Mind Control, Mind Control--Let's Take Our Minds Back!

Let's take an honest, truthful look at our system. It kinda sucks. We get up and work for people who don't care about us. We pay taxes to finance the whims of bankers we don't even know. Yet, we feel powerless. Kinda like ol' Morrissey here.

It's ok, man. Don't cry!

In order to assess our situation, we've got to come to terms with some basic facts, even if they make us shudder. FACT: There are powerful people controlling our planet. FACT: It's been that way for a long time. FACT: They know how to present themselves as sanctimonious leaders who'd never harm a fly, meanwhile the harm they've done and perpetuate is insurmountable. FACT: The controllers use institutions like religion, government and money to fool you into believing that you have no power to change things. Advertisement is a perfect example of this point. No other industry uses words to manipulate you to purchase products as effectively as advertisement. Take this ad for example:

Why is Dove using so many nasty words here in this otherwise beautiful graphic? How are they pulling my strings to get me to buy their product?

So, how have the controllers managed to pull the wool over our eyes for centuries? Through words! Linguistics, man. Don't believe me? Take a look:

Words get in everything. Sticky stuff.

Now more than ever, we need to use critical thinking when it comes to words and HOW they are used. The media and internet saturate us with words. Words paint pictures in our minds. It's how we process information, how we view ourselves. It's how we charge our perceptions. For example, I'll start by posing a you a question. If spirituality and religion got into a fight, who'd win? The debate's been going on for centuries and I'm telling you, it's one hell of a fight! I'd wager that your answer will depend on your point of view. Your point of view will be influenced by what images the words "spirituality" and "religion" convey in your mind and trigger in your emotions. Think about that for a second. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said "Everything we see is perspective, not truth." If that's the case, we've all got cataracts. Sometimes we hang on too much to our own perspective, when in fact, the truth is eluding us. Truth never wavers and sometimes will kick our ass into next week if we don't let go of our perceptions!!

 

A fight!

 So where to start learning how to use your mind? Here's a great place to start:

The Trivium is Latin for the three ways” or “the three roads” forming the foundation of a medieval liberal arts education. It has been suppressed and removed from modern education. Schools today only teach WHAT to think, (esp with "Common Core Curriculum) rather than HOW to think--which is the basis of TRUE EDUCATION. 

 That's heavy man. I gotta learn how to think in order to free myself of mind control? Look around. Our planet is saturated with people who don't use their minds. Who benefits? Sure as hell not you or me! It's a start, but it'll be well worth it when our minds are truly free.

What I Did On My Summer 2014 Vacation

So what did I do on my summer vacation? Hint: It's one of these 3 choices:






a) I rode around in my gangsta whitewalls.

b) I listened to Pharell's "Happy" until I was farting smiley faces.

c) I wrote a letter to the cult leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses.

If you picked "a," dream on! I live in NYC and parking's a real bitch here. If you picked "b," honey, I don't need Pharell to make me fart smiley faces! If you picked "c," you'd be right, and I'll FedEx your cookie to you.

Now, I was kicked out of that cult back in 1997, but I recently met people who have just left. Man, I remember the days and weeks after I left. I felt like I stepped into an upside down world! I had NOBODY to talk to. So I withdrew. I chilled out and refocused. It's OK to do that when you're confused. Then, I got lots of therapy. That's OK too. There's a lot of information to process. I also made a ton of mistakes. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that either. As long as you own up to them, mistakes can be used as learning curves! Most importantly, I read a TON of books. Knowledge is your way to freedom.

I wrote a letter to the JW cult leaders to speak out not just on behalf of myself. I wrote it for those who are still in the cult and can't express themselves due to the horrible mind fuck they get three times a week. I also wrote it for the ones who were banished like me. We were cut off from friends and family simply because of some bullshit constructs the cult leaders create. They feed millions of people unfounded "Biblical" rules purely to control them.

 Anyway you slice it, it's mind control. It happens everywhere and people must become aware of it.

Rather than spend my whole post writing about it, I invite you to read my letter on my friend, Noel Parsons' Open Letters to Governing Body blog. Noel's my role model! She's brave, strong and dedicated to putting real truth out there. The JW cult leaders will probably harass her what she's doing, but she holds her own. I'm standing right next to her with my fist in the air along with thousands of other awesome people.

YEAH!

In the meantime, I leave you with this video from Mind Control Survivor, Cathy O'Brien given at a conference called, appropriately enough, Free Your Mind. For those of us who have gone through mind-control, whether it's trauma or cult-based, Cathy O'Brien offers solutions for how to deal with the horrors of trauma. Until then, be free my friends!

Leaving the world of the JDUBs

Getting to Know the JDubs 

Yep. I was one of them. Jehovah's Witnesses. Perhaps you met them on one hungover Saturday when they unexpectedly knocked on your door and you then sent them all to hell. To which, they might've responded by asking, "what makes you believe in a fiery hell?" Not the best way to start your weekend. 

I'd have to say, despite their annoying tactics, they come across as nice people. That is, until you wish them a Merry Christmas. Don't get them started on that, 'cuz they will get weird! One time, I witnessed--you do a lot of witnessing as a Jehovah's Witness--a JW beating up a Christmas tree! I wish I were kidding but it actually happened. I was friends with a woman who was married to a guy who wasn't a witness. The JW's words for non-witnesses are "worldly" or "unbeliever," used interchangeably. Anyhow, as we were out all day fishing for converts, he decided to put up his tree. Big one too. When we walked into the house, she was so flabbergasted at the tree that she started wailing at it. I remember seeing ornaments flying everywhere. The tree wasn't having it though. Those tree branches started wailing back and it turned into a real fight! I had 50 bucks on the tree. 

They should have cast Jehovah as the Grinch!

The point of that story, is to illustrate how seriously Jehovah's Witnesses get with their beliefs. After all, everything that they read from their literature is to be taken without question and as fact. Besides not celebrating any holidays--including one's own birthday, they also believe that accepting a blood transfusion is a huge no-no. It may seem random to an "unbeliever," but their belief is that either you practice "blood abstinence" or you'll die in a fiery Armageddon. They even have little cards that say "No Blood." Once I got into an accident in a rough neighborhood and they found my "No Blood" card, so they shipped me off to the Crips Hospital. Imagine my dismay. I look like a smurf with those Blue bandanas. 

Only Jehovah's Witnesses and anorexic vampires need apply

I lived a Jehovah's Witness life because, like every other member, I was conditioned to believe that sacrificing my life to this institution/publishing corporation is the key to salvation. My parents raised me in the cult so leaving at that time was not an option. Becoming a Jehovah's Witness means going to the Kingdom Hall, knocking on stranger's doors looking for converts and accepting the entire JW doctrine without question. One also has to accept that a small group little old men in upstate NY called the "Governing Body" is the mouthpiece of God. Their worst doctrine by far is their policy of shunning anyone who decides that the JW lifestyle is not a good fit for his life. Leaving the mob is easier than leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses! More and more former Jehovah's Witnesses are being vocal about this horrible practice. For example, former member Brenda Lee, who is a long time anti-cult activist tells her story about growing up as a Jehovah's Witness and the cruel way her family shunned her after she left. Check out her story at http://www.outofthecocoon.net/

                                                                               Leaving the Cult (Yes, it's a cult. Get over it!)

The Jehovah's Witnesses disfellowshipped me because I had committed a "serious sin." The leaders of the cult, called "elders" had a meeting with me to discuss my future and my fate. They found me to be "unrepentant," which simply meant that I was unwilling to stop living my life to its fullest instead of being a drone. Although it was rough at the time, I didn't realize how much freedom I had given myself! The Jehovah's Witness life was all I knew up until that point, so leaving meant that my life would drastically change. It was an intense experience--like the day I went to see that Michael Bolton concert. I wanted Michael to notice me so badly and he didn't. Life's just not fair. 

 

Oh, Michael Bolton. Why won't you notice me???

When the JW's kicked me out, I was totally shunned. None of my childhood friends could even so much as look at me--as if I were that ugly! Anyhow, there's a whole controversy about their disfellowshipping policy. The Jehovah's Witness leaders aren't what you may call, merciful people. I committed a "serious sin" and could therefore never associate with Witnesses again. I know of mass murderers who get off with a lighter sentence than me! Watch any episode of Orange is the New Black and you'll see what I mean! 

 

To shun or not to shun? 

Anyhow after leaving, I did what any other rational person would do, I donated bags of clothes to Goodwill. What the hell else was I gonna do a closet full of tacky clothes?

Nobody should have to go through an experience like that. It's a humiliating, degrading and a terribly sad experience--kinda like watching a Jennifer Lopez movie. 

 

Anaconda--When you can't breathe, you can't scream. That's getting shunned by JW

If anyone reading this needs help after leaving the Dubs because of the trauma of shunning, I will refer you to the sites listed below. Please know you're not alone. There are others out there who have gone through disfellowshipping and/or disassociating and have gone on to live happy, productive lives. We ex Dubs are more than happy to help :)

http://gayxjw.org/

http://www.silentlambs.org/

jwsurvey

http://watchthetower.net/

There's plenty more, but those are enough to get you started on your quest for a meaningful life post Jehovah's Witnesses.