Thanks for that info, Xandria. Did that come off the WT website? I KNOW I read that exact same info somewhere else... I was thinking it was in a BOE letter. I was wondering what was the DATE on that information, if it was from a prior magazine or ???
I DO remember those same points which you highlighted just ticked me off. With their USUAL Subliminal Messaging inserted between the lines, so to speak, they are saying, Forget the perv, and Don't Believe "repressed memories" (which the General JW En Masse, being ignorant on the subject, will assume everyone who is 25 or 30 or 40 and just now talking OUT about being abused, must be suffering from 'repressed memories,' and therefore not to be believed, etc...) In other words, the entire article (above) was a crock.
To TX: I'm glad you brought out that not all repressed memories are planted by therapists. That was my very first thought upon reading this thread. And oddly enough, the WTS BELIEVED IN repressed memories back in their 10/8/91 Awake!, "Healing the Wounds of Child Abuse" pages 3-11, which they no longer list this particular magazine under their Child Abuse Literature. This is why I questioned what is the DATE of the info which Xandria posted at the beginning? (I guess they feel their 10/8/91 Awake! info turned out to be "Bad Light").
On page 7 of that 10/8/91 Awake! magazine, "A Time to Heal," under the subhead, "Repression - Tug-of-War in the Mind," the Awake! says: "Is it not best, then that these things stay buried -- that victims simply forget about them? Some may well choose to do so. Others simply cannot. It is as Job 9:27,28 says, "If I smile and try to forget my pain, all my suffering comes back to haunt me." (Today's English Version). The repression of frightening memories is an exhausting mental effort, a ferocious game of tug-of-war that may even have serious health consequences.
"As a victim gets older, the pressures of life often weaken her ability to repress the past. A whiff of cologne, a familiar-looking face, a startling sound, or even an examination by a doctor or a dentist may trigger a frightening onslaught of memories and feelings. (*footnote: Some memories begin their emergence in the form of psychosomatic pains; others are in the form of hallucinations that may be mistaken for demonic activity -- intruder sounds, such as doors opening; shadowy figures that move by doorways and windows, the feeling of an invisible presence in bed. Such distress generally ceases when the memories fully emerge.) Should she not simply try harder to forget? At this point many victims find relief in trying to remember!" ... etc. etc.
Too much to type out the entire articles. If I remember correctly, this 10/8/91 issue is the one Barbara Anderson begged for them to publish and she helped write it, and they chopped out most of it saying it was tooooooo heavy for the JWs en masse, but overall it is the BEST of their mags on child abuse issues. Too bad they have decided to act like this issue does not even exist. Jerks. Totally Ticks me off!
AND ON TOP OF THAT!!! If the JWs en masse are SO WELL EDUCATED NOW about child abuse, due to the "abundant spiritual food" on the subject of child abuse as the society claims, WHY do the JWs en masse CONTINUE to TREAT the VICTIMS like CRAPOLA and SIDE with the PERVERTS, like they did in Erica's case and the others?
Lastly, abuse survivors sometimes unwittingly use another "survival tactic," i.e., hyperfocusing on an object in the room, during the abuse, in order to "escape." For a true life example of this, get the book, "Little Girl Fly Away." This fully grown middle-aged married woman began to break down, and was "acting out" in all sorts of terrible ways, and her husband had no idea what was happening, and neither did she at the time. It took several years for all the pieces to come out and then fit together. All she remembered was a red bandana, and she didn't know why. To make a long story short, finally she remembered that as a little girl on the farm, the neighbor farmer used to take her in the barn and molest/rape her. And he always tied a red bandana over her mouth (or either he wore a red bandana, I can't remember which... it's been a few years since I read about this). Also, to "escape" from the abuse (in her mind), she would "fly away" like an angel looking down on herself (the actual little girl) in order to escape the abuse. Hence, the title of the book, 'Little Girl Fly Away." --- And I have a similar experience, too long to write out, but without a doubt I believe it can happen this way (i.e., hyperfocusing on an object in the room and, hence, all you remember is THAT OBJECT, but not the actual abuse itself -- at least not yet anyway).
I see we have a "new" JW Apologetic here... (Bosho). It shouldn't take long to jump ship, at least in your mind, if you keep reading. ;) Been there, just like you... up until recently was still defending WTS. There's too much evidence out here to keep oneself blinded for tooo terribly long... This is not to say Jehovah no longer exists or anything like that. Nor is it a denial of the blessings received by him. It is merely an awakening or acknowledging of the obvious blatant (but hidden by them) screw-ups of the WTS itself.
Spice, the Q's you asked your Mom... I saw a thread at Silent Lambs on that very subject, which included a 1962 Watchtower paragraph. Blow me away. If the WTS would LIVE UP TO what it PRINTED in 1962, there would not be the SEX ABUSE SCANDAL of today. I will post it in a new thread called, "Practice What They Preach?"
Also, look for a new thread, "The Garbage Man Cometh..." which is a short 'tongue in cheek' story that evolved as I was replying to another post at Silent Lambs.
Again, if anyone knows the DATE of the info Xandria posted and/or from what magazine or other literature it came from, I'd be interested to know.
THANKS!
GRITS
Edited by - grits on 22 July 2002 7:40:33
