"Staying Alive Until 1975" My Story of Growing Up a Jehovah Witness With Severe Ulcerative Colitis.
I remember where i was when i heard that President John Kennedy was assassinated.With the same vivid recall i also remember exactly where i was in 1967 at age 10 when i heard the Watchtower (Jehovah's Witnesses) announce the end of the world was coming in 1975.
Young Jehovah's Witness men were being sent to prison for refusing to serve in the Vietnam war and i would just miss my destiny by a few months.All i had to do was trust and serve Jehovah God and the Watchtower organization with all my heart and i "would stay alive till 75".
Little did i know the catastrophic cascade of events that were to befall me when in the fall of 1970 my first symptoms of devastating ulcerative colitis was to appear.Ulcerative colitis like crohn's disease is IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease).
Little was known about the pathology back then and most of it was wrong.I was told that it was caused by stress and i attributed my dysfunctional difficult life as a young Jehovah's Witness as the source.
The origin of this thinking was that stomach ulcers were caused by stress induced stimulation of hydrochloric acid which ate holes in the mucosa wall.Now we know that stomach ulcers are actually caused by a little bacterium bug called H.pylori and stress has little to do with it.Think about this,there are millions of people everywhere with life's of stressed induced hardships and they DON'T get ulcers.
The worst thing you an tell a patient who is already stressed out is that their illness is caused my stress and put them on a self imposed guilt trip for it.
Now we know that it's almost certainly an auto-immune disorder like rheumatoid arthritis and stress,strength or defects of character have little bearing on the course of the disease.It's an idiopathic disorder which is a big doctor word meaning;'it comes and goes when it wants to and no one knows what causes it'.
I do know this for certain,because of the Watchtower organization's promise of a 'new world' in 1975 my disease was woefully mismanaged.I neglected my health care believing in the bogus false promise that 'any day' i would be in the 'new system' and Jehovah God would cure me forever.
Now we know that it's almost certainly an auto-immune disorder like rheumatoid arthritis and stress,strength or defects of character have little bearing on the course of the disease.It's an idiopathic disorder which is a big doctor word meaning;'it comes and goes when it wants to and no one knows what causes it'.
I do know this for certain,because of the Watchtower organization's promise of a 'new world' in 1975 my disease was woefully mismanaged.I neglected my health care believing in the bogus false promise that 'any day' i would be in the 'new system' and Jehovah God would cure me forever.
1975 came and went and the Watchtower has now denied LIED ever making that end of the world prediction.
The disease was to continue to ravage me for another 23 years until my bowel finally gave out and i had to have a total proctocolectomy with an ileostomy appliance (colostomy bag)
The disease was to continue to ravage me for another 23 years until my bowel finally gave out and i had to have a total proctocolectomy with an ileostomy appliance (colostomy bag)
Ulcerative colitis because it is confined only to the large intestine can be cured with this surgery,remember from high school anatomy class the large bowel is a storage hold and not essential for life so it can be taken out you just have to wear a bag.Unfortunately poor folks with crohn's disease which can involve the entire digestive tract don't usually have this straightforward option.
It is now well into the 21st century and i have a life now that is second to none.The devout are growing old and dying in the Jehovah's Witnesses just like everyone else and i now have had to come to terms with my own eventual mortality.
If you have IBD don't be intimidated please seek out a crohn's and colitis or ostomy support group and if there is none in your area go online,same goes if your still a Jehovah's Witness.There is much better treatment today and there is a good life after surgery.
It is now well into the 21st century and i have a life now that is second to none.The devout are growing old and dying in the Jehovah's Witnesses just like everyone else and i now have had to come to terms with my own eventual mortality.
If you have IBD don't be intimidated please seek out a crohn's and colitis or ostomy support group and if there is none in your area go online,same goes if your still a Jehovah's Witness.There is much better treatment today and there is a good life after surgery.
Hey,ostomates like me can never get colon cancer because we don't have a colon anymore,or for that matter we don't have any of the other 'problems' associated with that part of the anatomy.
There is also a good life after the Watchtower.Cheers,Danny Haszard Bangor Maine Watchtower Jehovah's Witness Whistleblower
"Out of the Cocoon"-A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult"
Brenda Lee’s heart-wrenching, yet inspiring tale about her battle to escape from the Watchtower Jehovah Witness after enduring years of dysfunction and abuse.
The author begins by reliving the innocence of childhood as she nostalgically transports you back in time to a 100-year-old farm in rural Pennsylvania, where she filled her carefree days by swinging from vines, raising farm animals as pets, romping through the forests, and plunging from the hayloft. Once “The Friends” knock on the door, however, Brenda Lee’s childhood and innocence dramatically disappear.
But the author refuses to become a victim and, like a butterfly, she learns to change the world within her when her external world becomes unbearable. After surviving years of stifling oppression and isolation, she emerges from her cocoon and learns some startling things about her family, this “wicked world,” and herself. In time, she learns to forgive not only those who tormented her, but also the mother who disowned her.
Anyone who has experienced abuse, alcoholism, single parenthood, depression, or a parent’s rejection will identify with the author’s remarkable journey. Get out the tissues, because in one minute you will cry and in the next you will laugh aloud. Let Brenda Lee take you from the depths of despair to the highest mountain, cast you off, and show you how to spread your wings and fly.
For an autographed copy of this book, go to http://www.outofthecocoon.net
WHY-Jehovah's Witnesses don't do Christmas
I was born Jehovah's Witness 1957 3rd generation.Yes,we didn't celebrate Christmas and were miserable the rest of the year too.
The reason JW's don't do Christmas is because their Watchtower cult leaders say so,the holiday has pagan aspects to it and by rejecting it the Watchtower appears "pure".
This "demand for purity" is one of the 8 marks of a cult.NOW the Watchtower can use this purity diversion to distract from their own practice of wicked deeds.
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Danny Haszard Bangor Maine www.dannyhaszard.com expert witness on the Jehovah Witness
