this one really freaked me out.
i was so brainwashed at the time i found a way to justify it.
i think i?ve been repressing my anger about this and now i need to vent.
When I was younger I saw a child having an epileptic fit during the assembly. The parents had to put a book in his mouth (I guess so he couldn't bite his tounge), but the show went on. The parents (including mine) told us kids not to look.
A few times I saw an ambulance at the circuit assembly, but never knew exactly what happened.
growing up as a jw born-in during the 1980s i distinctly remember cutting my tounge.
i was afraid to swallow my blood, thinking that if i even swallowed one drop i woudn't make it to the new system.
so i kept spitting the blood out.
Growing up as a JW born-in during the 1980s I distinctly remember cutting my tounge. I was afraid to swallow my blood, thinking that if I even swallowed one drop I woudn't make it to the new system. So I kept spitting the blood out. I asked some brothers about this, they said it was ok if the cut was in my mouth. Then I asked if I cut my finger is it ok to lick the blood, they couldn't answer that one.
Did anyone else have this fear of their own blood as a JW child?
one of the big adjustments for many of us was growing older and realizing retirement was a reality.
did you have a company or government retirement package or personal ira or 401k.
what advice would you give the 20 to 60 year olds coming to term with 'life in this system'..
@pontoon
Sorry to hear you lost so much in 08. Not trying to blow my own trumpet, but my pension plan nearly trippled from 2008 to 2010. I wouldn't say it was "Luck", but I had good timing on my side. I took all my superannuation money from the stock market about 3 months before the crash, then invested it in commodities.
in the congregations i attended more than 60% of the people i knew were on some type of antidepressant medication.
this rate seems much higher than "worldly" people i know/knew.
or perhaps witnesses are just more open about this topic?.
@No Room For George
I think you're correct. I never knew that many people were on psychiatric medication, that makes JW figures seem "normal". The "Worldly" friends I know are mostly educated, and probably wouldn't discuss whether they're on medication, at least not with me.
When I went to the doctor a few years ago for feeling tired / low engergy levels. He tried to convince me I was depressed (I now know he gets higher rates from the Government for "mental health" consultations). I got out of there as quickly as I could, took matters in my own hands, changed my diet, and exercise.
I guess the depression topic came up alot when I was attending meetings. It was quite common to hear "Sister so-and-so is in the hospital for depression", and on heavy duty medication like lithium. And I personally had friends who were on medication and commited suicide. My brother in law had to cut one of my JW friends from the noose he hung from. He was on antidepressants, came home from the meeting, went out with another JW couple. They gave him wine (big no with the medication he was on). He had a wife and two young children.
in the congregations i attended more than 60% of the people i knew were on some type of antidepressant medication.
this rate seems much higher than "worldly" people i know/knew.
or perhaps witnesses are just more open about this topic?.
In the congregations I attended more than 60% of the people I knew were on some type of antidepressant medication. This rate seems much higher than "worldly" people I know/knew. Or perhaps Witnesses are just more open about this topic?
Another thing I noticed was the high rate of Witnesses on unemployment benefits (welfare is lax in Australia). My guess is 30% or more were not working and receiving unemployment. That doesn't include elderly or those on a pension.
Does anyone else have similar experiences?
one of the big adjustments for many of us was growing older and realizing retirement was a reality.
did you have a company or government retirement package or personal ira or 401k.
what advice would you give the 20 to 60 year olds coming to term with 'life in this system'..
401K, investements, bonds, CDs. A mix of agressive short term and stable growth long term.
Sorry, but that investment strategy worked in the 1980s, but it won't work in 2012, or for the next 5+ years.
have you ever wondered about the similarity of the watchtower-style and communist propaganda?
think about the "years' text" on kingdom halls'walls or catchwords on circuit assemblies.
on communist party assemblies there were a same-type text like "long live the socialism" etc.
Maybe the Watchtower just recruited some communist artists?
firstly yes we all know most jw bornins leave but a quarter give or take continue.
im going to argue that this is the only source of any increase.
those that leave are barely replaced if at all by new recruits in third world countries.
@mP Thanks for the correction. My observation was cursory, and based on the statement in the wiki article: "Jehovah's Witnesses estimate their current worldwide growth rate to be 2.4% per year".
By your calculation, Jehovah's Witnesses rate of increase is actually a decline against avg birth rates.
Maybe JW's are the fastest growing religion (in some areas) because their numbers are declining the least?
long story - will make it short - i was a jw for 4 years.
hy husband took to it straigt away and has been a jw for 20 years - we were both converted by one of his workmates.
our 4 kids were all baptised jws and thankfully 3 escaped (2 disfellowshipped, one fading) - so my eldest son is still in with his dad.
@djeggnog - Have you considered a career as a web content writer?
firstly yes we all know most jw bornins leave but a quarter give or take continue.
im going to argue that this is the only source of any increase.
those that leave are barely replaced if at all by new recruits in third world countries.
Maybe try looking at the world population growth vs Jehvah's Witnesses membership growth.
Jehovah's Witness annual growth is currently 2.4% (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses)
Worldwide population growth per annum is 1.4% (see: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=world+population+growth). Maybe JW born-ins are more than 1.4%? I know they were in my congregation. But to be fair we will take the 1.4% official figure.
So Jehovah's Witnesses are growing at 1% above general population growth.
This 1% growth rate is accounted for by the preaching efforts, which total around 1.2 billion hours per annum. That's 4,054 hours per convert. Image if that was paid work, it'd be somewhere around $40,000 to $80,000 per convert.
