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Having grown up in this extremely high control group, I was exposed early on to their hatred of male longhairs but only recently have they taken to publishing videos condemning this group of humans. If you value your freedom, your individuality, your ability to express yourself and be authentic and above all, your hair, do NOT get involved with this group. They will love bomb you when you first get interested and will only mention your hair after they get their tentacles into you. By then their programming may have already taken hold and you will soon find yourself mutilated and your long hair gone.
I’m posting a link to a video made by an ex-Witness in which he offers a rebuttal to one of their videos. Go to 47:40 – 49:35 to see the part where he addresses their obsession with this topic. I just felt it would be a good idea to expose the hatred of this religion and the way they seek mandatory conformity at all costs.
I thought it odd a few years back when you came out as a Jehovah's Witness. I wondered how long until the buzzcut.
You're remembering the sequence in reverse. I could only grow out my hair after I left which I did around 2005.
Ah. That 'splains it. Sorry about the mixup.
No worries! It was one of the major reasons that I decided to leave. Their ever-changing teachings and Armageddon-is-coming-tomorrow fear-mongering also contributed.
The gods don't care about you hair, Jason. They just care if you're being a good person or not. As the old saying goes,"An harm thee none; do what thou will."
I prefer to be an atheist myself
I'm with you, Darrin. Christopher Hitchens used to say, "Religion poisons everything". When I look around the world today and see all the problems caused by the various religions, I think he might have been right.
Many thanks for sharing this interesting and personal story and thanks for the warning
I find it so strange that people feel the need to police other's appearance. What a waste of energy! I guess it's just all about control. But I don't understand that either. I don't want to control anyone or be controlled by anyone. There's no joy in either proposition.
I couldn't have said it better!
Hi Jason,
I can assure you that I will never be caught up in this nonsense! And I am very happy you are no longer involved with them. It is very sad when groups use their so-called teachings and such to prey on people. I still like the Slayer song "South of Heaven". Thanks for posting this-very good stuff.
Ted
I meant "Read Between the Lies".
They rang my doorbell earlier this week, I didn't answer. Left a flier in my door, pitched it in the recycling bin.
I remember you sharing about your efforts to free yourself of this church, and be free to answer that inner desire for long hair.
Never understood their rational since many biblical characters are men with rather long hair. At least your son has the freedom to choose that you were denied, so the cycle of religious oppression isn't continuing with the next generation. But I also remembered that you did this at a great personal sacrifice, as you have no contact with your JW family members.
Mormons and Southern Baptists also tend to be very anti-longhair, preferring your typical so-called 'clean cut' look.
Glad you are free of that toxic environment.
Cults are usually established the “guru” who is typically a malignant narcissist (personality disorder akin to sociopaths and psychopaths). They control other people and enjoy their suffering. The JWs seem to have grown so big that there is no further need for a human “guru”, but rather a corporate “Big Brother”. The system feeds from individual persons, and you will find this in politics and big business, not just religion.
I fully understand people who feel they need to stay away from organised religion and religious groups. If someone here is Christian and would like to be involved in a church community, I would recommend communities of Anglican tradition, either the Episcopal Church or one of the little minority churches. I have found that they donÂ’t seek to control people even if they are conservative for other things. One is likely to meet tolerance, inclusion, empathy and liturgy that uplifts through beauty and human art.
Stay away from fundamentalists, political ideologies and anything that seeks to re-make us in their image rather than uplift us as we are. The essential thing is not to depend on anything for our personal security, but rather find ourselves and be ourselves. Then we are defended from us who would exploit us.
One thing I would mention is in college I was on the committee that decided if a student organization would be recognized by the university. There were a number of cults who sought recognition but did not get it. When cults went looking for members they would seek out those who were loners, often depressed, and the would keep these prospective members awake for many days to make them more susceptible to the cults influence. These cults would also seek to isolate their prospective members from friends and family. For these reasons the university didn't recognize them. These groups are scary.
What a beautifully worded statement you made below, Anthony, I just love it! Very moving -- I couldn't have said it any better.
- Ken
--------------------
Here is my reply to them when they come knocking.
3 conditions
1) My hair and beard are non negotiable.
2) I will not get a suit and tie and go door to door.
3) Don't expect me in your Sunday or Wednesday night meetings for the entirety of flu season which can last for 6 to 8 months.
This always scares them off.
Scott
Saw this on facebook as to how to keep JehovahÂ’s Witnesses from knocking on your door.
Others have done things like answering the door nude.
I have dome friends that were JehovahÂ’s Witnesses (emphasis on were JehovahÂ’s Witnesses. That ended after they moved out their
parents house. )
Ha! I love this idea! I bet they would put that house on the definite do not knock blacklist!
Ted
For what it is worth, not quite nude and looking rough got us on the blacklist PDQ!
Thanks for the comments everyone.
My life is definitely 100% better since leaving this religion. I do stay abreast of current developments in it partially out of morbid curiosity and also because I still have lots of family in it.
I'm happy to say that I've had some contact over the last two years with some of them. I've had cousins come and stay at my home. One wanted to argue and I did defend my position whereas the other one just skipped talking about religion altogether which was my preferred stance.
Occasionally, though, things will bring up my anger over their policies and this video certainly did. How dare they show long hair being cut and portray it as an act of fealty to God! Who would even want to serve some deity so obsessed with the minutia of how a person feels comfortable with aspects of their own body?
Of course one could ask what kind of God would give males the ability to grow their long and then get all bent out of shape about that male growing their long?
Here is a thought: if God wanted me to have short hair then why wouldn't God have given me hair that stops growing after a certain length? Since may hair grows shouldn't I keep it long to use my God given ability to grow my hair long?
Since I can grow my hair, maybe God is telling me to never cut my hair?
Hi Jason,
Thank you so much for posting this extremely interesting thread! As you know, I was raised a Christian Scientist -- which is definitely considered a highly "unusual" upbringing; but for totally different reasons. In general, Christian Science churches do NOT try to personally control people (although unfortunately there has been the occasional individual Christian Scientist or 2 who have tried their best to be a control-freak towards others; but hey, it's hard to control the "control-freaks" within ANY organization, even if the organization itself openly states that it disapproves of such - LOL)....
"You belong to that church that doesn't believe in going to doctors, right?", was the question I was most often asked as a kid. Oddly enough, Christian Scientists regularly go to dentists, though! (Go figure that one out - LOL!!)
I took my first ever Aspirin pill when I was 37 years old (no really, I'm not kidding here)! I had just had some major dental work done (my first root canal, if I'm remembering correctly) -- I had no problem giving permission to the dentist giving me some Novocaine; but when he sent me home with a couple of Aspirin pills for me to take later-on, I just assumed I didn't need them, so quietly tossed them into the garbage... several hours later, I was in horrific pain, thinking maybe the dentist had messed up somehow -- so I went back to him the next day.
"Did you take your Aspirin?", he asked me right away.
"No", I sheepishly replied.
"Besides lessening the pain", he explained, "it will help reduce the swelling -- which is why you are in so much pain right now!"
"Oh!" (Doh!!) I honestly didn't know anything about Aspirin at all though, because nobody had ever explained it that way to me before, since i was raised completely without it in our house when I was growing up!
... Just thought you'd get a kick out of hearing that little story, since it's a good example of how isolated people can be who have been raised in unusual religious upbringings, THERE IS SO MUCH TO LEARN in the big "outside" world!!! Re. long hair on men though: there have been many a Christian Scientist, from as far back as I can remember, who have grown their hair out (even to extreme lengths, like butt-length for example) -- yes, the older generation of Christian Scientists disapproved by lowering their eyebrows at longhairs when I was a kid; but other than that, it was never a big deal in the church.
- Ken
Hi Ken,
Thanks for relating your own story of an unusual religious teaching. I like to think of God being better than to be worried about hair length or whether an aspirin is taken!
Best,
Jason