Posts by Xanthippe

63

Sister may have had a slight heart attack, do I text her?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

so my cousin phoned and told me my jw sister was taken to hospital with chest pains and it may have been a slight heart attack or possibly she's starting with angina.

now as some of you know my sisters and brother have had little to do with me for 29 years.

we've met at funerals, or arranged them, but i just thought today what if she did die?

Xanthippe

Thank you everyone I really appreciate your taking the time to reply.

Truthseeker, exactly, I do think about what happens down the line. Perhaps if they wake up and if I've made it clear the door to me and my daughter is completely shut.

LisaRose, I would like to send a brief text yes, that feels like a normal response to this news.

Ding, yes I have been thinking about that, if I get no response. Can I handle it. That is the crux of the matter I think.

Hybridous, yes I'm not struggling with what's right or wrong in other people's eyes but what will cause me the least harm. I like what you said, an acknowledgment of my sister's health problems is not an attempt to repair our relationship. Yes I'm sure there is a way to make that clear in a text so I won't feel bad if she doesn't reply.

Millie it does comfort me enormously to know you guys on here are going through similar things, thank you. Doing what will ensure I have no regrets. I like that very much. I am going to give that some thought.

63

Sister may have had a slight heart attack, do I text her?

by Xanthippe in

jw
friends

so my cousin phoned and told me my jw sister was taken to hospital with chest pains and it may have been a slight heart attack or possibly she's starting with angina.

now as some of you know my sisters and brother have had little to do with me for 29 years.

we've met at funerals, or arranged them, but i just thought today what if she did die?

Xanthippe

So my cousin phoned and told me my JW sister was taken to hospital with chest pains and it may have been a slight heart attack or possibly she's starting with angina. Now as some of you know my sisters and brother have had little to do with me for 29 years. We've met at funerals, or arranged them, but I just thought today what if she did die?

Of course I've thought this before. My decision to stop contact my family is because of their abusive manipulation. They can seem fine at funerals and make a fuss of my daughter, kissing her as if they saw her the previous week when in fact they've barely had anything to do with her in 22 years, even when her dad died and she was just a child.

Then after a funeral it all goes back to me trying to phone them and they either end the call or are monosyllabic, letting me know in no uncertain terms l am persona non grata and they shouldn't really be speaking to me. As you can imagine I got fed up with that and felt that I shouldn't reward their bad behaviour by continuing to contact them only to be treated like a leper again.

My question is would you just send a text? I was thinking of saying my cousin phoned and told me etc etc. I thought I might say I thought a text would be better then her husband can't overhear a phone call and better than a visit that might be seen by all these people that might be stumbled.

She pretends her husband is really strict but he's not! She wouldn't meet up with me for a coffee after both our parents' funerals because she said someone in her congregation might be stumbled!

I don't know, I'm always trying to second guess them instead of trying to be human and 'normal'. Probably because all my attempts to be human and normal have failed over and over again.

Anyway any thoughts please would be helpful.

27

Tell me if I’m wrong - Jeffery Jackson is not a governing body member.

by Truth and Justice in

jw
friends

yesterday, i had my sister come over to tell my mother and i that she will no longer have anything to do with us, because we need to come back to the meetings, it’s what jehovah wants, and hands her a letter to read and asks for a final hug.

my mother has been dealing with a terrible lost of dad since july, and has been very ill with stress because of it.

i no longer belong to the organization either, and i have been helping my mother out thru this ordeal, it is just as rough on me.

Xanthippe

I'm so sorry for the loss of your father in July. This is so evil, what this cult has demanded your sister does to you and your poor grieving mother. I'm so sorry. My two sisters and brother did this to me and my daughter after her dad died when she was 13, after as you say token funeral and one or two more visits. I'm really horrified and my heart goes out to you. You are right, evert thing you said about Jackson and the ARC is true, don't doubt yourself. My heartfelt condolences to you and your mother

57

What to Do....Please Help. Awakening JW for a very long time

by CovertsadJW in

good afternoon , .

i have been having doubts for many years and as most jw's i have certainly not done myself a favor by suppressing all of my critical thinking.

i am married with 3 kids and my wife and i are inactive, but my wife has made it very clear in speech and action that she wants to go to all meetings, field service, and indoctrinate our kids.

Xanthippe

I also believe newly awakened JWs often have feelings of embarrassment and shame for even having considered anything against the JW religion ....These feelings are purposely programmed by WT to prevent JWs from reading, listening, viewing, thinking or speaking anything critical of the religion

Incognito is right, the programming is very, very strong. Don't underestimate the mental manipulation of this cult.

As an example even now after 29 years out I feel a moment's embarrassment at laughing at a dirty joke and I used to think it was because of our sexually repressed upbringing in the religion. Then I realised I was ashamed because we were taught not to laugh at anything sexual because it's a gift from God. All things are clean to clean people, blah blah, blah.

I'm not sexually repressed now but still feel a slight pang of shame going against the JW programming. Believe me the mind control of this religion would surprise even the KGB.

37

Thank you, George Couch!

by charonsdog in

i just thought i'd share this story from my past.. back in the 80s i remember the big problem seemed to be about music.

(today, it's tight pants, i guess) the organization, society, whatever they were calling themselves, were always going on about the music we listened to.

disco, heavy metal, the whole "backwards masking" thing...couldn't escape hearing or reading about how satan was corrupting us unless we were listening to kingdom melodies or elevator music.. i was assigned to wtf in the late 80s and remember one of the articles stating that "young people know that the rhythm of rock music is the rhythm of sexual intercourse.

Xanthippe

Yeah I remember this. It was all about rock being based on African music which was all about sex, same rhythm or something. I don't know what those GB were doing in their private rooms but we could never keep up with African music and dance. Perhaps they had a little premature problem.

22

It’s My Anniversary!

by jp1692 in

today is the four year anniversary of the last time i set foot in a kingdom hall.

it was the day of the kool-aid issue of the wt!

“at that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint.

Xanthippe

Happy Anniversary jp1692. I'm glad you're no longer trapped in that dark dungeon of a cult.

It will be twenty-nine years for me next month. It's been interesting.

57

What to Do....Please Help. Awakening JW for a very long time

by CovertsadJW in

good afternoon , .

i have been having doubts for many years and as most jw's i have certainly not done myself a favor by suppressing all of my critical thinking.

i am married with 3 kids and my wife and i are inactive, but my wife has made it very clear in speech and action that she wants to go to all meetings, field service, and indoctrinate our kids.

Xanthippe

It sounds like cognitive dissonance is making her very angry, a battle is going on inside her. That doesn't makes the abusive behaviour any easier to take. Some great advice here CovertsadJW. All the best to you going forward.

13

The anonymity of Jehovah's Witness material

by stuckinarut2 in

is it vital for credibility to have the name of the writer of an article referenced?.

does this allow for honesty and accountability?

does this assist in ensuring that whatever is presented is as factual as possible, or not biased in some way toward the religion's ideas?.

Xanthippe

I can't believe that all these years they've got away with saying 'one scientist says' or 'one historian writes'. Nobody with any education would try and get away with writing an article like that. They have graduates and lawyers working for them. They didn't submit essays and dissertations without footnotes and bibliographies!

14

Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History

by pseudoxristos in

jw
friends

i found the following article to be a nice contrast to the jw's gloomy point of view.. why 2017 was the best year in human history.

we all know that the world is going to hell.

given the rising risk of nuclear war with north korea, the paralysis in congress, warfare in yemen and syria, atrocities in myanmar and a president who may be going cuckoo, you might think 2017 was the worst year ever.. but you’d be wrong.

Xanthippe

Pseudoxristos, thank you! Charities around the world are helping people work their way out of poverty, providing clean drinking water, fighting disease by vaccinating children, building schools and so much more. Some of this is funded by rich donors and corporations but much of it is donated by ordinary people who care. It's a great world, I'm proud to be a citizen of it.

13

Subliminal Messages

by Lost in the fog in

i was watching a fascinating ted-ex video on hypnosis and hypnotism with a friend.

my friend wondered if the jws new music might have a hypnotic suggestion buried somewhere in it which gets everyone in attendance to listen and absorb stuff that is totally irrational for the entire program.

ending with a second subliminal message in the final song along the lines of "you will snap out of this state when you next hear the word amen.

Xanthippe

More likely JWs are in a trance state on a day to day basis. Psychologists say many people live in a kind of trance, not thinking deeply about anything, not being self-reflective about their actions, just going with the flow.