Posts by laverite

22

Seeing the Strange in the JW Familiar

by laverite in

there are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider.

sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar.

an anthropologist by the name of miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html).

laverite

Tal - all of those examples are great. They can all fit. Especially when you are looking in almost as an observer and just seeing strange. And we now all know those things are all truly weird. :)

22

Seeing the Strange in the JW Familiar

by laverite in

there are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider.

sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar.

an anthropologist by the name of miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html).

laverite

Just Lois - the way you write about your thoughts on you and your overall place in the world puts it all into perspective. Yes, individually we are but one of billions of humans. It's very humbling when we think of things that way, yet the JWs will gladly knock on people's doors to tell them they alone have the truth and how the householder thinks and what she believes is wrong. Amazing. And a real eye opener when one first gets an experience where you can see yourself almost from the outside.

22

Seeing the Strange in the JW Familiar

by laverite in

there are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider.

sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar.

an anthropologist by the name of miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html).

laverite

Exwhyzee - that is so true. That sense of superiority makes me feel quite ashamed in retrospect. Recognizing that came later -- it wasn't one of those early experiences for me.

22

Seeing the Strange in the JW Familiar

by laverite in

there are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider.

sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar.

an anthropologist by the name of miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html).

laverite

Anyone? Anyone?

29

JW visit

by laverite in

for some reason my neighborhood gets worked over by the jws constantly.

they are here every week going up and down the streets.

it's a comfortable, safe neighborhood with nice houses.

laverite

red- I remember that.

Data - OMG the three Hs. I hadn't heard that before.

22

Seeing the Strange in the JW Familiar

by laverite in

there are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider.

sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar.

an anthropologist by the name of miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html).

laverite

There are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider. Sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar. An anthropologist by the name of Miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/Body.html). I’d love to read a similar piece written about the Witnesses in the style of Miner.

From my reading of posts on JWN over the past 10+ years, I have come to especially enjoy when people (especially those born-in) write about their own personal experiences wherein they manage to get their first glimpses of JW practices as truly strange. In other words, they themselves see something about the Witnesses as really strange. They take the perspective of an outsider in doing this. And the experience is one in which the individual experiences it as an outsider (to whatever extent is possible), only s/he is still inside, looking out, looking back in.

All Witnesses are able to do this to some extent at times. Even as born-ins, we were all aware of how we were “different” from the “world.” We knew our language and various practices were outside the norm, and these things helped to define us and also helped us feel like we belonged as Witnesses. But what I’m talking about here is when it goes beyond simply “knowing” we were different, but actually looking outwards, looking back in and seeing and feeling what we were looking at was, indeed, truly strange.

Would anyone here like to (re)share any experiences you had where you felt as though you were able to step outside of yourself as a Witness, look back in and see how strange or odd it all was? What prompted this? How did you deal with these experiences?

29

JW visit

by laverite in

for some reason my neighborhood gets worked over by the jws constantly.

they are here every week going up and down the streets.

it's a comfortable, safe neighborhood with nice houses.

laverite

Band on the Run - when we are able to step outside of the situation and see things as outsiders, it really does come across as "Witness Crazy." I wonder how many people on the inside ever get momentary glimpses into the crazy. I think I love those posts the most. People who are/were inside and got their first glimpse at the crazy. Kind of an out of body experience - or out of the Dubby experience as it were. Hmmm...maybe I will make a post about that and see what people think and if they have any experiences they want to (re)share. You've inspired me.

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