I wasn't raised as a Witness, but became involved with them at the age of sixteen. I guess maybe because I wasn't raised in it, I wasn't aware how abnormal things were until I had my own children. I think what really made me stop and say "wait a minute" was when a district overseer' who we had over to the house for lunch during his visit, instructed me on the proper way to spank my children. Shortly after that, I started getting "counseled" by a paticular elder who insisted that I needed to discipline my children better.
The children, being of the ages of from eight down to newborn, were at that wiggly, noisy stage. I grew up in a non-JW household and the wiggly, noisy stage was just another stage of normal development, so I would just take my kids back to the B school when they were being noisy (I attended most meetings with just my five small children, so I had to take them all to the back with me if no one else volunteered to help).
This elder actually came up to me during the meeting and told me to take my child to the bathroom and spank him. Simply taking my children to the B school, where I could watch from the window, and where little Mr noisy could just be a kid, wasn't permitted.
After that, I became irregular at meetings for a very long time. And eventually, when my children started bringing up some of the stupid stuff they were going through, and I became aware of the Silent Lambs issue, I realized that the organisation valued the furtherance of its party line over the welfare of children, and I left.
And that elder? He was later disfellowshipped when it became public knowledge that he had been beating his wife.
Cicatrix
JoinedPosts by Cicatrix
-
31
THIS IS ALL COMPLETELY NORMAL???
by Corvin inremember the kingdom hall bathroom spankings for us kids that did not sit quietly for the meeting?
the threats, the manipulation, the head games, the forced meeting attendance, forced field service activity, forced family wt publication study, the forbidden association with non-jw?s, the berating and chastising for having a thought or idea of your own, the dresser drawer searches looking for music or magazines you were not suppose to have .
you know, the typical jw upbringing .
-
-
Cicatrix
-
1
Halloween recipes and games
by Jez in.
does anyone have any super easy halloween recipes/ideas for food or children's games?
having my first kiddy halloween party!!
-
-
Cicatrix
How about some gross dirt and worm pudding?
You'll need:
enough cups to serve each child
instant chocolate pudding
Oreo cookies
gummy worms
Make pudding and put in cups.
Crush Oreos so that they resemble dirt, then sprinkle on pudding
insert worms into pudding
You could make some neat eyeball ice cubes, too. Find eyeball candies, then drop one in each cube of an ice tray, add water and freeze. Or if you want to make a large chunk of ice in a hurry, put water in a sterile glove or a rubber glove and freeze it. You can color the water green, then dab the "Frankenstien hand" with red food coloring blood before placing it in your punch bowl. -
37
Did you pass your driving test 1st time?..if not....
by Brummie inwhat did you fail on?
brummie (my dtest on monday 1st nov...shyte i dont think i have a chance).
anyways, i going out to have a good time, wont be back till tomorrow, so see ya then.
-
-
Cicatrix
No, because I hit a car while trying to manuever around the circle drive of the school. The driver's ed teacher had me get my eyes tested, and that's when they discovered I have difficulty seeing around dusk and dawn. Now that I know, it's not a major problem. At least I only knocked the dust off from the car, and didn't do any permanent damage.
I'm sure you'll do tons better than I did, lol. But good luck anyway, Brummie. -
23
VOMIT Link a Jehovah's Witness Sent Me
by DevonMcBride in.
http://www.ryanavery.com/musher.htm.
devon
-
-
Cicatrix
LOL!!
"now I'm missing my bed"
Well at least one original, nonindoctrinated thought came through.
I wonder if the writer sincerely believes what they wrote (NEWBIE flashing in huge neon letters), or if it's just one of the myriads of ways they try to convince themselves that what they are doing is indeed a missive from God. How I remember those days well. -
What are you favorite movies/tv shows to watch on Halloween?
by Cicatrix inmine are (in no particular order) .
"sleepy hollow" (a definite must for me) .
"the diary of ellen rimbaur" and "rose red" .
-
Cicatrix
Mine are (in no particular order)
"Sleepy Hollow" (a definite must for me)
"The Diary of Ellen Rimbaur" and "Rose Red"
"The Others"
"Mothman Prophecies"
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"
Disney's cartoon version of Sleepy Hollow
"The Nightmare Before Christmas"
"Little Vampire" (that little kid is soooo adorable;) ). -
25
Overcoming the Need for Approval.
by Frannie Banannie in"he who carves up his own personality to suit other people soon whittles it away to nothing".
letting go of fear and becoming fearless .
by brian tracy .
-
-
Cicatrix
Very interesting topic, and timely for me, Frannie. Thanks for the info.
I just realized that I'm having difficulty with this when I found myself trying to get approval from a person by basically throwing out my ideology on her behalf, just to try and gain her approval. Then it occurred to me that this is the same relationship I've had with my parents.
My mother just wrote me the other day, and somehow, instead of feeling better and more connected after reading her letter, I felt guilty, as if I haven't done my duty as a daughter. I've been expected by my mother to help financially support her and one of my sisters for years. And for years, I have, thinking that this is what families do for one another. Then I realized that because I was always loaning them money and giving them money, my own children have had to do without things like dental care. And I also realized that no matter how much money I hand over, there really is never any approval forthcoming, or rarely even so much as a thank you.
I also realized that my mother, who is only seventeen years older than me, has come up with more excuses than Carter's got liver pills so that she doesn't have to work.She refuses to get a job, even though she has graduated from college with a bachelor's degree.She claims that she can't work because she has (the disease of the week), or her car has too many miles on it, or that it is also her duty to babysit for free for my sister who lives and hour away from her one way, and who also has a degree and is working. I find it kind of odd that she feels well enough to babysit, and has no problem with the idea of driving two hours per day to babysit, but won't rack up miles on her car to get a job!Instead, she expects me to send her money, even though I'm caring for four children, and trying to scrape together money not only for my college tuition, but my children's, also.
Last year,I helped said sister out when she couldn't buy her kids school clothes. I bought her son some clothes and shoes, and do to so, I had to reduce the amount of clothing I bought for my own children, rendering them short on some stuff for that year. Her response-"I don't like shoes from KMart-I wish you would've bought him shoes from XXXX store." The store sold only designer shoes-the type of shoes I had never bought for myself or my own kids!
I'm tempted to write my mother a nice pointed letter back, mentioning that I'm surprised that she is so worried about racking up the miles on her car to go to work, when she does so nearly every day to babysit for free, and to tell her that if she just broke down and got a job like the rest of us, whatever job she can find, she would be able to afford a phone and all those other niceties that her "unloving" children are making her do without!
Don't get me wrong, if she was eighty, or younger and suffering from an ACTUAL illness, I would help her in a second. But I guess I'm just getting tired of the manipulation, and I've just realized that the ideology I was taught as a JW (you know, be in agreement, honor your parents, and all that) has kept me jumping to people's tunes like I have a case of St Vitus' dance or something, even when there is no valid reason for me to do so.
I am aware this manipulation is happening now, but I still just automatically react. I guess it's gonna take lots of little baby steps to stop reacting.
But I just took a couple of babysteps, anyway. I bought my children's school pictures for the first time in years, and I bought my son his first pair of non-discount store shoes (but not the expensive ones, lol).
Whew, that felt good to get that out, heehee. Guess I can get off my soap box now.
Thanks again Frannie, it's nice to know that others are struggling with this. -
24
Dinah, Jacob's daughter...
by under74 inokay, most people consider dinah to be a rape victim.
but i have some questions about this.
genesis 34:2 says shecom ?defiled?
-
-
Cicatrix
LMAO Shotgun!I have that Two Babylons book, what page is that on?;)
-
47
Top five films seen this year...
by Brummie in1, i robot (though the very last 1 minute scene was stchupid) .
2, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.
(jim carey, best film he's ever done so far).
-
-
Cicatrix
1. The one with the alcoholic body guard and Dakota Fanning (can't remember the name)
2. Butterfly Effect
3. Spiderman 2
4. The one with Angelina Jolie as a UN relief worker (I think) who falls in love with a colleague
5. The other one with Angelina Jolie playing an investigator who has to find a serial killer
I don't know what's up with my inablity to remember titles today, lol. Must be my cold. -
65
What Are You All Reading?!
by Doubtfully Yours inso, what's everybody reading these days?.
i used to read so passionately, but i've lost the hobby due to everyday life stress and distractions.
i want to get back into reading again.
-
-
Cicatrix
"Ahab's Wife" for the second time, and "Good in Bed."
But I should be reading my Excel assignment in my computer textbook;) -
24
Dinah, Jacob's daughter...
by under74 inokay, most people consider dinah to be a rape victim.
but i have some questions about this.
genesis 34:2 says shecom ?defiled?
-
-
Cicatrix
"Read "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant. It's fiction but tells the story of Dinah in a completely different light."
I second Princess on that. I was just going to ask if anyone had read it.