Posts by GromitSK

i went through torture as a child being born this way and apearing female in every way, even wearing boy clothes.. at the age of 15 years old decided that going through the amendment of my gender identity was a must and sought medical adv at the earliest oppertunity... this lead to me being thrown out of my home at the tender age of 15.... as time past they accepted me as their daughter a few months later.. thanks to jehovah as i was getting involved in a lot of bad things to keep a roof over my head.. at the age of 20 they paid for my surgery for which i've never looked back from and feel so much more comfortable with my body and myself.. i'm quite sure if i'd remained as my birth sex that i would not be here now writing this.. i started going back to the meetings shortly after having surgery and was met with some love and predjudice to the extent of which toilet i should be using and what clothes i should be wearing.... i've started to study again but am afraid of being stumbled again in regards to going to the meetings... after a lot of prayer and considering scriptures like -.

GromitSK

I don't think it's just witnesses who can be intolerant. It seems to be a common failing in most religious organisations (and not just religious ones). Being a JW or a member of any religious organisation is a lot easier if it is natural for one to conform to what is seen as 'the norm'. Being different almost always marks a person out starkly. If that difference seems to conflict with whatever 'holy writings' the organisation relies on, this appears to give the green light to some folk to make judgements about the worthiness of the one who is different.

On the positive side, such differences occasionally force others to reconsider the inconsistencies in their own beliefs and can in addition eventually lead to freedom from religious captivity for the one who is different. A person who is unable to comform to the strictures of the religion into which they were born may have no alternative but to think seriously about whether it is correct or not (or become resigned to feeling unworthy). A person who isn't forced into such a situation may waste their entire life as a JW, never needing to challenge their comfortable certainty.

23

Really stupid comment from an elder (and he was completely serious!)

by freshstart in

my husband and this elder in our old congregation used to trade dvds and such, just letting each other borrow them.

they would always return them to each other in a timely manner, no big deal.

well in 2005 they had traded some and about a week after that, a terrible natural disaster hit our area and everyone was displaced and it was a few months before things got settled back down again.

GromitSK

I am not sure why an elder's behaviour would cause surprise. Some of the elders I remember where certifiable.

23

Do You Agree That Being A JW=Never Growing To Your Full Potential?

by minimus in

jw
friends

soooo many witnesses that i knew of had great potential to be somebody, to do something in their lives and instead, they simply existed in a way of life that never really ever gave them back anything in return.

so sad, when you think of the waste!.

GromitSK

I think one probably reaches one's potential for delivering magazines.

120

Do YOU Believe That JWs Have A Huge Problem With Pedophiles?

by minimus in

i don't think there are more pedophiles in the religion than there are in others.. i understand that one is too many.

but i think some believe that it's an epidemic within the organization.

i believe their 2 witness rule can help pedophiles secretly abuse kids.. but i don't think that this particular crime dominates those in the religion.. .

GromitSK

I wonder if the problem is the phrasing of the original question minimus; I can see how paedophilia and abuse might well be a big problem, even with lower absolute numbers in the WTS. If we were to scale up the numbers to equate with say, the catholic church membership, then I suspect this relative number would be a fairer comparison. Even one abuser per three RC congregations or religious institutions would I think yield an enormous absolute number in relation to some of the larger religious organisations.

The RC church came unstuck when it became no longer possible to contain the problem and its feeble efforts to address the abuse were exposed. I don't understand how the WTS seem still to be getting away with this. Their time will come I am sure, particularly if the information published by silent lambs attracts the support of a higher profile agency or one with sufficient power to make the authorities jump.

It occurs to me that abuse of trust occurs most easily where it can remain undetected or if detected, is ignored. In that respect, WTS and similar cults seem especially susceptible to people like this because the have such control over their adherents. Particularly when the abuser is in a position of authority. That's how abusers in the churches got away with it for so long after all. This error seems to be compounded by the WTS rules about reporting abuse.

I think I understand the point you were trying to make originally. It can be very difficult to persist with what seems to be a reasonable question in the face of something of an onslaught from others. I am glad you persisted. If there are questions that cannot be asked, I think that would be a sad development.

17

Salvation Army--is it a high control group?

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

interesting.

.

http://cultprevention.blogspot.com/2011/12/salvation-army-is-it-high-control-group.html.

GromitSK

The Sally Ally do seem to do more to help people than JWs

I would imagine virtually every religious organisation could say that - and many secular ones? I guess what I find curious is the motivation. If an organisation only looks after its own, or those it is trying to make its own, perhaps the act is helpful but the purpose dishonest.

17

Salvation Army--is it a high control group?

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

interesting.

.

http://cultprevention.blogspot.com/2011/12/salvation-army-is-it-high-control-group.html.

GromitSK

Hm. That makes sense. It is what makes me uncomfortable with mixing charity with religion practices. Even if help isn't conditional it may lookmlike it is to someone who needs help.

17