Posts by AnneB

20

What was WTBTS giving as counsel to parents with disabled children in 60's?

by sf in

my search and re-search is to know this issue fully and gain all insight as to what parents of disabled children were being told when it came to any further treatment and/ or prognosis; surgery, therapy, medication and such.. i will, of course, look at wt official site to see what is there.

yet, i'm hoping i get everything i need, right here, with those that know what was being taught on this issue in the 60's and 70's up until now.. thank you.. skally.

AnneB

The first thing I noticed when I came into association was how few infirm and/or disabled there were at the Kingdom Hall. After a while it dawned on me that WT is a "healthy" person's organization; if you can't preach you can't be considered a member. That leaves out the unwell, the desabled (both physically and mentally), those going through any kind of hardship, etc. This was in the early 1970's.

As far as literature on the topic, I remember an article in the early 1980's on when to pull the plug on a severely ill person. The reasoning was along the line of would they have a full life if they were to live, balancing the costs of care with other responsibilities. I was shocked that WT took such a cold view!

In the mid- to late 1970's there was an article, I think in Awake!, about children with learning disabilities. I don't think it was an "experience" article, but there were short "experiences" in it. One mentioned discipline. When their child misbehaved the parents were counseled to use corporal punishment (spanking). The parent was quoted as saying the little mite got so many spankings before they realized it was due to a condition. I think the condition was Attention Deficit Disorder. I remember the article because I had a young son at the time who didn't fit the JW mold. The woman who was studying with me was all over me to beat him, to spank him for his disobedience and I wouldn't. I didn't see anything wrong with his behavior (and I still don't, looking back). Then I read that article and felt it was some sort of vindication although one had to claim disability as a reason.

There have been a couple of life experience articles over the years (I stopped reading in the early 1990's for the most part) of families with disabled children. In many cases the families "put the children away", sent them to residential facilities and this was written with a sense of approval as it freed the family members for other "responsibilities". There was even the story of an elder in such a facility and about all the good he was able to accomplish even though the facility was so bad that it was eventually shut down by the state health officials.

WT seems very big on medicating children with disabilities. Other than the "be sure to say hello to the people in wheelchairs" variety it always seemed to me that WT either wants a person healthy or doped into submission. The same holds true for women experiencing physical difficulties and people on overload,and lately even people deemed in danger of leaving the organization; get them on medication (even against their will) and threaten them with disfellowshipping if they refuse to cooperate. This has been the course even up to the present; I know of half a dozen cases in the last 5 years where the elders said meds or DF'd, not all in the same congregation, not even in the same state (USA).

3

was there a matchmaker in your congo?

by karter in

jw
friends

we had one in a neighbouring congo.. she would invite all the young ones out to ride her horses .. she invited me over and told me there will be this gorges sister there ,all week i'm looking forward to this till i got there....... lets just say she was a nutritional overachiever with highly questionable mental health the horses face and hers had more than a little in common.. not to be out done she invited me and my mate a wile later on the same pretext this time there was a gorges sister there i fell for her straight .

away sad to say she didnt like me she fell for my mate .. lifes a bitch sometimes.

AnneB

There was a matchmaker in a southern California congregation who professed to be of the annointed. She was a magnet for the less stable elements of the congregation. She matched them up by saying that their mission in the New Order would be to colonize other planets.

Sadly, a few marriages did take place due to her matchmaking. Most of them collapsed within weeks leaving the congregation to deal with the separations, accusations, and other headaches. Sometimes one of the persons involved would move in with the matchmaker then there would be even more gossip.

12

You can't blame The Truth anymore.

by wanderlustguy in

jw
friends

someone related a story to me a couple of months ago over the last few days it sunk in.

there was a time it was so easy for me to get mad and angry and virtually meditate on how the organization systematically stripped me and so many of my loved ones of their lifethe life that could have been.

real love was replaced with a recipe of what love is, putting god first and then defining what the perception of god was supposed to be, to include a group of men directed by a corporation that decides who we can or cannot speak to, as well as who we can or cannot love in the common sense of the word.

AnneB

if someone says something that catches my eye ...

That statement caught my eye so here's my input: Eccl. 3:6.

The son finally gave up hope that his father would cooperate in straightening out (to the extent possible) the past or in helping him come to terms with what had happened. The son was right to give up hope and to move on, the father's words left little doubt that he was unwilling to explain or make amends. It's sad when things work out this way but it happens; at least now the son is standing on solid ground.

Earlier this week I read this somewhere: "Don't worry about the people in your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it into your future." When it's family it really hurts but the statement still makes sense.

.02 from AnneB

16

WERETHERE ANY MIRACLES IN YOUR CONGREGATION?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?

AnneB

None of the Miracles ever "came into the truth" in my area.

There was a Welcome and a Plummer though, and a couple of Hopes and Paines.

A joke went around that if a Miracle got baptized and Welcome married him she'd be Welcome Beloved Miracle!

;)

16

Well, I'm a dad for the first time all over again

by RisingEagle in

jw
friends

when i found this site i considered myself a fader with family still in the cult.

i thought that i should limit personal information so that any lurking scumbag wts reps couldn't track me and jeopardize the relationships i walk on eggshells to maintain with my family.

but something happened last night that caused me to suddenly not give a rats anal orifice what jw's think.. i got called 'daddy'.. my wife and i went through the court system in the early 90's to get her 2nd cousin who was 11 at the time, out of protective services (which was a group home for abused children).

AnneB

I'd love to post some pics of her but I'll have to wait until after the court declares us her legal guardians later this month.

You might want to reconsider posting pictures. Internet memory is loooooooong. Right now the little girl is probably not concerned about what has transpired but when she's older she might be.

What you and your wife have done for these children is praiseworthy for sure. Best wishes to you!

23

Do any of the Aussies remember Dave Madzay?

by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. in

jw
friends

he was one of the chiefs at the australian bethel during the late 70's early 80's.

i used to enjoy his talks at assemblies - he had something special about him.

he was dfd (supposedly for apostasy).

AnneB

There still was a Madzay Color Graphics about 6 years ago in the greater Cleveland area. It was run by a Gary Madzay, I think.

7

Fred Franz changed doctrine to steal Vice-President from Bro. Covington

by Witness 007 in

when rutherford was dying, he called three of his closest"friends" by his side.

fred franz, nathan knorr, and heyden covington.

he put his hands on their heads and told them to "always stick together.

AnneB

It is my understanding that covi had a health problem that made him seem drunk? Or is this a JW urban legend?

There was a small blurb in Watching The World years ago about a man removed from a plane for being "drunk" when he wasn't. The paragraph said that he had a digestive disorder and didn't process carbs correctly and that eating certain foods could actually make him "drunk".

I think that this was new information to WT. If something like this had been the case with Covington it would have come out years ago.

Opinion: Urban Legend.

44

ANNOUNCEMENT: "Special" Awake! for November. Confidential ;-)

by BFD in

i was asked to post this by a paranoid jwder.

i'm an elder and have stated as much on this board.

call me paranoid, but i'd rather not stick my head up and say "hey bethel monitors, come after this guy!

AnneB

I wonder about WT sometimes!

Years ago they had a small book entitled "Is The Bible Really The Word of God?". Now they have an Awake! cover that reads "Can You Trust The Bible?"

Does WT ever come right out and SAY that the Bible is the Word of God or do they just insinuate so that later they can say "we never stated..." and get off whatever hook they may be on at the time?

15