Posts by ReallyTrulyAthena

if there was any question, that the watchtowers stance is for wives to simply take it when their husbands abuse them, this makes it crystal clear.. who the hell is scanning these things before they go to print?

ReallyTrulyAthena

@ jamieblowers -

One elder tld me point blank that if my husband did kill me, at least I was guaranteed into the new system.

What.The.%#$. My stomach lurched and a swell of nausuea hit me as I read that. I can only IMAGINE what you felt hearing that. What is WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?????? I know that not "all JWs" are "bad" but seriously.... I'm angry and sad, all at once.

Watchtower doctrine on this and many other matters should be made criminal!

Not only yes but HELL YES!

Peace and ((hugs))

~ RTA

449

"Feeling sorry for yourself" about being hit by your husband is not Christian 2/15/12 WT Page 25 P 12

by yourmomma in

have anyone of you read, the absolutly jaw dropping paragraph in this article about a women who was hit by her husband?

its in page 25 of the 2/15/12 wt study edition (i read the dumbed down version).. .

if there was any question, that the watchtowers stance is for wives to simply take it when their husbands abuse them, this makes it crystal clear.. who the hell is scanning these things before they go to print?

ReallyTrulyAthena

@ cedars -

I've just sent an email with an attachment of the magazine to the UK women's charities Refuge and Women's Aid.

Earlier, I was so caught up in my memories, I neglected to comment in my post with a big "thanks!" to you for doing that!

@ poopsiecakes and thenoblelodge - I agree, hugs all 'round ...

449

"Feeling sorry for yourself" about being hit by your husband is not Christian 2/15/12 WT Page 25 P 12

by yourmomma in

have anyone of you read, the absolutly jaw dropping paragraph in this article about a women who was hit by her husband?

its in page 25 of the 2/15/12 wt study edition (i read the dumbed down version).. .

if there was any question, that the watchtowers stance is for wives to simply take it when their husbands abuse them, this makes it crystal clear.. who the hell is scanning these things before they go to print?

ReallyTrulyAthena

I don't know whether to out-right laugh at the preposterousness of the WT, or cry, or scream in anger. Fracken' unbelievable. There's no concern WHATSOEVER for the victim. No help offered. Only "put YOUR feelings aside, you horrible wife and maybe he'll hold off on smackin' ya." All written up as another thinly-veiled sales pitch of how to bring people into the truth, by utterly shoving down who you are as a person. I can almost picture the scene at the KH: "Hey LOOK! Here's Brother Wife-Beater! Isn't it amazing? His wife took all those hits on the chin and 17 years later, here he is." [backslaps and high fives]........[awkward silence...looks over at the wife]....."Gee, why the long face, Sister Feelin' Sorry for Yourself? PRAISE JAH!"

AnneB -

Emotions aside, what they're saying is don't push someone past his or her limits. Makes sense and there's nothing wrong with it.....They're using an inflammatory example, but the point would be the same no matter what example they used: Don't push people past their limits. They're not saying it's right to hit, they're saying if you don't learn to respect someone's limits bad things can happen.....The point is how to dodge bullets, not how to judge others.

I don't know where to start as I'm simply flabbergasted. Are you some sort of apologist for spousal abuse? Respect and honor is a two-way street. Yes, everyone has their limits. I've got my limits too, but you know what? If someone pushes my limits, that does not give me the right to haul off and physically assault someone (unless they've assaulted me as part of the "limit pushing", and I must fight back in self-defense). Especially coming from your spouse who committed to "love, honor and cherish" - not "love, honor and beat up, should she be askin' for it."

Yeah, that'd play out in court -- Judge: "Sir, why did you pop your wife in the nose?" Husband: "Well, I dunno. I was feeling off that night and she sorta asked for it." Judge: "Oh, well why didn't you say so? Case dismissed!" NOT.

Also, this WT scenario (I'm surprised the unbelieving mate's name wasn't ANDRE) depicted the hubby as a hothead and to me, someone with anger management issues. What if hubby's "limits" changed from day to day? How is SHE to know where those limits are? Thus, the walking on eggshells. The abuse could come from out of no-where....how is that on HER?

To flip the coin - and as with other's experience on this board - what about being hit by your "Christian"/JW husband? Reading this thread brought everything back for me. The abuse. The pushing and shoving. How many times my JW husband told me, "Go ahead and cry, no one will hear you." (I carried that particular phrase around with me for years. It affected me so deeply that I wouldn't cry at anything as I thought no one would hear.....or even care...so better to be just dead inside.) Other times - "The police can't do anything - I'm hitting you with the flat of my hand, not a closed fist." Grabbing a hold of me in a fight & bear-hugging me so hard I thought my sternum would snap. The quiet tense argument at one assembly during a lunch break, him grabbing me by the arm and squeezing so hard, it left bruises. The quiet flash of "take that" in his eyes, as he knew the bruise would show in front of everyone (I was wearing a dress with shorter sleeves and didn't have a sweater or jacket). My JW father did nothing. For years after, I had major trust and intimacy issues. I just put my "Self" into a little ball and hid that away, "feeling sorry for myself" and drowning my sorrows in as much alcohol as I could, I felt so worthless. I wasn't a good little JW wife to him like he wanted me to be and my JW husband showed me just how bad I was in his own special way. I was one of those "not so noble" individuals who purposefully commited a wrongdoing, just so I could be DF'd...just so I could escape. Escape from him and the abuse and the cult. It took me a long time to view "me" as something that was worth a damn. A very long time.

Sorry for the longer post and for going off on a tangent. Thanks for listening.

Back to the article at hand, Abuse is abuse is abuse. There are NO excuses. In yet more horrible ways, the WT proves themselves to be despicable in their suppression of a victim's rights. There is no support or solace offered, only how much more the victim should just shut up. Go ahead, keep trying to sweep stuff like this under the rug, WT. The REAL TRUTH is out there and thank goodness for the internet...the real truth will be found.

Peace,

~ RTA

28

I just "witnessed" officially for the first time!!!

by NoRegrets in

i mean door to door (sort of), not informally to non-witness friends and family!.

so for a few weeks, i have suspected that my neighbor across the hall was being studied with by witnesses.

i wasn't sure but saw a couple of older women leaving with what looked like bibles, but never saw watchtower literature.

ReallyTrulyAthena

@ NoRegrets and extractor - wow and HECK YEAH! Good on ya! Now THIS truly is "happifying" news

Makes me feel like doing a little jig. LOL

106

The general atheist meaning of life

by mankkeli in

i have posted this on another forum where i mentor on spirituality and i am posting here again.. when things like spirituality are no longer present in one's life, they may or may not stop looking for meaning.

meaning is an essential part of human psychology, though some feel the need for it less than others, and even a few seemingly don't at all.

there also seems to be a trend that occurs: in the lack of a meaning of life, the brain tries to find one, because it sees a purpose for everything.. .

ReallyTrulyAthena

@ Jay88 - "Rob Kardashian" - LOLZ

Sooooo, MankyPanky -

I have posted this on another forum where I mentor on Spirituality

Fo' REALZ? You're a mentor now, too? And on Spirituality, to boot! OY. You are "something else", that's what you are.

Like others on this thread - I too have found meaning of my life without a belief in God. I respect those who chose to believe in God, even though my own path has brought me to atheism. So, why say my life has no meaning, or I'm unable to find meaning unless I think just like you, just because I believe differently? And don't throw out the whole "you hate God" or "you're bitter" or "atheists don't believe in ANYthing". I do "believe" (in a lot of things), it's just my belief system is different than yours. That's it in a nutshell.

You can keep your pity, thankyouverymuch. I need no title to define who I am. I need no "self-given assignment" to feel better about myself. My purpose is to walk this life as I see fit. Your purpose obviously is to go tell other people who to be...and how to live their lives...and to hand out labels..........as your life much be oh so unsatisfactory, that you have to go "fix others".

69

What was the last meeting you ever went to?

by lilbluekitty in

i figured out it's been 4 months and 5 days since my last meeting ever.

july 10th, it was a sunday.

i hadn't been there in 2 months or so and decided to see if anyone noticed i'd been gone.

ReallyTrulyAthena

@ lilbluekitty -

I stopped going because of how I was treated and a couple months later signed up on this website which was the first of many "apostate" sites that really opened my eyes. I read CoC too. And I "ain't" going back!

First, please accept my belated "welcome!" to the board. I admire you for wearing a pantsuit to the KH...rock on! Sorry to hear how you were treated (it sure is "eye-opening" when you really see what their version of "love" is in practice...yeah, 'cause nothing makes me want to stick around and hang out with folks that give me the evil eye ), but am glad you are here I celebrate your steps into freedom!

What was your last meeting, how were you treated, and what was your reason for it being your last?

Let's see - my last meeting was sometime in '01. Went to visit my JW father. Mind you, I'd been DFd for almost 10 years by that point (and had long stopped trying to go back as I was "discouraged" by their "encouragement" via their barbaric practice of shunning...oh wait..."TOUGH LOVE"). Yet, I still "wondered/worried" if They Were Right (before I really learned the TTATT, both through this wonderful forum and Freeminds). So, I went along to go along, to see what was up and also to please my folks.

It was a Sunday meeting and overall - pretty "meh"...same old dreariness, same old talks, same old song and dance (well, no dancin', but you know what I mean) It was what happened after the meeting that did it. Unbeknownst to me, my dad invited one of the elders over to his house to visit and talk with me. This "Loving Shepherd" couldn't have been more obvious in how utterly detestable he found my presence. Oh, he was all fine words and flowery speech. But he sat as farrrrrr away from me on the couch as he could...almost on the edge of the couch, leaning forward, like he was ready to bolt (I really thought he was going to fall off the furniture, he was perched so precariously). What, was I THAT bad???? Was I so vile and base and low and horrible, that he couldn't even really look me in the eye? It was like he couldn't get out of my dad's house fast enough. A land speed record for shepherding calls was set that day, I think. His body language told me everything I needed to know (the whole "You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act" deal). Because I was in a fragile place at that time in my life, I'll admit to initially feeling devastated (yet AGAIN by them), so low, so worthless. But...it was the tipping point for me. I decided I would never go back to that kind of treatment. EVER. Shortly thereafter, I found and began lurking on this website....and learning what I have since then has been crucial about any "2nd thoughts" about going back to that cult. From there, my path was set...onwards to better emotional/mental health and inner peace.

Thank you for sharing your experience and initiating this thread! I look forward to reading more of your posts.

~ RTA

37

Is this an anti-JW website?

by keyser soze in

jw
friends

when i registered here over 4 years ago i thought it would be a good place to interact with like-minded christians who loved jehovah as much as i do.

but after reading some of the posts on here i'm beginning to believe that the sentiment on here is largely anti-witness.

i justed wanted to tell you all what vile and hateful people you are..

ReallyTrulyAthena

LOL @ keyser and wha happened's posts --

38

I think this is real, a boardgame for JW's- House 2 House

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

you can find it at theocraticgames.com http://www.theocraticgames.com/.

it sounds totally bizarre.. it even has a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/house-2-house-theocratic-board-game/120807941289256.

.

ReallyTrulyAthena

Just.......wow. What an utterly depressing boardgame.

A comment from one of the posters on the Facebook page:

Looks interesting. The box says it is for 13+. Why is that when you can get baptised at 10 or 12 years old?

Inquiring minds wanna know...

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