You have experienced the "Shawshank Syndrome" in full!
Posts by moman
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61A VERY SPECIAL THANKYOU TO THIS BOARD!
by VioletAnai inthank you, thank you, thank you for making me see that i'm wasting my time being in a world of bitter, twisted, self-absorbed people and helping me to wake up to the benefits of being a jehovah's witness!
if any of you come back with the ol - the jw's are full of bitter, twisted, people (in the most stupid arse voice of course!
), i'll reply, yeah, but not as rampant as the rest of the world.....call me crazy if you like, i don't care, because it's my salvation i'm worried about not yours....you've thrown it away because you can't see the bigger picture....trials and tribulation will always abound in this day and age...it is proving like job that we are not discouraged by the trials that gains us the most happiness because we know the trials won't go on much longer and jah will repay us 100 fold for our pain....that's a damn good reward to me!
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"Jerusalem Syndrome"
by moman inare we starting to see a few more wacky posters, like uk2 & the like?.
could it be a banner year for the dreaded:.
jerusalem syndrome.
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moman
Are we starting to see a few more WACKY posters, like UK2 & the like?
Could it be a banner year for the dreaded:
JERUSALEM SYNDROME
Next time you stop off in Jerusalem, we suggest that you might want to take along some contact information for your favorite shrink back home. The odds are greatly against it, but you may end up thinking you're John the Baptist or the Virgin Mary. There is a rare travel psychosis known as Jerusalem Syndrome and in 1999, more than 50 visitors were diagnosed. The Savvy Traveler's Judie Fein fills us in.
Jerusalem Syndrome
by Judith FeinThe malady called Jerusalem Syndrome is no joke. Afflicted tourists have been found wandering in the Judean desert wrapped in hotel bed sheets or crouched at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, waiting to birth the infant Jesus.
I'm here at Kfar Shaul Hospital in Jerusalem, with Dr. Yair Bar-El, who gave the strange disorder its name. Dr. Bar-El looks eerily like Dr. Freud as he leans back in his chair, puffing on a cigar, with his glasses perched on the tip of his nose. He explains that there are three categories of tourists who get Jerusalem syndrome.
Dr. Bar El: "We speak first about clearly mentally ill people in their country. They arrive to Jerusalem with psychotic ideas. The second, the biggest group, tourists, pilgrims with deep religious convictions."
Pilgrims who, in some cases, belong to bizarre fringe groups rather than regular churches. They were also mentally unbalanced before they arrived, and they believe they must do specific things to bring about major events like the coming of the Messiah, the war of Armageddon, or the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Bar-El: "We have a little third group, the REAL Jerusalem syndrome. Completely sane persons without psychiatric history, without drugs, and arrive here as normal tourists. Here they develop this specific, imperative psychotic reaction that is the real Jerusalem Syndrome."
The same clinical picture always emerges. It begins with general anxiety and nervousness, and then the tourist feels an imperative need to visit the holy places. First, he undertakes a series of purification rituals, like shaving all his body hair, cutting his nails and washing himself over and over before he dons white clothes. Most often, he lifts the white sheets from his hotel room. Then he begins to cry or to sing Biblical or religious songs in a very loud voice. The next step is an actual visit to the holy places, most often from the life of Jesus. The afflicted tourist begins to deliver a sermon, demanding that humanity become calmer, purer, and less materialistic.
Dr. Bar-El, says that besides their bizarre behavior, everything else about the tourists in normal:
Dr. Bar-El: "These persons develop the same clinical picture. They don't see strange things, they don't hear voices, they remember everything and all the time they know they're John Smith or Yan Huber. They don't think they're another person and this reaction passes completely in five to seven days. "
Sometimes, the afflicted visitor is on a Mediterranean package tour which includes Greece, Egypt and Israel. He may be completely sane in Greece, he develops Jerusalem Syndrome in Israel, it passes in five days, and then he continues on with the group to Egypt.
In Israel, Jerusalem Syndrome is taken very seriously. Everyone involved in security, tourism, or health is on the lookout for afflicted visitors. In an average year, three or four tourists develop real, palpable Jerusalem Syndrome. In l999, more than 50 visitors were diagnosed, the increase possibly attributed to millennial activities.
From a religious point of view, the Syndrome seems to favor Protestants, who account for 97 percent of all cases. Almost all of them were raised in ultra-orthodox homes where the Bible was the book of choice for family reading and problem-solving.
Dr. Bar-El takes a long puff on his cigar and gets down to specific current cases.
Dr. Bar-El: "We have now here a woman, she was picked up by the police after she kicked and beat some persons at the side of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They asked why and she says: 'I am the Prophetess of the Olive Tree and I am a very powerful person. I announce the immediate arrival of Jesus Christ.' This woman is here in a terrible anxiety state. She said that she must be out, under the influence of the sun and the moon and by this influence her branches will grow green. This is the symbol of the immediate arrival of Jesus Christ."
She didn't want to be taken inside because under a roof her branches would grow black, and that would be the sign of the anti-Christ. Another seemingly normal man is a teacher from Denmark.
Dr. Bar-El: "He arrives every year to Jerusalem because he said only here he can speak with the Virgin Mary. He doesn't take trips to Lourdes, to Montserrat, no, only here. We speak with the person a lot. A completely sane person only with this idee fixe."
Bar-El talks about a memorable case which actually led to one of the first instances of collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli police. The Palestinians found a man without clothes, money or ID, and, after interrogation, they figured out he wasn't a security risk. They had no idea what to do with him, so they contacted an Israeli officer. The Israeli asked only one question: "Is the guy really completely nude?" "No," answered the Palestinian, "he's wearing an animal skin." "Oh," said the Israeli, "you've got another John the Baptist." It was the sixth John the Baptist the Israelis had run into. They usually did days of purification between Jerusalem and the Galilee before ending up at the Jordan River to baptize Jesus or the first Christians, and part of the trek was through Palestinian territory.
John The Baptist is the most popular Jerusalem syndrome choice for Christian men. Christian women prefer the Virgin Mary. For Jews of both sexes, the identification is generally with the Messiah.
One day, Bar-El decided to perform a classical experiment. He put two would-be Messiahs in a room together for an hour to see if one would prevail.
Dr. Bar-El: "I said, 'Okay, you must make the decision. Who's the real Messiah?' Every person said, after this hour, 'I am the real Messiah. He's an imposter.' "
I am shown around the wards, and then introduced to Russian-born Dr. Gregory Katz, who talks about the treatment:
Dr. Katz: "Sometimes we give some minor tranquilizers and melatonin if the person's also in jet lag. If we see that it's a real psychotic episode, we give anti-psychotic drugs."
Jerusalem Syndrome is posing an unexpected economic problem for Israel. Who is supposed to pay for the treatment of the afflicted tourists?
Dr. Katz: "Some of them, usually that come from Scandinavia, have good insurance. But some of them come from the U.S. and don't have medical insurance or it's not sufficient and doesn't cover psychiatric treatment. Then the State of Israel pays for it, including an escorting person back to the U.S., usually a psychiatrist and all the expenses."
No one is certain about exactly what causes Jerusalem Syndrome. Perhaps it's jarring for a serious Bible student to arrive in modern-day Israel where, instead of prophets in sandals, he hears businessmen discussing profits on cell phones. Or maybe it's the fact that Jerusalem has always been a magnet for messianic messages, and visitors get carried away.
For the moment, there are no clear answers and the emphasis is on rapid and effective diagnosis and treatment.
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Tales of the ANNOINTED
by moman ini met my last "annointed" in 1992, her name was dawson & lived in a small town in the middle of nebraska.. her grandson, a funny, but wild & heavy drinking dub, introduced us & they spent the night at our house.. she was a life long dub & we could see she was a real mental case.. my wife & i kept the door to our room locked & they left early in the morning without saying a word.. she had long straggly white hair & eyes that could turn you to stone.. her grandson told us that one night, under a full moon, she was seen chasing a chicken, hatchet in hand, in her nightgown.. i was told later that she had lost a child to cancer & i felt bad for her, maybe if she had not been raised a dub, she would have received some professional help.. that was just one of many nutty things that helped me see the wt for what it was, a goofy cult!.
any other true stories?
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moman
Lizard, anyone claiming to be "annointed" is a quack!
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Tales of the ANNOINTED
by moman ini met my last "annointed" in 1992, her name was dawson & lived in a small town in the middle of nebraska.. her grandson, a funny, but wild & heavy drinking dub, introduced us & they spent the night at our house.. she was a life long dub & we could see she was a real mental case.. my wife & i kept the door to our room locked & they left early in the morning without saying a word.. she had long straggly white hair & eyes that could turn you to stone.. her grandson told us that one night, under a full moon, she was seen chasing a chicken, hatchet in hand, in her nightgown.. i was told later that she had lost a child to cancer & i felt bad for her, maybe if she had not been raised a dub, she would have received some professional help.. that was just one of many nutty things that helped me see the wt for what it was, a goofy cult!.
any other true stories?
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moman
mole, maybe Jehovah needed to know all those details?
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Tales of the ANNOINTED
by moman ini met my last "annointed" in 1992, her name was dawson & lived in a small town in the middle of nebraska.. her grandson, a funny, but wild & heavy drinking dub, introduced us & they spent the night at our house.. she was a life long dub & we could see she was a real mental case.. my wife & i kept the door to our room locked & they left early in the morning without saying a word.. she had long straggly white hair & eyes that could turn you to stone.. her grandson told us that one night, under a full moon, she was seen chasing a chicken, hatchet in hand, in her nightgown.. i was told later that she had lost a child to cancer & i felt bad for her, maybe if she had not been raised a dub, she would have received some professional help.. that was just one of many nutty things that helped me see the wt for what it was, a goofy cult!.
any other true stories?
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moman
I met my last "annointed" in 1992, her name was Dawson & lived in a small town in the middle of Nebraska.
Her grandson, a funny, but wild & heavy drinking Dub, introduced us & they spent the night at our house.
She was a life long Dub & we could see she was a real mental case.
My wife & I kept the door to our room locked & they left early in the morning without saying a word.
She had long straggly white hair & eyes that could turn you to stone.
Her grandson told us that one night, under a full moon, she was seen chasing a chicken, hatchet in hand, in her nightgown.
I was told later that she had lost a child to cancer & I felt bad for her, maybe if she had not been raised a Dub, she would have received some professional help.
That was just one of many nutty things that helped me see the WT for what it was, a goofy cult!Any other true stories?
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ANOINTED JEHOVAH WITNESS APOLOGIZES
by lotus indear people, i posted my first post on anointed witness has no doubt stating that i have the heavenly hope and was seeking others.
many of you responded and i read all your replies.
i am lonely in terms of knowing few other young anointed and being an active witness, so this makes me an oddity among you and in my cong.. mnay also wondered why i was on this website of ex-witness,.
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moman
When I was associated with the WT (Borg), I knew of 3 annointed, they were all "wackos"! You are in good company.
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WT 4-01-02 article
by DB inin the april 1, 2002 issue of the watchtower, an article appears entitled "keep on serving jehovah with a steadfast heart".
paragraph 14 of this article states: "if jehovah's organization knowingly endorsed false teachings, advice to read the bible would never be given to jehovah's witnesses and those to whom they preach.".
i am withholding comment on this statement, because i'd like to hear from any who would like to post a response.
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moman
When the Inca ruler Atahualpa refused to look at the bible offered by the Spanish priest, thousands of his followers were slaughtered in the name of God.
DOES THAT MEAN THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE BIBLE?
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ANOINTED Jehovah Witness has no doubt,
by lotus inhello, i am new to this website, but have to be straightforward and say that i do not agree with most subjects and contents.
i am an active jehovah witness, but i am very lonely so i am looking for others with the "hope" or to speak to those that know someone that does.
it has been a long , hard road for me.
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moman
Lotus: Sometimes the TRUTH needs to be, well, BLUNT!
The Watchtower B&TS is a SCAM!
Do your RESEARCH, its all there!
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Do they intentionally love-bomb?
by Xander ini've seen this term used a lot (love-bombing) re: new jw studies.
the implication is that this is some kind of nefarious wt strategy, but, the more i think about, the less i agree.
at least, it's not an intentional strategy, i think, just something that happens that works to their advantage (getting new recruits in).. i grew up as a jw.
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moman
How many talks came from the platform on making new ones welcome, starting a study & remember, "Jehovaha's people are a happy people."
I'd call that or(castrat)ed, maybe subliminal, but orcastrated!
Happy..happy..happy, damm it, were happy! -
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Do the Witnesses "manipulate" recruits?
by refiners fire indo they "mystically manipulate"people joining them?.
im inclined to say they dont.. they are almost unique in this.. practically every cult ive joined, i could recite a litany of manipulation techniques applied to me during my joining process.. the dubs study with people, systematically, unemotionally.. noone else does this in my experience.. people who join the dubs join under "intellectual conviction".. do you agree with this view or not??.
im most curious to hear opinions on this.
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moman
The Borg is subtle in their brain-washing sessions & this serves to disarm the newbee, but the end result is a life of servitude