i wasn't alive for this but my parents and many old timers told me that at one point it was pretty much a rule that you couldn't go to college.
some of you may remember that from that time.
over time they relaxed that rule to that you did what you had to do in order to provide for yourself.
XBEHERE: Social pressure from other members is the true cornerstone of this religion.
This is so true. Obviously all of us here know it, but clearly people outside of the religion do not. I'm not convinced the average R&F JW is consciously aware of it either even though the majority clearly succumb to it.
It's very devious because it gives the WT leadership plausible deniability while simultaneously exerting significant manipulation and control.
Let's review: It's a cult!
i wasn't alive for this but my parents and many old timers told me that at one point it was pretty much a rule that you couldn't go to college.
some of you may remember that from that time.
over time they relaxed that rule to that you did what you had to do in order to provide for yourself.
In the late '80s - mid 2000s it was "a conscience matter." But we all know what that means: anyone that went to college was viewed with suspicion.
I was actually serving as an elder when the WTBTS sent a letter out changing the policy. I'm pretty sure this was the summer of 2006 or early fall of that year, I'm not sure what month. But the letter stated that anyone that pursued higher education (HE) would not qualify for "privileges." If an "appointed man's" children pursed HE, his "qualifications" would be called into question.
I distinctly remember the letter because I had been attending university at the time on the downlow and felt very upset because of this policy change with no justification and explanation. I also felt upset because now something that had been "a conscience matter" was now to be viewed as being disloyal to Jehovah. I had just finished my degree a month or so before the letter was received by and read among the elder body.
I remember thinking: If this letter had come just a couple of months earlier, I would have been faced with the decision of abandoning my degree weeks before graduating or resigning as an elder.
an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.
" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.
even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.
Interesting.
What is the source for these figures?
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
GreatTeacher: I think on some level they know that they have issues. So they like to surround themselves with people that tell them how wonderful they are. They're like good mirrors. Then, when you call them out on their bad behavior, you become the bad mirror, reflecting back to them their own brokenness. And they can't stand it and they lash out.
Great point.
Leaving the religion doesn't necessarily mean overcoming our "issues." In fact, there is no reason to believe that we would--without a great deal of careful introspection and hard work--overcome those issues. Even this it is hard slogging.
People generally continue to act as they were raised. It's classic operant conditioning and behaviorism.
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
POM, I'm sorry I even bothered to offer advice to you. Clearly, you don't take any criticism well.
Self-indulgent fantasies of revenge may seem cathartic, but they don't help a person grow. I'll admit, the sci-fi twist on torture you wish upon your mother is creative, but it really is just a high-tech version of hell.
The eternal punishment and humiliation you describe betrays a mindset that is no different from the vicious desert god, Jehovah, which you claim to hate.
That you would devote so much vitriol against me merely because I described your version of justice and retribution as "mean," tells much about you.
You have taken offense to my personal opinion about one aspect of your OP and made that the sole focus of your comments directed at me. Yet you have failed to respond to any of my comments intended to be constructive and helpful.
I'm glad you were able to "save" your family from the cult.
Your mean-spirited comments about my children are very unkind and hurtful. But I guess that's just who you are.
Oubliette
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
Paul, no one needs any special training to know that you are responding in kind to your mother.
You need to let it go if you are ever going to move forward. The way you are now, you are just being like her.
Attacking me changes nothing. It actually proves that you know I'm right.
I hope you get better.
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
POM,
You obviously have a lot of anger as do I.
I do think the WT leaders are fuckers and need to be held accountable for their actions. I thought that then and I still think that now. I also think your mother should be held accountable for her actions.
I also know that holding on to anger is not good for us. I speak from experience. I'm not judging you and so there is no need to be defensive.
My degrees are in business, music and education. I have a masters in education and teach science at the high school level: biology, chemistry and physics. Although I do not have a degree in psychology, my training as a scientist has helped me to approach a study of subjects outside of my academic study with the same methodology and rigor as those I studied in university.Psychology is a subject that I have studied extensively for many decade, particularly in reference to how a person can fall victim to manipulation in interpersonal relationships and religious organizations.
I am only trying to be helpful. Your defensive responses suggest I hit a nerve.
Oubliette
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
POM: You go right ahead and keep loving that type of person if you want.
I didn't say you should love her or even forgive her or keep her in your life. I said your response was mean.
We can't heal if we allow abusers to remain in our life. Toxic relationships need to end.
I'm encouraging you to not respond in kind. Clearly you are not ready to get there, but given the abuse you've received that is not surprising.
Oubliette
over the years, i have seen a change in heart with the country i grew up in and the general view of what they perceive as how everyone should view things in relation to morality.
a strictly religious country for centuries now forever changed within a short number of years.
i have also seen the viewpoint on this site gradually change in many ways.
Since this is your "very last post," I suppose there's no real point in responding to you. So I will write this for lurkers:
This site is for ex- and want to be ex-JWs: people that have come to learn that this religion is a scam, its leaders are liars and hypocrites, people that need affirmation and comfort and maybe a little guidance and direction.
The question in the OP is a false dichotomy.
The world is most definitely NOT getting worse, all assertions to the contrary are based on delusions, not reality. This not to say that there are not a number of very serious issues which mankind should deal with--ironically almost all self-induced--but it is to say that in fact we are as a species evolving and getting more rational and less violent.
If you don't believe that it is only because you refuse to accept reality.
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
paulmolark,
What your mother did, and has done, to you is evil. She is clearly fully indoctrinated into the cult.
But what you said in response was just mean.
Please try and outgrow the need to respond in kind. Doing anything else destroys your soul.
Oubliette
