If you’ve recently eaten or have a weak stomach, please stop reading here; I’m about to describe gangrene.
Gangrene is a condition that occurs when body tissue dies, typically due to loss of blood circulation. Blood constantly delivers nutrients as well as oxygen to all cells of the body inside and out, so without a constant supply of blood, cells that make up the tissue of the body die off, or they cannot fight infection and in turn, are damaged beyond repair.
Dry gangrene usually affects the hands and the feet; the tissue becomes bluish then black in color and falls away. Wet gangrene involves an infection and includes the formation of pus. Some types of gangrene can cause gasses to develop and that may travel inside the body, and which carry toxins and poisons with them. They can be fatal if not treated quickly.
Look, I warned you it was going to be unpleasant. As nasty as the condition sounds, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses, now that I’ve left the religion and dare to speak out against it, I am “gangrenous.” Toxic, gassy, and fatal is basically how they see me. Nice, huh? Consider:
Empty is One Thing, But Toxic and Gassy?
The April 15, 2013, Watchtower referred to “apostates” and their “gangrenous, empty speeches.” Apostates, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses, are those who have left the religion, and it’s a term that is most often used for those who speak out against it; people like me would be considered a full-blown apostate. The term is used in a derogatory manner, even though the word itself simply refers to someone who “forsakes his religion, cause, or party.” According to that definition, Jesus was an apostate, as were all the Jews who converted to Christianity after his death, and everyone who leaves another religion to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
That term aside, it’s the words “gangrenous” and “empty” that I find particularly noteworthy. I don’t mind saying that websites like mine are anything but empty; on this site I try to concentrate on the most horrific of practices and policies as well as behavior that is part of the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I see nothing “empty” about pointing out how they put pedophiles in positions of authority (this post), shun rape victims for “fornication” based on their own vague “discernment” of her claim of rape (this post and this post), and encourage women to stay with violent, abusive husbands (this post).
I’m not here to just “whine” about how being raised as a JW meant no birthday parties; I’m talking about children being raped and then ignored, with their rapist being virtually allowed to continue their crime unabated, women being beaten in their own homes and then lectured about how they’re the ones at fault, and rape victims being made to relive their ordeal in minute detail in front of a panel of judgmental men. The site JWfacts.com, one of the most-visited and well-reviewed sites about Jehovah’s Witnesses, presents a wealth of quotes from the literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves, noting how their doctrines have changed and prophecies have failed over the years. Nothing empty about that website either.
From the September 15, 2012 Watchtower. What Jehovah’s Witnesses think will soon happen to anyone who is not a JW.
Gangrenous is the especially slanderous word that should be considered. The very legitimate questions raised by anyone and everyone who knows this religion inside and out is not unhealthy and fatal; to the contrary, it’s very healthy to ask questions, challenge abusive doctrine and teaching, and expect answers from those in authority. It’s not toxic to look at policies that are so abusive and which often are not even based on the bible in the first place, and it doesn’t spread any type of poison to encourage others to simply start thinking for themselves and not blindly accept the word of mere men, especially men who have shown to be failures when it comes to bible understanding, prophecies and predictions.
I understand what Jehovah’s Witnesses are saying; to them, anyone who doesn’t believe the way they do is going to die a horrible, fiery death at Armageddon. However, as I’ve brought out in other posts, this is their interpretation of the bible, and their choice to believe this way. Rather than examining their own beliefs and teachings and seeing the damage it does to people to hold them captive to this fear, they instead simply say that anyone who teaches something different, or who criticizes them in any way, is dangerous and downright deadly.
Who Really is Spreading Toxins and Killing People?
As I bring out in this post, Jehovah’s Witnesses have also referred to “apostates” as being “mentally diseased.” I took personal exception to that, not just because it’s insulting, but because JWs are really the ones spreading toxins. You can browse this website and many like it and read how they hide pedophiles and allow them to have positions of authority in the congregation, encourage women to stay with abusive men, shun families and rape victims, teach their members to see others as nasty pest that should be exterminated, and say outlandish things about sexuality. These teachings spread a horrific poison of self-righteousness that borders on hatred of others, and which creates fractured families and re-victimizes those who have been raped and abused.
It’s not “diseased” to reveal these things, while the truth about the religion is what’s “toxic,” at least as far as I can see. Their teachings trap abuse victims and often result in anxiety, depression, panic, and even suicide. I spread information; they spread hate. You tell me which one of us is the real “gangrene.”
