This took place in the 1970s (I'm 38).
All members of the story are or were Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I've known this all my life but I've never told anyone. I never knew my grandfather (on my father's side) except that he became wealthy because he owned a construction company that made it big during a population boom in a metropolitan area. I'm not sure what went wrong with the man, but he ended up physically abusing his wife and sons.
According to my mother, my father started physically abusing her shortly after their marriage. My father was an elder throughout the duration of their marriage. The overall family and in-laws always associated together. For whatever reason, my mother and my aunt's (on my father's side) husband (uncle in-law) started committing adultery.
I don't know how the congregation elders became suspicious of this, but I was told they followed and spied on them and confronted my father with what they observed.
My parents got divorced and my mother ended up getting disfellowshipped. I've never talked to anyone who knew about the physical abuse of my mother except for her immediate family. My mother's sister and her husband (an elder) had extensive knowledge of situation. They were so disillusioned by the fact that no congregation action was taken against my father for the physical abuse that they told my grandmother they will never be one of Jehovah's Witnesses again. My (uncle in-law on my mother's side) ended up becoming an apostate, a Baptist preacher that delivered public protests against Jehovah's Witnesses during his sermons. He also made audio recordings against Jehovah's Witnesses.
I have no memories of any of this (I was under five) except for a couple of fights my parents were in and candles lighting up a dark house because the electricity had been cut off. I was told my mother and (uncle in-law) ran up a bunch of expenses that couldn't be paid.
There's many good sides to my family. This is just one of the bad sides that's ancient history.
Celestial
JoinedPosts by Celestial
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The family story I've never told
by Celestial inthis took place in the 1970s (i'm 38).. .
all members of the story are or were jehovahs witnesses.
i've known this all my life but i've never told anyone.
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Celestial
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Celestial
Cool... i see. So you dont really have any doubts or believe anything different then? :)
I have some doubts. Not based on what's commonly discussed in the apostate community. This is a fairly good explanation of my concerns.
http://www.atlassociety.org/religion_objectivism -
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Celestial
Celestial. How are you? What is your story then? Someone tell me something. Im really bored! :D
My story is I'm not attending meetings simply because I'd rather do other things. I have plans to go back. I've had plans to go back for quite some time. I attend a meeting maybe every two months. -
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Celestial
The truth of the matter is I took his website quite seriously until I saw it being mocked by others. I was glad I didn't have to take it seriously.
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Ray Franz - Crisis of Conscience
by Celestial ini've never read crisis of conscience.
could someone briefly describe some of his observations that clashed with his moral compass?
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Celestial
way too many to list here... you're better off reading the book
"briefly describe some of his observations"
I'll read the book. I'm just inquiring about some key points that stood out in a person's mind.
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Celestial
koolaid-man is a cyber terrorist that uses lurid tactics and shock antics to bother people. His website is partially entertaining and somewhat disturbing. It's the kind of web-page you shut down, so you can move on to something else that you can clearly think about.
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Ray Franz - Crisis of Conscience
by Celestial ini've never read crisis of conscience.
could someone briefly describe some of his observations that clashed with his moral compass?
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Celestial
I've never read Crisis of Conscience. Could someone briefly describe some of his observations that clashed with his moral compass?
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Did you miss out on a career opportunity when you were a JW?
by moshe inopportunities seemed to be advertised everywhere when i was a young man, it was hard to decide on one.
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Celestial
My father was an entrepreneur that initiated a successful chemical company. He sold the company and accepted a job as a chemist in the company laboratory so he could devote more time to the family and the congregation. Some members of the family (dependents) got disfellowshipped so he had to step down from being an elder. He ended up starting another chemical company, but it wasn't nearly as successful as the first one. He at times hinted to me that he regretted selling the first one.
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Mr. Unthank and Theocratic Warfare
by Celestial inafter reading the threads on this forum, the collapse of mr. unthank's crusade against the watchtower society seems to have some people riled up.
i haven't followed the outworking of events that led up to the case's dismissal by the public prosecutor.
i did notice that there was a formal motion to charge the "faithful and discreet slave" and prosecute this entity as "corporate accused.. .
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Celestial
This isn't “WTS twisting and spinning.” I just voiced an opinion based on what I've been exposed to.
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Latest Watchtower page 30... They have some nerve to put this!
by TimothyT inone thing that i have always noticed even when i was a jw is that the jw org has lots and lots and lots of rules for allsorts of stupid petty rules which make no difference.
when you read the bible you see how they are clearly in the wrong here and are acting like the pharisees themselves, who imposed so much pressure on others to conform to the law.
am i missing something here!?!?
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Celestial
Ah yes, that's right. When you have nothing to fall back on, I must be a liar right? Is English your second language? Or your third? I already explained how and why I knew what the blood doctrine entailed as the subject came up time and time again when my sister needed surgery. It's not too difficult to comprehend when you hear the elders talking to your parents about it and when you hear them say how they 'must remain faithful to Jehovah's Organization' if and when the subject of blood came up during one of my sisters' many surgeries and how even if she died, it would only be a few years before my parents saw her again because The End was coming in 1975.
So please don't try and tell me what I could and I could not understand as a child you moron, because you haven't a frigging clue what you're talking about.
You present an image of the core value system of Jehovah's Witnesses as soulless, brainless and emotionally deficient. This disparaging description of the “higher powers” that mold the personality of Jehovah's Witnesses may or may not be consistent with your memories of your former self as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. From what you said about your family, you were a “born in,” so your submission to the “truth” was involuntary. Your involuntary submission to the theocratic order of Jehovah's Witnesses may justify your unrestrained presentation of this religion as a lethal “social menace.”
If questioned, the vast majority of individuals in the scientific community would describe the doctrine held by Jehovah's Witnesses on the “vital issue” of blood and its uses as a warped philosophy. They would uphold this opinion whether the stance taken by Jehovah's Witnesses was a “Biblical rule” or not. That's why the ex-JWs that voluntarily internalized this doctrine as “true believers” and now portray it as deadly theology are pretty disturbing.