was visiting with some old friends a while ago, and got to hear some interesting updates about their congregation.. there is a new family moved in, from the ukraine, and are very zealous.
when giving their experience (they're quite new in the "truth") they feel strongly that the religion has changed their life.. they were ready to divorce, but from studying the bible, etc., they are now a happy family.. its really a yearbook type example that make a lot witnesses feel vindicated.. on the other extreme, in the same congregation, a teenager just graduating (an elders son) just up and left and moved in with a "worldly" family.
he told his parents he doesn't believe it's the truth, and actually believes in evolution.. he was being "encouraged" to get baptized, but he managed to avoid that.
Honestly? My first thought was that the Ukraine family is in the "honeymoon phase" of a new country and a semi new religous belief.
Maybe the plaster over the cracks will hold as time wears on and maybe it wont.
They certainly are not proof of anything yet - its all too new.
Isnt there a scripture that says let the one strapping on the sword not boast like the one taking it off?
Someone should read it at that Hall
some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".
i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.
I believed zero of what we were taught in the revelation book.
I did believe most of the Hebrew scriptures... the snake in the garden, the flood, Abraham becoming a mighty nation, etc.
I would have just not allowed myself to think about it mentally except for the harsh treatment of elders towards others along with seeing first hand their own large indiscretions.
Thats when I knew if I was a person of moral principle, I had to walk away.
Only after walking away did I begin to learn what a jumbled mess the teachings are.
here's the mormon's "gospel library", released 3 & 1/2 years earlier:.
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this is the first of many posts from me.
i'm pimo, an overseer, somewhere in africa.
i'll hold of giving further details until i've executed my plan to leave the organization.
Somebody go find a younger person to talk to Saorean!
Kidding....
I am over 50 too so I cant help with the younger thing but I can say that in my own growth out of the JWs I used a lot of resources.
What I found is people tend to use the platforms that suit them. Some of that is age related. I availed myself of all viewpoints and all mediums of learning. YouTube is great for that. Forums like this one are great for the encyclopedic amount of accumulated experience. A lot of ex elders are here which gives quite a bit of perspective.
And so it goes...I would say avail yourself of any and all methods of gaining support and tools for unlearning the dogma and getting support while doing so.
Nice to meet you and welcome!
today, while listening to a book that covered narcissism, i was a bit surprised to find a connexion with those “seeking privileges” in the organization.
while not being paid, pioneers, ministerial servants and elders invest a great level of time and effort in upholding their responsibilities.
fear of being destroyed by god for not doing enough.
Interesting that you used the word "fuel" to describe how they like the attention and power.
I have been reading a lot about narcissism lately- what it is (extreme lack of the ability to have empathy, undeveloped personality, cluster B disorder etc) and what it is not (loud, annoying, or selfish people necessarily) and that word "fuel" or "narcissistic supply" is so accurate.
So just as religion can be a pedophile heaven for its ready supply of trusting young people and their parents, religion can also be a ready source of compliant fuel for the narcissist.
Wonderful.
I just read an article about religious narcissists and it basically described most of the elders I ever met. Not all but most.
Great post Stephane, thank you.
i'd like to start off this post by saying, we all know that the wt loves control.
it's clear by their history, their wt's, the elder arrangement and so on.
however, after witnessing and using the publish id program in person, it takes this need for control to a whole new level & it was scary.. if you've ever seen builder assist (the website program used for ldc volunteers) or the metro program, it actually looks pretty similar to that.
After reading this thread I am wondering if the big push to get everyone's addresses and phone numbers "in case of natural disaster" was another method of collecting data?
Its been awhile since I have been part of the organizational structure but I remember at one point them giving us a form to fill out containing name, address, phone number and a person to contact in the event of a disaster.
i read this recently in a stoics daily guide.. "the best way to avenge yourself is not be like that.
" written by marcus aurelius..
All the drug abusers, alcoholics, wife beaters and mate cheaters I know are active participating JWs.
just heard from a friend who keeps in touch with the jw's.
a person who has been studying found out some things on line about the witnesses and decided to not get baptized and stopped attending the meetings.
she lives with a witness.
Well the nice little nugget in all of this is the JWs have reinforced whatever doubts the woman had after her online doubt came up.
She got out in the nick of time and there is always another place to live.
a close-by young brother, actually your basic, garden-variety, sexually-repressed, 40-year old virgin in the congregation has been charged with sexual misconduct with a minor.
i've known this guy since he was a kid and he has always been strange, in a nerdy kind of way.
he always wants to sound knowledgeable and wise when he comments at meetings, but i think he is bi-polar and depressed about who he is in life.
Ah...my apologies. The article linked in this thread is about a different person then I am assuming?
a close-by young brother, actually your basic, garden-variety, sexually-repressed, 40-year old virgin in the congregation has been charged with sexual misconduct with a minor.
i've known this guy since he was a kid and he has always been strange, in a nerdy kind of way.
he always wants to sound knowledgeable and wise when he comments at meetings, but i think he is bi-polar and depressed about who he is in life.
Thank you for sharing this local experience stillin.
I don't think you sound like your sympathies are with the man being charged. Rather, it sounds like you are trying to examine all the factors in his life that could have led up to where things are now.
In my area of the world, we define a pedophile as one who has a sexual interest in pre-pubescent children.
This man was accused of sexual assault on a minor. I am thinking that would be someone under the age of 18?
A different category of offender.
