Posts by pale.emperor

149

why jw's commit suicide?

by notalone in

jw
friends

we all know the rate of suicide is high among jw's.

my question is this- was there some subliminal messages that encourage this.

i was a born in and my entire life i would have these thoughts that could come out of nowhere,"kill yourself.

Lets face it, when we were in the cult we were told we wernt good enough, not worthy of God the way we are, unacceptable, unclean, "dust"... and that's when we're doing all we can in the cult! So i think those who still feel it is the truth may think that if they leave they're even worse than useless. Which simply isnt true.

Couple this with the shunning and you have a very dangerous situation.

Im not bothered about being shunned, but if my daughter were to die i know i'd want to kill myself. Watchtower takes away everything that should be sacred to you, your self worth, your opinions and even your family. Once you're stripped off all those things you're an empty shell. Which is why it's very important to speak to others, especially ex-JWs and/or a mental health professional.

41

Watchtower Doctrines JWs most commonly don't believe

by Diogenesister in

there was a recent thread on another site where posters maintained that many of the *most* long-standing jw's don't believe at least one official watchtower doctrine.

i've even read reports from bethelites saying they've heard bethel overseers say they don't believe some watchtower theology.

this made me think - i believe there are a few official doctrines that are common for many jw's to be either in denial about or simply not really believe ( often one and the same thing).. i'd say these are pretty high in the ranking:.

pale.emperor

I used to deny that only JWs will survive. It was actually an apostate on Quora.com that corrected me and pointed me to the many Watchtower articles.

Kudos to that apostate

40

Some Good News About Me (Although Anthony Morris Will Be Furious)

by pale.emperor in

just wanted to share with you some good news i'm really excited about.

i have been accepted for university to study psychology and counseling.

my goal is to become a counselor and, in time, to specialize on treating those who have left high control relationships/groups like we all did.. it'll take a few years before im qualified but studying in university has been a dream of mine since i was 12, which was systematically dashed to pieces by watchtower.. .

pale.emperor

Hello everyone

Just wanted to share with you some good news I'm really excited about. I have been accepted for University to study Psychology and Counseling. My goal is to become a counselor and, in time, to specialize on treating those who have left high control relationships/groups like we all did.

It'll take a few years before im qualified but studying in University has been a dream of mine since i was 12, which was systematically dashed to pieces by Watchtower.

Well Tony, lets hope so. I may even wear tight pants to class and grow a beard.

14

Hospital refuses surgery on JW patient - Switzerland

by TheWonderofYou in

switzerland - .

jw files a suit because his surgery was refused!

supreme court decides against jw.. in the present case, the dilemma to which the hospital refers is not at all.

pale.emperor

This whole non blood thing may a well sound like this to me:

Doctor: Good news, we can perform your operation in the morning.

Patient: That's wonderful news doctor. Only, i'd like you to do the operation using only your left hand, cutting with a knife only, no scissors, and instead of stitching me up i'd like you to use cellotape.

Doctor: I... im not willing to do that...

Patient: You're discriminating! Im being persecuted for my beliefs. The prophecies were right!

Quack Doctor: Hallo everybody! I'll do the operation for you.

Patient: This surely is a blessing from Jehovah!

Patient dies.

Mother: What a wonderful display of faith! We'll see her in the resurrection.

12

Worse than the maggots apparently...

by NoviceLocs14 in

so after a couple of years, i've finally re-established contact with a close relative (not revealing too much for privacy reasons).

it turns out that he is dfd (for the typical jw reasons, of course).

we caught up about a lot of things, including family.

pale.emperor

My mother and sisters warned my non-JW brother to be careful talking to me because i was an apostate. Dont know why he needed to be careful because he's not even a JW. It's almost as if leaving the Watchtower contaminates us with a filthy disease that can be caught by only speaking to us.

14

Going out in service.

by Fader812 in

i loved going out in service, i would empty my book bag out on the counter at the laundromat, walk out and go get a doughnut, i had a lot of hours and placements on my time card.

i really hated talking to people, the anxiety was too much for me to handle, good thing my service partner felt the same way..

pale.emperor

Australian rural territory was the go, we would only talk to 1-6 people a day never more Easy 7 hours on the report card. My problem was I use to believe the bullshit , nothing like a devoted cult follower. What I did enjoy was the architecture and landscaping ideas I got.

Sounds great Chook.

Meanwhile, in Liverpool...

14

Going out in service.

by Fader812 in

i loved going out in service, i would empty my book bag out on the counter at the laundromat, walk out and go get a doughnut, i had a lot of hours and placements on my time card.

i really hated talking to people, the anxiety was too much for me to handle, good thing my service partner felt the same way..

pale.emperor

I hated the door to door ministry (we dont use the word "service" here in the UK). I didn't pretend to enjoy it either. I quite openly said it to people i was working with out in the ministry. Reason being i knew i was annoying people, i didn't know who was going to open the door and i cant sell an idea if i dont really believe it myself. I never understood why people claimed to enjoy it. Whats to enjoy?

I would always try to work with people that, like me, couldn't stand it and was only doing it because you have to fill your report slip in dont you? I employed the usual tactics: "feather knocking" that no one could hear. Pretending to press the door bell. Offering to work in the apartment blocks and not knocking on any door. One time i was working with a young brother who knocked quite loudly, i jokingly said "shh! They'll hear you!" he looked at me confused and said "they're supposed to hear us!" - two days later i got a surprise visit by two elders asking me about this.

Snitching little *******

Eventually a blank report slip became my canvas. I would just make up hours and placement numbers. I did the same for my then-wife too. She hated ministry even more than i did.

Im glad i left before the video presentations took off. No way would i walk around my territory in Liverpool with an iPad. You'd never see it again!

46

On the Subject of Demons, I Have a Story to Tell.

by snugglebunny in

i have posted the full story on a fb site.

so my apologies to anyone who's already read it.

some of what i've written is what was told to me by my father.

pale.emperor

bunny--i think we married the same woman...?

hahahahahaha!!!

Hang on... yh me too!!

Oh and by the way, Jasper Carrott whom you sang songs with in the pub, his wife is a JW.

46

On the Subject of Demons, I Have a Story to Tell.

by snugglebunny in

i have posted the full story on a fb site.

so my apologies to anyone who's already read it.

some of what i've written is what was told to me by my father.

pale.emperor

Loved reading this! This would make a great book!

My parents shunned me for a number of years after that, as did all my witness friends. By this time I'd become anardent Portsmouth FC fan and attended every home match. So I kept busy and gradually made new friends.

I noticed the same thing with me, rather than dwell on the "loss" of family/friends keeping busy and finding new interests really does speed up the recovery from Watchtower.

19

Starting To Wake Up

by Searching in

i suppose after lurking around for a few weeks i thought i might share my own personal story, as i think it would probably be a very freeing experience for me right now.

to start off, at 23 years old i'm actually a third-generation jw, my grandparents were baptized (my grandfather is actually an elder) when my mother was only a toddler, she was raised as a witness, then of course, married a witness and thus myself and my two brothers were born-in's.

growing up my mother was always very careful about what she taught me, all the good things for sure, about how we would live in a paradise earth and i could pet all the animals that i wanted and not worry about growing old, and she'd ask me who in the bible i'd love to see and talk with - my grandparents however, were a different story and the cause of i think, most of my childhood trauma.. they really drilled home the fact that we were the only people who were going to be saved, we were the only people that were going to survive and that everyone else was going to die horribly - that i shouldn't try to make that many friends in school because they would never be "real" friends unless they were fellow jw's and they would die anyway.

pale.emperor

Welcome! I've been out just over a year, awake for about 2/3 years.

You should check out Crises Of Conscience written by former Governing Body member Ray Franz. That'll really open your eyes!!

I remember the first time I visited JWFacts looking for answers. It seems to be the go to place for JWs who can't find the answer on JW. org