Jankyn

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Posts by Jankyn

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  19

  A plague of locusts

  by larc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now, when i grew up in the religion, i was taught that we were like a plague of locusts fullfiling prophescy.

  well, where i live, i never see them.

  they don't work my street, not in the last 5 years.

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  Jankyn

  I lived in Iowa for 18 years, and was visited twice in that time by JWs. Two years in Missouri, never. Two years in Vermont, never. Now we've been in Sacramento for 16 months, and have had witnesses at the door once, in the park twice, and outside my partner's building downtown every weekday. She notes that the "street witnessing" here is almost as aggressive as the panhandling. I don't know what they've got in the water, but it seems like there's a lot of enthusiasm for the preaching work.

  Jankyn
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  32

  So Are All Your Problems Brooklyn's Fault Then?

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in another post, jan h said about this site:.

  ...there is a very angry crowd there, for obviously and understandable reasons, who will accept no dissent regarding their core dogma: that the wts is responsible for all ills and problems in life.

  if what he says is correct, then i am very alarmed at this.

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  Jankyn

  I spent a lot of time when I first got out thinking that the WTBS had ruined my family. While I still think that the incredibly rigid and dogmatic thinking made things worse, the more I find out about my family (both those in and out of the WT system), I think that the dysfunctional behaviors were already there. For instance, an uncle who was never a JW has a nasty habit of getting ticked off at relatives and not speaking to them for years. Yes, he "disfellowships" us for all sorts of reasons. The WT just gave some family members an excuse to use beyond mere grudge-holding.

  Which leads me to wonder if there isn't something about self-selecting for the JW mind-set. I don't think that's true for those of us who were, unfortunately, born and raised in the so-called "Truth," but I do think there were probably all sorts of dys- and mal-functions in my family members that predisposed them to be attracted to the WT's judgemental teachings and world-view.

  And, like many here, I have to take responsibility for what I do as an adult. I agree with Amazing about how things come up years after leaving that show how being part of the Borg altered and twisted my thinking. But it's my responsibility to seek recovery, and to develop as best I can.

  Of course, when I left the Borg, I was, as Englishman notes, emotionally adolescent. Since I was nineteen at the time, I suppose that's to be expected!

  Great topic and discussion.

  Jankyn
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  62

  JW Kids - More Frightened Than Most?

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ive recently been in contact with a couple of ex-jws that i knew in my childhood.. what has surfaced is the amount of fear that we experienced as young children when we were involved with the witnesses.

  i accept that children often do develop irrational fears as part of growing up, but what i am talking about here is a deep-seated fear of being harmed.. many young children that i grew up with in the witness religion were of an unusually nervous disposition.

  i recall how when i was first taken to meetings that i found the whole experience somewhat sinister and strange.

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  Jankyn

  Lisa, I remember that experience too! And the fear that it was going to happen here soon. I also remember writing a letter to President for Life--oh, what was his name? Hastings K. Banta? Something like that. I think I was about 8 or 9. I had nightmares after one of the meetings where they gave experiences from Malawi.

  Granted, I actually knew where Malawi WAS, which is a bit more than most second-graders--but living with that kind of stress took its toll. I always had stomach-aches at the meetings. My mother thought I was faking to get out of the meetings, but I believe it was from all the stress and fear. In particular, one picture of Armageddon from the "Paradise" book would set me off--it showed a huge crack in the earth, and stuff falling in. What got me was the tricycle and the puppy being destroyed. What kind of sick mind thinks that's good stuff for kids? My mother started "studying" with me from that book before I could talk. (Shudder)

  Jankyn, wishing I could have grown up reading Pooh Bear instead of the Paradise Book
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  7

  What do the Catholics & JWs have in common?

  by Jankyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  while discussing the current state of affairs re: pedophilia in the catholic church with a friend, i started talking about the same situation within the jws.

  she asked me, what do the two have in common that makes it possible for molestations to be covered up and denied?

  in short, what do they have in common that has allowed them to get away with it for so long?.

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  Jankyn

  While discussing the current state of affairs re: pedophilia in the Catholic Church with a friend, I started talking about the same situation within the JWs. She asked me, what do the two have in common that makes it possible for molestations to be covered up and denied? In short, what do they have in common that has allowed them to get away with it for so long?

  I could only come up with the following:

  (1) Exclusively male hierarchy
  (2) Situations in which it is considered normal for adult males to be in the company of children alone (Bible studies, etc)
  (3) Belief in the infallibility of the organization that keeps the victims from fighting back

  Any more ideas out there?

  Jankyn
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  28

  Elder's Suck - www.apostatesincorporated.com

  by obiefernandez in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  think of the awesome reception you will get at your next meeting or convention wearing a stylish apostates, inc. shirt.

  such as our personal favorite:.

  happy shopping!.

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  Jankyn

  I think you should make one with my very favorite slogan:

  Who Would Jesus Disfellowship?

  Jankyn, smirking
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  24

  questions about obtaining Higher Education for JWs

  by AjaxMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have read a couple of threads the last couple of days that dealt with what you have to give up when becoming a jw.. most posts that i read said they have to give up getting a higher education.

  my question is this: is that still a trend today?

  that elders frown or discourage young jws from going to college or university by telling them to put kingdom's interest first?

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  Jankyn

  Yep, I remember the attitude toward higher education from the mid- to late-70s...and have noted the "softening" of this attitude in recent years. Many of the JWs of my generation, who did not go to college as I did, have now gone to community college as adults--it's common in my mother's congregation.

  What's most irritating about this, though, is the organizational amnesia that accompanies this change in doctrine (and, I suppose, accompanies all such changes in doctrine). When I mentioned the fact that JWs have changed their minds about college, my mother said "Oh, no we haven't! It's always been all right to get an education!"

  It's as if the old doctrine never existed. This, in spite of the fact that these very WT and Awake articles are in very dusty and unopened bound volumes lining the shelves in my mother's house.

  Far more frightening to me than the fact that the Borg change their doctrine over time is the fact that they act as if the doctrine never changed.

  Jankyn
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  30

  I studied the The Paradise Book...

  by teejay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "... soul-chilling terror will spread through the masses... .

  a flesh-eating plague will destroy many... eaten up will be .

  the tongues of those who scoffed and laughed at the warning .

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  Jankyn

  Oh, yeah. The Paradise book. I showed that to my partner one time, as she still has her "Bible Stories for Children" book--it's got a kind and happy bearded Jesus, smiling children, and lots of lambs and things...

  She was appalled at the violence in that book--and suggested that it explains a lot about my taste in movies (I like the explosions and "Armageddon" type stuff--oh, I mean the Bruce Willis "Armageddon" by the way!).

  Jankyn
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  45

  Do you think JWS are a cult?

  by Trixie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think that the jw religion is a cult?

  i believe that it is, but i wanted to get other people's opinion.

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  Jankyn

  I generally use the term "high control group." Mainly because the WT folks cling to the definition of cults as following a man (see SexyTeen's post)--and thereby let themselves off the hook. The reality is that they've simply substituted a single charismatic leader (i.e., Jim Jones, David Koresh, even Rev. Moon) for a
  group of not-so-charismatic but equally controlling men (the governing body, so-called "Faithful & Discreet Slave").

  End result is the same, though.

  Jankyn
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  20

  The WT and Native Americans

  by Valis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was just browsing the officail wt site...hmmm i thought we were, but just for the sake of this post i'll admit going there.

  they have an article at the url below which i thought was hillarious.

  it talks about how the native americans are facing more and more assimilation and the destruction of thier indigenous culture by "the world".

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  Jankyn

  I noticed the link for "What does their future hold?" is inactive. I supposed that's because the WT thinks their future is to either become Borg automatons with the loss of all their remaining cultural identity, or final destruction at Armageddon. What a bunch of crap.

  Jankyn
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  14

  Am I invisible?

  by Mulan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last night my husband and i went to dinner at a new restaurant to us.

  it was a thai place.

  as we walked up, we could see that most of the tables were occupied by asians, a good sign.

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  Jankyn

  What I love is the confusion when they can't figure out if they're supposed to shun you or not.

  I drifted away in my late teens--never baptized--and have been pretty out and about with non-Witness ("untheocratic") activities ever since. Whenever I go to visit my mother and we run into some JWs, it's always a trip to watch them try and figure out if they should shun me or not. And I don't make it easy, either...I'll greet the ones I know, even if I'm with my father (who is df'd, and participates in their shunning of him by avoiding eye contact with JWs and "not putting them in an awkward position").

  Jankyn