough about all that. I want to know, have any of you ever been afraid of demons and/or demon possession? To this day it scares me to death and I want to believe that its just a scare tactic so bad but I've been indoctrinated so bad that I have a hard time shaking it off. Please let me know guys. Thanks in advance
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DID YOU DEDICATE YOURSELF BEFORE BAPTISM OR DID YOU LIE?
by free2think ini was just wondering when you where going through the questions for baptism did you know you had to dedicate yourself to jehovah before hand or did you lie?.
i didn't know i had to so when i went through the questions i had to lie and say i had.
i always felt bad about it afterwards and quickly did a little prayer that night.
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Regretful_J
looking back on it I know I was pressured into getting baptized and Its hard to believe I could be so naive. I somehow felt
"joy" afterwards but again looking back on it it was a sham. today I am 23 going to be 24 in a few months and I wasted my childhood and allowed myself to be manipulated for so many years..... -
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I told my parents I no longer believe the Watchtower Society
by B_Deserter inthey insisted i come over for a debate, a chance for them to save me since according to my mother this was "a matter of life and death.
" basically i spent the whole evening passively nodding my head and acknowledging what they said.
i tried a few times to argue or debate but getting through to them was impossible.
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Regretful_J
This is a strange coincidence, I just had this discussion with my parents as well about me no longer believing/trusting the Watchtower society and governing body. We had a 5 hour "debate" about it but it didn't really solve anything. It pretty much ended with me saying I don't feel like its "the truth" anymore and they told me that I have to go to 1 meeting a week as a condition to live in their house and since I can't afford to live on my own yet, I have to tolerate the BS that gets talked about 2 hours a week. They really engage in Mind/thought control here and I don't know how many can deal with it.
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So I attended the District Convention today.
by R.F. inthis is my first dc with the blinders removed.
it seemed strange for some reason now, maybe my view of the org now is why.
today was super boring this time for me since i wasn't ignorant of the crap anymore, but i was suprised, that the "faithful and discreet slave" was hardly mentioned throughout the day.
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Regretful_J
oh boy there is one coming up in michigan soon and I go to one of them just to appease my relatives. I never really believed in this religion and like others it has messed up my life and I missed out on many of the common things most people go through growing up and I will never be able to get that back..... Oh well I'm 24 so I guess it may not be too late to start a new life, who knows?