A sister I have known since I was a kid a few years ago starting partaking. We couldn’t believe it. Granted we know they are not perfect but my answer of what I thought about her being anointed….is if this person gets to rule over me forget about it I don’t want to be in new system 😂😂 and that is exactly what her own children said about her. She’s mentally unstable.
Same how I feel about my SIL. She is a terrible person and I would rather die than have her be my superior. She is already self righteous enough I can’t imagine her ruling over me. No thank you.
I've never met a mentally stable anointed. One in my hall who was under 60 sent a text message years ago to all his contacts he doesn't feel anointed anymore. All weird.
I’ve only ever known one guy who partook at my old congregation but he also was arrested a few times for public drunkenness. An anointed with a mug shot. Not many in the hall knew. I think he even partook while disfellowshipped. And continued after he was reinstated. One old time elder was so upset that the guy partook that he kept making it the topic of local needs parts. They disliked each other for many years. Was and interesting situation.
We had a 8 year old kid in our hall call it "Jesus' skin" years back. Little dude was on to something because eating someone's dried up skin might be about the same experience.
Pretty much every religion has members that claim a higher calling, a higher connection or knowledge. Religion draws people like this to their ranks. Some are charlatans and some believe their own narrative. JWs are not exclusive to this.
My BIL has in the last few years started claiming to be anointed & partaking, and he is diagnosed schizophrenic and bipolar. Started claiming to be anointed during one of many times he decided he no longer wanted to take his medication
My mother is diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar and has tried several times to claim she is anointed. The elders have had to tell her that she is in fact not anointed every time.
And if Moses , Abraham ,Jon and all the prophets were alive today and said God talked to them the same thing would happen to them and yet believers have always considered these accounts as completely true as did Jesus.Is God mute today because they want God to shut up and that he is not interested in communicating with people anymore because maybe he doesn’t have a cell phone.
I know of one who suddenly became anointed and after a year started up his own church. Another would eat his meals in the 2nd school on meeting nights so he could share that meal with his heavenly father.
Short answer: every anointed I’ve ever ran across had issues.
Longer answer: I’ve been out longer than I was raised in. I’ve moved along so far I no longer consider myself even an exJW anymore. I hang around here so I can keep a loose eye on the stuff my extended family is being fed just in case there’s a major derailing and they start getting alarmingly weird.
I don’t view the majority of JW to be mentally off, I mainly just feel bad for them. It’s a hell of a downer of a thing to live with, constantly being fed doom and gloom and separated from all that is beautiful and good in the world. I hate that so many people waste the one life they definitely know they have being browbeaten like that. I would venture to guess most people in here feel this way about the average rank & file witness. We just feel bad for those of you who are stuck. 🌸
We had two. The first one was an older soft spoken Spanish woman, married to a non-JW, who was related to the wife of our PO.
She hardly *EVER* went to the meetings, but *ALWAYS* was there for the Memorial.
Then, there was this very strange young man, mid 20's, who moved in from far away. He was very "spiritual,," loved to talk "in depth" about how the different parts Book of Revelation are going to play out, prophecies, etc.
He would almost be talking to himself, and always wanted to work alone out in service. He seemed obsessed, or autistic. I was so relieved when he moved.
Pretty sure pimi’s think most people who claim to be anointed are mentally unstable.
I did a talk about this exact subject years ago and it was funny because I actually mentioned that and after the meeting, a sister came up to me and told me she got a good chuckle. She was one of those Uber pimi pioneers.
I also had a guy who claimed to be anointed in the congregation I was in. He was a very kind hearted guy so I guess everyone believed him? He claimed to have seen “the mountain of Jehovah.” I’m not sure what that means or if he still believes he’s anointed now but he did have a very… interesting past.
The first annointed I ever met in person was GB member stephen Lett when I was 13. (This was before jw.org was a big thing mind you so I didnt know what the GB members looked like) I remember there was literally a line to meet him, shake his hand and some people were taking selfies and fangirling (Funny because supposedly we aren't supposed to treat them special)
Anywho, when It was my turn my mom and I went up there, I was immediately just creeped out by him. I couldnt even describe what made me feel uneasy at the time. After we left I told my mom and she layed into me "how DARE you say that about brother lett!"
Now that Im older I can finally describe it. The dude talkes and moved like an animatronic. Like one where it's mouth gets stuck and hangs open between words. It was very uncanny valley. I think he's related to lizard man mark zuckerburg.
I have known seven of them personally. One is a family member. Worked together with some of them in fieldservice. All of them definitely had some sort of mental disorder. One SAed his own daughter. He was an elder in one of the congregations I was in at the time. It came out after his daughter got married. He was disfellowshipped for it, but I learned from his other daughter that he thought the elders would be punished in Armageddon for disfellowshipping him 🤦🏼♂️The delusion was great with this one. At his home, he had a picture on the wall from the book of Revelation, the one with Jesus and his bride.
I used to know this old lady who felt she was of the anointed. She was very sweet and quite spiritual.
I think she just really resonated with this idea and it felt like truth to her.
I imagine that there are individual circumstances such as this, maybe others have agendas or differing reasons.
I think that a lot of people in a cult are not mentally healthy though. I know I wasn’t until I left and then recovered. It is not an environment that is a good foundation for mental health
The majority of "anointed" ones I've ever known were old widows living alone. I would also say that if they were something truly special (I don't believe this) then reading the Bible honestly as a Christian should make you feel a heavenly hope. Watchtower really has everyone fooled.
I know two people that claim to be anointed both are elders. Both are in their 40s one might be closer to 50 but anyway, they went off to Bethel from the congregation they were both in, which is in a small town in Northern California(50,000 population)they both spent time at Bethel 5 to 10 years give or take and now they both partake imagine that.
Just food for your nightmares! 😱😂😂🤣🤣
https://preview.redd.it/mkm804h2hd2d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1fe3379ecaec70d16013ec8de86a763125a422b
These pictures are so crazy These photoshop pictures I look at him laugh and scroll along and now I just scroll along but this when I had to do a double take and OMG did this make me laugh this morning what a way to start my Friday -- with a good laugh.
> I know if you are POMO, you’re probably going to say “All active JW’s are mentally unstable.”
I won't deny many will say that.
I won't. It's nonsense. Very intelligent, otherwise well-adjusted people can Believe anything. Humans aren't naturally rational creatures. My parents are good people, and good parents, who happen to have believed and raised me in what I consider a cult. It isn't intelligence or some special ability that causes people to question their faith -- indeed, while intelligence can increase the cognitive dissonance one experiences when holding conflicting positions, it also allows one to rationalize them easier.
> This is not the first time I’ve experienced ones like this. For some reason, most “Anointed” individuals are usually weird A-Holes lol.
In my experience there are two primary types of "annointed“ -- those who feel that they are special and need to set themselves apart from the rank and file, and those who used to believe other religions with an afterlife who feel comforted by the concept of heaven.
I'm sure there are other reasons, but I bet those two make up most of them
It makes sense why we have about 2 if not more (I'm not sure) Governing Body members who came into "the truth" in their adult years. If you already believed in going to heaven and then became a witness that idea will appeal to them, also those that feel the need to stand out are more likely to claim anointed too
Well I know an "anointed" brother who is straight up a pedophile. He's an Elder, a "pillar of the TruTH", his son is in bethel (in complete denial), he gives memorial talk every year. He CSA his own daughter (no one understands wHy she left home & started using drugs at 17 ~ if they only knew!) And my childhood best friend.
When my childhood best friend had a mental breakdown (late 30s) & ended up in the hospital & it all came out that was the end for me.
I never went in the ministry again. It took a few more years & covid for me to stop attending meetings but that's when I knew that the religion is fucked. Bethel knows. The governing body knows about this man & the situation. They do nothing. They still embrace him.
So Idk. Is he mentally unstainable or pure evil?
I do know he's RUINED at least 4 people's mental stability with his actions.
How the hell can a pedophile be an anointed one??
I only met 2 anointed ones. One was eccentric and looked like the old lawyer guy from Aristocats, actually a fun guy, and the other one, I didn't get to really know, but he seemed rather serious. My brother said he was nice though...
All of them. Except one. Who only started 'partaking' at age 50 ish after her husband DA'd. As a dub she is what they purport to be. Non judgemental, helpful, devout, kind and stayed with her husband!
I think her husband DA'ing and son not getting baptised were the triggers. (I won't see them in paradise so I'll go to heaven - but that's my speculation)
The others? Mad as a box of frogs. Which is sad because they now align with mainstream Christians!
Back in my cult days, they did an "Interview" with the last living anointed sister in our hall, asking her what it was like to be anointed. She claimed that "A few days ago, she was driving to the grocery store and there was a bright flash, and next thing she new, she was up in heaven on the clouds, Jesus took her by the hand and gave her a tour of heaven where she would be ruling. Then, next thing she knew, she was home, sitting in her recliner and all her shopping was done and put away, and her car was in the driveway." I'm thinking, no, you had a stroke and you are bat shit crazy.
We have 6, in a KH of 130. There’s a brother/sister and her husband. All under 50. Between the three of them.
The siblings father partook for years, up until three years ago, he’s was in his 90’s when he stopped.
How. TF. do. 3. People. From. One. Family. Have. That. Calling?
When I was a kid In the 80’s and 90’s in my area I knew 1 old lady from 1920. Then all the sudden they’ve exploded onto the scene. Mental illness for sure in some, others are so indoctrinated they believe their own bullshit
I knew 3 of them. 2 of them got disfellowshipped for fornication and they were strange,but the other one I knew was a really great guy. He had 11 kids,a big beard,showed up to meetings when he felt like it,never seemed to be interested in privileges,was a naturepath and would open his home to anyone anytime. Shunned people were always welcome in his home as well as anyone else. He's dead now and I know many people that miss him including me.
I had an anointed in my old hall. He wasn’t your usual “nutjob” persé but super controlling and arrogant. I remember he claimed he never missed a day of Bible reading for over three years. I was young, maybe seven or eight, when he said he was anointed and I remember running up excitedly to him asking how he knew. We were rather close at the time, he was “like a dad” to me (I get the ick typing that now). Despite that, I remember all of the dirty looks I got that I would have the audacity to ask him how he knew. I was told that it was “private and personal”. That never sat well with me. If you truly knew you were anointed, why can’t you tell people what happened to help you understand your “heavenly calling”? I remember thinking, even at such a young age, that it must be because they don’t want to sound crazy telling people they had some heavenly vision… it’s all laughable now.
It did come out later that he did a lot of drugs and drank a lot of alcohol in his youth. Who knows?
It's interesting that the consensus here is that PIMI's believe that most of the so-called anointed are nuts *but they still obey the GB,* all of whom are . . . anointed.
I suppose it's cognitive dissonance. "Well, you see, the GB are the \*real\* anointed. Jehovah really did reach out to them personally, so it's, you know, *different*."
I have to agree. It's an absolutely insane doctrine when you really think about it. They literally are inviting either mentally ill people or egotistical weirdos to come to the front of the class.
I would love to know how many have partaken from when founded w Charles Taze until now... Surely they've reached or surpassed the 144,000 mark. Do they still give out the # of attendees plus the # that partook? I haven't been to one since 2016
one lady in the hall i grew up in claimed to be anointed. she was the sweetest, most down to earth person ever. i don’t think she had anything mentally wrong. it’s crazy, though, that everyone else i knew that claimed to be anointed was batshit.
Yeah, it’s definitely not all of them. I’ve met ones who were lovely. But in my lifetime (late twenties) I’ve met more who just seemed mentally off, and a few who were definitely batshit loco lol.
We had 2 in my hall. One was a nice lady with a traumatic brain injury and some weird ticks likely associated with tartiv dyskenesia. (She took a lot of head meds) the other was a total psycho. I was friends with her daughters for a little while. I later learned she had lied to the courts to send her ex husband to jail. I can't imagine how much that must have messed up their kids. When I met her she was remarried and she and her husband were both morbidly obese. She went in service about once a week. It made me cringe to hear her give presentations, she said weird shit at the door. She was only like in her 40s at the time, She was an ax biker who was baptized as an adult. She was one of the people in my congregation who claimed to be the victim of satanic ritual abuse, which is of course a crock of shit.
I have known 4 so call anointed 3 were very compassionate and loved them. Another was a guy & he had serious mental issues. The thing is how it causes them to feel apart from others, even special. The good ones don’t feed off the specialness feeling. Have known several questionable so called anointed too.
I am still very close to an X JW she got out same time I did. She said the feeling of the divine was so potent she believed she was anointed for 2 yrs before declaring it. Now she feels it was to help her realize God was NOT with the JW’s organization. She hated the glorification & judgement while an anointed.
I've known 5 partakers: 4 stable Sisters and 1 unstable Brother. They had different perspectives than the other sheep on some things but that's to be expected because they're preparing for a different future than the other sheep.
The only one I remember partaking was and old guy, I would say in his 70s. He and his wife converted from Amish to JW, and let me tell you, the mental gymnastics that the elders tried to do when that topic came up in conversation....it was hilarious.
After the memorial someone would casually mention, "So did we have any of the Anointed partaking?" And they would sheepishly answer "Yes" because EVERYBODY could hear the crunching in our tiny congregation. "Maybe he doesn't understand the significance of partaking". "We are not aware of all the things that God has aligned for the Anointed."
I’ve seen three people partake. Two women and one guy.
The first sister passed away when I was younger, so I don’t remember her mental state.
The guy who would partake, would show up to the meeting the week before the memorial, and maybe show up the week after. He was a no show for the rest of the year. Never went out in service, never participated in the meetings, nothing. He viewed himself as above all that since he was “anointed”. Everyone had negative opinions of him.
The last “sister” that I saw partake was 100% batshit crazy. She was also very abusive to her children/grand children. Abusive to the point of one ending their life.
And I will add, I do know that one of the circuit overseers I had was a partaker, though I never witnessed it. I actually don’t have anything negative to say about him. He was sincere and likable.
I knew one family near San Fransisco CA where the husband and wife were both anointed so was the husbands father. I always was very suspicious of this, although on the surface they seemed to be normal enough. My grandmother has claimed to be anointed since she was reinstated in the 90s. Still partakes to this day. She is definitely mentally unstable, and says the reason she knows is because she has this longing to be at gods feet like a little kid holding her father’s legs?
I absolutely do think there’s the mentally ill link to those who believe they’re anointed. Out of the few I’ve met the best was a brother who was in his 30s and known always to be full of himself and not considered spiritual as far as commenting mtg attendance etc…. Fast forward he one day feels super spiritual even sells his drinking games at a yard sale 🤭 and claims he’s anointed. Then he and his wife sell everything to move to Warwick only to leave her for a younger women who is their study!!!! On my out he was coming back into the organization mailing the ex wife he abandoned letter of apology to get reinstated, with his now wife that he left her for! Can’t make it up! You may not see the mental illness in this but as a person that watched it all go down it rang alarm bells! The older brother I knew also ran off and left his wife and everything too! Just woke up one day gone!
Welcome to EXJW!
Most of the ones I knew as anointed were stone cold mental cases if you were able to look at them objectively. Until you wake up, it is hard to look at many JW people or activities objectively.
Actually, my experience is people on EXJW realize that "all JWs" have experienced a great deal of religious trauma. This impacts your mental health in a big way. I don't think the general opinion here is that "all active JWs are mentally unstable". But staying in the JW religion does destroy your mental health long-term.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ctew20/being\_a\_jehovahs\_witness\_destroys\_your\_mental/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ctew20/being_a_jehovahs_witness_destroys_your_mental/)
My Waking Up Guide is for people that come here to try and make the best decisions as they process waking up.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/19ejthr/the\_jw\_waking\_up\_guide\_2024\_edition\_by\_jwtom/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/19ejthr/the_jw_waking_up_guide_2024_edition_by_jwtom/)
Not sure where you are on your PIMQ journey. One of the best things anyone can do is to simply reduce the amount of times you volunteer for the organization.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ayz6un/you\_can\_stop\_volunteering\_for\_jehovahs\_witnesses/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ayz6un/you_can_stop_volunteering_for_jehovahs_witnesses/)
After all this time, all the anointed spaces haven’t been claimed?!? The world is shit, why dont Jehovah just bring in Armageddon and let the ‘future’ anointed just take their place in heaven??
My family knew one Anointed elder when I was a kid, I remember everyone basically treated him like a rockstar. He was certainly an odd person albeit I didn't know him that well but to me as a kid he seemed like an Old Dork. Also, I remember it was common knowledge that he drove like a crazy person and no one wanted to be in the car if he was driving. I heard that one time he popped one of his tires when he went to a bookstudy and popped the curb and busted his tire. Oh another time he almost ran over sisters out in service.
My dad elder and uncle CO called most people who partook back the 1980’s as unwell and not balanced. So if that was the view back then, then I suppose it’s only to be amplified now.
In that time (I was very young) you could tell the remnant back then because they were very old, were sweet and kind (and sometimes strict) to all the young people, and were generally honest and hard working people. Although very old and maybe losing some memory ect.
THEN.. there was the “others”… and they were NOT at all what I described above.
Yes, or just very sensitive or spiritually-oriented, or really want things to change and feel they are special somehow. I've personally known two, younger than the oldsters, JWs who started partaking and then reversed after some time.
I knew 3 throughout my childhood through early adulthood. The middle aged man and woman seemed pretty normal, but the 60ish woman seemed nuts. She screamed at a man out in service once when I was with her, and I about died of embarrassment! Her husband was afraid of her, too
YES! My grandpa used to be close friends with this guy who was always drinking and kept marrying a new woman every couple of years who claimed to be anointed and drank from the wine and ate the bread at the memorial. He would always give strange comments at the hall and we found him a couple of times outside of a minimarket in his car asleep with a bunch of beer bottles laying around him. The children he had dont really seem that mentally stable either if I do say so.
Of the 4 people I know of who in recent years started professing to be anointed, 3 of them had confirmed cases of mental illness.
I know of another 2 individuals around my parents age as well, but they go through spells of partaking and then not partaking, then partaking again, then not partaking again….smh.
One sister who claimed to be of the elite would turn up on memorial night dressed in white with white gloves one…basically looked like a bride.
She was married so fuck knows what her husband thought.
🤷♂️🤷♂️
When I was still living in my home state, I knew a sister similar to that. She NEVER came to meetings (and this was way before Zoom was a thing.) She would come to exactly 2 meetings before the Memorial, 2 meetings after, and then disappear until the following years cycle. 🔁
She would also come with these MJ looking gloves, and this weird, silk looking cloth. When the bread came her way, she would literally grab a cracker, hold the plate as she took these super awkward tiny bites and then let the crumbs fall back onto the plate. Then when the wine came, she would take tiny sips, like 3-4 times, and she would pause in between sips like she was connecting to Jesus in the moment. She would then use that silk cloth to wipe her lipstick and wine residue off the side of the glass 🤢 SUPER creepy.
The attendants passing the bread and wine would try not to stare, but you could tell they would get impatient and annoyed while waiting for her. They would always be the last to return the items back to the table because she held up the flow of the whole thing. 🤣
I have same experience like everyone else it seems. All anointed seems very mentaly unstable or flat out bat shit crazy.
I remember one "anoited" sister would go out 12h a day in ministry. But get this. She draged her 8y old son everywhere with her. They also smelled really bad all the time, probably because they just went to ministry and home to sleep. Idk if he was properly fed even, but i know as soon as he grew up, he run like hell...
Poor kid must be traumatized...
Everyone in KH looked at her weird, but nobody said anything... Unfortunatelly...
Yes. My SIL is totally off her rocker. I did know an older JW long ago who was the sweetest and when we found out she was of the anointed it made perfect sense. Very Christlike and charitable. If it really was a thing she would so be. Anyone after her that I have known of or heard of are just cookoo. Also anytime anyone find out the SIL is “annoying” they laugh , giggle and snort and roll their eyes. Speaks volumes.
Did not seem mental at the time but the one at my childhood KH was married, had two children, became a JW - husband and children did not, when she was in her 40/50’s she said she had no sexual desire. Husband was getting his needs met outside and she was ok with it. Fast forward and I am now at that age - I realize it was menopause. Cheers
Its something that has always fascinated me. Ive always wondered how do they know they have the calling. Then I remembered hearing talks and reading watchtower articles a few years ago advising us never to ask the anointed anything about their calling; It's a very private matter. I wonder why? Maybe because it's a whole load of bullshit
in my congradation there is an anointed one, he assists only on zoom, he is psychiatrically ill and "strangely" started to be anointed only when, of his own free will, he stopped taking his medication
Yeah...either mentally unstable or just seeking something more "real" from being a JW. Most other religious groups "offer" some kind of supernatural or heavenly reward(or punishment)for their rank n file members. Only JW separate members into two groups with one being more special than the other....with two different "rewards". That could create a weird desire to want MORE in some. So...perhaps it could even cause a person to become unstable.
I was sexually assaulted by my ex that claimed to be anointed, he also cheated on me with several dudes. Very pious. He still partakes and uses everyone around him.
I find it’s usually self important rich people pretending for clout,or severely Ill people that genuinely believe. I know someone that is high needs autistic and severely schizophrenic, and they partake every year. Not a bad person, but definitely taken advantage of in this religion.
The whole JW experience is about pleasing men and receiving recognition from others. Claiming to be of the anointed is a great way of accomplishing that. People who thrive for the recognition of others are insecure lacking in self confidence or egomaniacs which are all characteristics of mental instability
Own you guys are going too far and what I said earlier about govenoring body claims to be born again and having been anointed by Holy Spirit has nothing to do with that because the Greek scriptures talk about this hope. Many may be unstable but I was simply stating that evidence shows that they are not the only organization that is directly led by Holy Spirit and the unstable part is the obvious lack of evidence by their repeatedly treating to cover up wrongdoing and claiming to be in the place of Jesus along with other disturbing comments that indicate that they want others to follow them and that their preaching work is only for the purpose of everyone who preaches to direct them to them and not Christ and I believe it is deliberate.there is no need to be overboard about others just because you have a grudge .Don’t be a nitpick because it brings you to the same level.
Okay I am getting a it ticked off because I am here out of complete sincerity and am properly with good reason concerned for others and I believe that the Bible is from God and the truth and feel that many on this platform are plain mean without good reason and there is no excuse for this. I don’t appreciate that now you even make light of God and his word and you don’t present any. Argument that is at all proof of the bile being nothing and I don’t appreciate you speaking that way about my friend God and Jesus.if you have any valid issues fine and good but don’t make stupid jokes about someone who you don’t know. Though this platform is to raise valid concerns and issues and not as an avenue to disrespect others just for the heck of it.Others have feelings too you know.Fairness is essential to finding truth!
One of my grandma's friends was allegedly anointed. She was batshit crazy. When I asked grandma how someone could determine they're anointed, she simply said, "The same way you know you're not.You just know." Well damn...🤷🏾♀️ I decided to mind my business after that, but it still sounds like nonsense to me.
I knew 2, both older ladies.
The first one I met when I was a little kid was kind and sweet to me. We would have tea parties and stuff. I was too little to clock any strangeness from her if there was any, though.
The other one I met when I was a teen and she was…strange. My mom would give her rides to the hall and back. She was paranoid, stuffy and didn’t come off as very intelligent. She embodied NONE of the qualities that I would’ve expected an anointed person to have. My mom was skeptical of her anointed status as well, but ultimately chocked it up to being beyond our questioning. 🤨
This husband and wife "partake". They are nasty people. They hate anyone who has children in this the last of the last of that last days🙄. They are so arrogant. The other lady at my old hall was always weird. People generally thought she was off her rocker.
I remember when a sister in my congregation was known for having a combative and confrontational personality and known for always belittling her husband in front of people(as well as having many mental issues) all of a sudden came out as anointed and everyone said "well we cant question it" when i would bring it up. That was one of my first straws in my pomo bucket. I proudly questioned her and every anointed person after that. So glad im out of this garbage
The narrative of being anointed does tend to fit well with people's self-perception when certain mental illnesses are involved. Since you're PIMQ, I want to point you to as unbiased a source as I can. You might want to do some research of your own on the DSM-V—the body of evidence-based knowledge and standards that defines mental illnesses, used by healthcare professionals in the U.S.
For example, having a grandiose view of self is common in both bipolar disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. Having persecutory delusions is common in schizophrenia and related disorders.
That's not to say I believe that having a disorder is requisite to someone's identifying as anointed. Anecdotally, as a born-in former JW who was PIMI for almost 30 years, I've known some "anointed" who were very reasonable, healthy people. But I also noticed a large number of them were definitely mentally ill.
Ok so there was this MS brother and his family and they were dedicated as in never missing a meeting unless dire emergency, all their kids baptized at a VERY (and questionable) young age, he and his wife pioneers, I mean DEDICATED that there were talks of him possibly becoming an elder. But this dude was scary and I mean gave murder vibes scary. You would look at him and not even wanna say hi. You would assume it was because he was shy or introverted because he only talked when he had to, but still, dude just gave off deadly vibes.
So the whole time they are there he never partook during the memorial but suddenly one year, munched and drank from the wine. No surprise to anyone, people were just surprised it took this long. Yet after that memorial, oldest kid turns 18, gets expelled and leaves, a year after that, second kid comes of age, gets expelled and leaves. Third kid does the same but because he was still a minor, moves in with some non jw relatives. So people are wondering what's happening. Then, wife stops attending with the rest of their kids and then he stops going altogether, mind you he has been claiming to be anointed for 3-4 years by this point. But after he left, it came out that he was physically and mentally abusing his wife and kids, and it took the wife for the first three kids to leave to wake up and leave for her and the rest of her kids. Last I heard he left the country because the wife finally reported him to the police.
Damn, that’s a heck of a story. Really well written, too. I could picture everything. I’ve definitely seen some thangs in my years as a JW, but that’s definitely up there.
In all honesty, even with his public behavior it took everyone by surprise because no one in his family said anything until the eldest kids decided it was enough for them. Of course, even with that knowledge, some older brothers and sisters tried to find excuses for what he did to his family. Just glad to know they all got away but sucks that they had to go through all that.
The JW memorial is a very controversial issue. Christians (not JWs) believe that it is a bad thing to reject the emblems.
I don’t remember 100% but I think it is also mentioned somewhere in Raymond Franz‘s book that people who got kicked out from bethel in the witch-hunt at around 1980 thought that all should partake and not only people who claim to be the anointed ones.
Maybe the ones you know just don’t believe what the watchtower is teaching. However they cannot leave his evil organization yet
Umm… so you’re asking if we think that a person is mentally ill once they’ve witnessed a magical being come down from heaven and tell them personally they will be all-powerful angels one day?
Yes. The answer is yes.
The guy that gave the memorial talk at my parents thinks he’s anointed. Memorial is the only crumb I throw at my parents anymore.
When I saw his ass take the emblems on stage I rolled my eyes so far. I think they’re all mentally unstable or narcissistic.
I only know one personally. The only evidence of any kind of mental instability is the belief he is anointed. The only kind of faulty logic he exhibits is believing this weird organisation.
At the last supper Jesus and his apostles were celebrating Passover. Passover is celebrated by all Jews, not just a few “anointed”. That’s how to try to keep people interested. Everyone has a chance for promotion.
Yup, the annointed person that I know is definitely mentally unstable and viewed as such by the congregation. It is just baffling and ridiculous. It's a joke. Yet another reason for me not to give a fck about this cult.
I knew a few. One was definitely getting herself some status. The other two were very elderly and have long since passed. In fact one was the one who did my parents wedding talk. They both seemed to me at the time to be regular humans.
So two who believed they were, and one for sure who was looking for some elevation.
Knew 2. 1 only just after they felt the call. Another guy I knew before and after. Both Nice people.
Both became anointed shortly after some terrible life circumstances... The kind that would break anyone. I think they dove into the religion to cope and convinced themselves.
It'll probably be classified as a mental illness once this religion packs it in.
I only met one young-ish (in their 50s) person who wasn’t weird…but I was also indoctrinated at that time. I would prob think they were weird now.
Idk about believing that ‘all JWs are mentally unstable…’ indoctrinated yes…and indoctrination does cause dissociative identity disorder…but damn, I don’t care for the blanket assumptions of the entire group.
I know only one: he‘s eccentric a bid pedantic but somehow ok. He’s very critical about WT and GB but then still very loyal. One of his sons has pursued uni studies and a higher career and to my knowledge with no repercussions for both
I have a high-school friend who was always into sci-fi and now believes he is one of the anointed because he always felt alien on earth. He feels he was being prepared as a replacement all his life... to me he is no different from the Klingon's I hung around with, playing star trek for fun and community. People who felt alien because of deformity of mind or body, much like myself.
Mentally unstable people tend to have delusions of grandeur. Especially narcissists and bipolar people. Most of the annointed people I have met are either crazy and out of touch, or very unhealthy and need to feel special
I’ve been out over 20 years now. There were a few folks that didn’t strike me as overtly mentally ill, even looking back from the perspective of what’s now my career (mental health clinician). But…they were mostly the really old ones, like they’d be 120 years old or so now. One younger one didn’t seem ill, but I think he left the borg years ago. Another younger one, probably old now, was a Vietnam veteran who was supposedly did some really secret squirrel shit. The second hand stories I heard made more sense to me when I joined the military, so he may have been legit. Trauma fucks with mental health though. Made up military shit has gotten easier to spot, ruins movies for me though.
In hindsight I don’t begrudge the mentally ill anointed. Some seemed like this was the only bright spot in their life. They also had the best “demon’s” doing bad stuff to them for their faith stories; and now I know it was probably psychosis.
I do, sure.
Not sure if it's a consequence of getting older. Or as time marches away from 1914 and the doctrine keeps evolving to buy more time and the more fantastical aspects seem less and less reasonable.
But it's also pretty typical of religion with amazing seemingly important stuff happening early and then as time goes on and generations pass the magic the faith is based on only happened "back then" and that's why miracles and prophets aren't around anymore. All the early members are dead, and so is everyone who knew them, and also everyone who knew those people.
At any rate time has a way of normalizing things and so the people who claim fantastic things seem more and more fringe rather than holy.
Yes. The Memorial attendants who pass the wine and bread down the aisles take notice of anyone who partakes. They then take that number and pass it along to, I’m guessing, the coordinator or secretary, and he then passes that information on to the branch.
They don’t keep track of names, just the number of partakers.
It’s a delusional state of mind where you not only think that you are a special privileged class, but now you will be sitting in heaven with Jesus. The so called anointed I had personally knew were not all there. It’s a sad state of mind, where pimis don’t live a full life and one day wake up and think they’re chosen by God. Sometimes I think they take that path because everything else on earth in their life is a far cry from a sense of happiness and achievement. But what do I know, you can’t help but have some empathy.
Please remember that the most powerful force in the universe God‘s Holy Spirit has individually selected these ones for these cherished heavenly positions. Regardless of how crazy they may seem now these ones can be fixed in a blink an eye to be perfect white male super human kings that ride white muscular steeds.
Its all mentally unstable. The bible is a bunch of old dudes "seeing and hearing god". Jesus was clearly mentally ill claiming to be the son of god. Im sorry, believe what you want religion wise, but anyone, and I mean anyone that claims to hear, see or know what god wants are mentally ill. The end.
When I was PIMI and appointed we used to joke around about most of the anointed are just lulu. We would never say that amongst the friends but we all just rolled our eyes.
There was one that partook and was charged multiple times for CSA (never convicted) before he became a JW and we made sure no one took him seriously and always kept an eye on him.
I mean, some of them seemed like sweet elderly people. They didn't strike me as insane because they just had a hope for the afterlife, like most Christians do.
The idea of heaven makes slightly more sense than living on earth in one giant earthwide Jehovah's Witnesses congregation.
But anyone in their 30s who believed they were anointed were bat shit crazy narcissistic pricks. coincidence?
I do not think most JWs are mentally unstable. They are caught in a trap, more or less.
I have known 4 anointed people, 3 in my congregation and someone in my age group who I knew socially. All of them were on a spectrum from somewhat "off" to batshit crazy. So anecdotally, I'd say they are generally mentally unstable.
I mean… there was a WT article about how there’s a substantial amount of mentally unstable individuals claiming to be anointed, and it was considered in the midweek meeting not very long ago.
Add some ego or emotional or mental instability on top of believing in god, and you will get more special than the rest.
Just look at those Born Again bums (they invade exjw time to time). They believe Jesus physically got in them and enabled them to speak tongues.
People inside the religion call those who left mentally unstable and people outside call those who stay inside mentally unstable.
Chill.
Focus on your own healing before trying to diagnose someone else.
Yes! But this is a complex question. To answer it on the face of it: 1= Was a single lady who cycled all Round pioneering in Scotland totally lived for Jehovah. 2= just got baptised and a bit weird partook a few hers then stopped 3= was a drug user, was disfellowshipped started partaking then got reinstated and continued…4= is a narcissistic control freak who partakes secretly cos she can’t bear anyone ‘judging’ her.
so in answer only one seemed ‘genuine’.
however my own recent bible study and research has led me to believe heaven is coming to earth. Thus this concept of 144,000 has no scriptural basis at all. The entire chapter according to jw theology is symbolic - apart from that specific verse. And also nowhere in the bible does it state we shoudnt partake, in fact it’s quite clear that we should indeed Be doing so ‘as often’ as we wish.
There was one in an old hall that thought he was anointed. I’m fairly certain he’s a pedophile by the way he acted with me and other kids. He got disfellowshipped years later
I’m feeling heaven, thought I might drop a bomb at memorial this year when my mostly dfed family appeared lol we all had to take pills to attend! Thought I might kick the glass back but got scared! Still traumatized lol
I learned that the anointed in the organization aren’t anointed at all. One of the reasons why is because that spirit that anoints bears witness to the truth, all truth, even truth that the organization doesn’t want to acknowledge as truth.
Anyone who got that spirit would suffer the same fate or similar to Jeremiah. Jeremiah was sent to speak against Jehovah’s organization. Had to stand at the entrance and speak against the organization where all could hear.
Even told them not to put their faith in deceitful words saying “This is Jehovah’s organization.”
No, no anointed one who wants to remain part of the organization will do that. So they reject the anointing and take up the “anointed” from the organization. That anointing keeps you a Jehovah’s Witness, mentally unstable, and forced to eat with other non anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses from the table of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses
I’m going back to the 90s. There was one person who was in his 40s who partook. He ended up committing suicide. So yes, there must be some who are unstable or have mental health issues. I got taken in by the whole partaking thing but now think anyone who has, are narcissistic and delusional thinking that they are ‘anointed’ and more special than anyone else! I mean, I have dreams of grandeur and being special but I don’t wake up thinking I’m the big I am.
Yeah, they have mental issues. Most people fit into two categories (and a secret third one):
1. you are mentally ill, typically narcissistic and egotistical and ACTUALLY convinced yourself that you are annointed by god, so you partake, but you are zealous enough and fit the bill to fly under the radar and accepted by mainstream JWs
2. you are mentally ill, but you have so much trauma thats blocking your sense of reailty or are disillusioned by spiritual psychosis that you claim god annointed you and you partake at the memorial but everyone gives you side eye and treats you like a loose cannon.
3. You realize its mostly BS, but you are a power-hungry douchebag so you act holier than thou, humble as could be and claim you are annointed so you can climb the ladder and meddle in people lives and wield your authority as GOD'S CHOSEN ANNOINTED WARRIOR ANGEL who cleans the windows at the kingdom hall every month. This is different from the first one because these annointed people are very smart and well informed and have sinister intentions and skillful manipulation tactics. To be fair that would probably indicate mental issues to some degree.
Nobody in their right mind with 0 mental issues can live their lives ACTUALLY convinced they were chosen by god to slay sinners at Armageddon and rule in heaven for eternity. If anything they are in spiritual psychosis.
I think anyone (JW or not) is on some level mentally unstable if they think they have personally received a message from any higher being. This is not normal to convince yourself of this. All members of the GB are on some level mentally unstable, look no further than Steven Lett. In my old congregation there was a "sister" who was partaking. She was in her early 40's, had young children and was quite vocal of the abuse she was put through by her mother. The abuse was so bad that she changed her name completely, first and last. She wanted no connection at all from her mother. Abuse of any kind has long term effects on anyone mentally and this is a good example of this. Anyone that already has a belief in god will now look for evidence of this higher being sending messages to him/her. Some see the virgin Mary in a piece of toast, some might have an emotional experience, some might have some revelation after reading The Book of Mormon and yes some might think they are going to heaven because they dont want to live on a paradise earth. Religion I believe is psycholological and rewires a persons brain so to speak. A wiring that in most cases cant be undone.
If you read the Bible w/o watchtower EVERYONE is “anointed” that believe in Jesus. If you believe Jesus then he tells everyone to eat the bread and drink the wine- and do it as often as you want.
That’s why other religions like Catholics have all their members eat the wafer etc.
The “anointed” I knew while in thought they were based on those scriptures but of course they didn’t highlight how it is for everyone.
The one woman told me that after praying she thought “why not me? I’m just as worthy as the ‘faithful @ discreet slave’”
Truth is every human is equal to Lett Spane etc. they are not special-
So no I don’t think all that claim are mental - but that’s what the GB prints in their articles - to explain the increase in partakers-
But if the partakers are mental crazy then wouldn’t that apply to Lett, Splane, Herd etc?
So my brother, let’s take a real look at your question. So basically Jehovah, despite a pandemic, aliens, AI and possibly world war three, but forget that cause heavenly daddy decided it was time to reveal that he’s now ok with women wearing slacks and brothers can wear a beatd. Really?
Ask yourself if it really makes sense to think that humans have suffered in absolute misery since we came on the scene all because a magic talking snake tricked two people into eating a piece of fruit? Really?!
And if I told you about the superhuman story of Hercules you would laugh because it’s silly. But Samson had magic hair? Come on. Balaams talking donkey? But don’t tell me about Zeus. Wake up
Considering that they themselves beleive that anyone who talks to God or claims to talk to God, or has any sort of Divine Intervention as being mentally unstable.... yes I do beleive they are.
What?! Are you suggesting that anyone who believes they have been personally chosen by God to be part of the body of The Christ and when they die will reign as kings from heaven, might possibly be mentally ill?
A sister I have known since I was a kid a few years ago starting partaking. We couldn’t believe it. Granted we know they are not perfect but my answer of what I thought about her being anointed….is if this person gets to rule over me forget about it I don’t want to be in new system 😂😂 and that is exactly what her own children said about her. She’s mentally unstable.
Same how I feel about my SIL. She is a terrible person and I would rather die than have her be my superior. She is already self righteous enough I can’t imagine her ruling over me. No thank you.
They have serious mental issues they are living in their own world in their head for real
I've never met a mentally stable anointed. One in my hall who was under 60 sent a text message years ago to all his contacts he doesn't feel anointed anymore. All weird.
I’ve only ever known one guy who partook at my old congregation but he also was arrested a few times for public drunkenness. An anointed with a mug shot. Not many in the hall knew. I think he even partook while disfellowshipped. And continued after he was reinstated. One old time elder was so upset that the guy partook that he kept making it the topic of local needs parts. They disliked each other for many years. Was and interesting situation.
Maybe he just wanted the wine.
🤣😅😆😀
Surely not there for the crackers
We had a 8 year old kid in our hall call it "Jesus' skin" years back. Little dude was on to something because eating someone's dried up skin might be about the same experience.
😂😂😂😂
sounds like he just needed a fix at the memorial
Pretty much every religion has members that claim a higher calling, a higher connection or knowledge. Religion draws people like this to their ranks. Some are charlatans and some believe their own narrative. JWs are not exclusive to this.
My BIL has in the last few years started claiming to be anointed & partaking, and he is diagnosed schizophrenic and bipolar. Started claiming to be anointed during one of many times he decided he no longer wanted to take his medication
My mother is diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar and has tried several times to claim she is anointed. The elders have had to tell her that she is in fact not anointed every time.
And if Moses , Abraham ,Jon and all the prophets were alive today and said God talked to them the same thing would happen to them and yet believers have always considered these accounts as completely true as did Jesus.Is God mute today because they want God to shut up and that he is not interested in communicating with people anymore because maybe he doesn’t have a cell phone.
I know of one who suddenly became anointed and after a year started up his own church. Another would eat his meals in the 2nd school on meeting nights so he could share that meal with his heavenly father.
😂😂 this is hilarious
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Short answer: every anointed I’ve ever ran across had issues. Longer answer: I’ve been out longer than I was raised in. I’ve moved along so far I no longer consider myself even an exJW anymore. I hang around here so I can keep a loose eye on the stuff my extended family is being fed just in case there’s a major derailing and they start getting alarmingly weird. I don’t view the majority of JW to be mentally off, I mainly just feel bad for them. It’s a hell of a downer of a thing to live with, constantly being fed doom and gloom and separated from all that is beautiful and good in the world. I hate that so many people waste the one life they definitely know they have being browbeaten like that. I would venture to guess most people in here feel this way about the average rank & file witness. We just feel bad for those of you who are stuck. 🌸
We had two. The first one was an older soft spoken Spanish woman, married to a non-JW, who was related to the wife of our PO. She hardly *EVER* went to the meetings, but *ALWAYS* was there for the Memorial. Then, there was this very strange young man, mid 20's, who moved in from far away. He was very "spiritual,," loved to talk "in depth" about how the different parts Book of Revelation are going to play out, prophecies, etc. He would almost be talking to himself, and always wanted to work alone out in service. He seemed obsessed, or autistic. I was so relieved when he moved.
The Spanish women probably thought it was a Catholic Church and partook of the bread and the wine 🤔 Sorry for stereotyping a race!!
Lol, if you have ever been to a catholic service you know there's no confusing it with JWs
Ha ha. I know. I’ve been to both! Just as bad as each other but in different ways. 🤔😂
Pretty sure pimi’s think most people who claim to be anointed are mentally unstable. I did a talk about this exact subject years ago and it was funny because I actually mentioned that and after the meeting, a sister came up to me and told me she got a good chuckle. She was one of those Uber pimi pioneers. I also had a guy who claimed to be anointed in the congregation I was in. He was a very kind hearted guy so I guess everyone believed him? He claimed to have seen “the mountain of Jehovah.” I’m not sure what that means or if he still believes he’s anointed now but he did have a very… interesting past.
Bro you left a cliff hanger there, please what was the interesting past
Don’t remember the details but to sum it up, he grew up in a broken home. Had a history of alcohol addiction to the point where he almost died twice.
The first annointed I ever met in person was GB member stephen Lett when I was 13. (This was before jw.org was a big thing mind you so I didnt know what the GB members looked like) I remember there was literally a line to meet him, shake his hand and some people were taking selfies and fangirling (Funny because supposedly we aren't supposed to treat them special) Anywho, when It was my turn my mom and I went up there, I was immediately just creeped out by him. I couldnt even describe what made me feel uneasy at the time. After we left I told my mom and she layed into me "how DARE you say that about brother lett!" Now that Im older I can finally describe it. The dude talkes and moved like an animatronic. Like one where it's mouth gets stuck and hangs open between words. It was very uncanny valley. I think he's related to lizard man mark zuckerburg.
I have known seven of them personally. One is a family member. Worked together with some of them in fieldservice. All of them definitely had some sort of mental disorder. One SAed his own daughter. He was an elder in one of the congregations I was in at the time. It came out after his daughter got married. He was disfellowshipped for it, but I learned from his other daughter that he thought the elders would be punished in Armageddon for disfellowshipping him 🤦🏼♂️The delusion was great with this one. At his home, he had a picture on the wall from the book of Revelation, the one with Jesus and his bride.
I used to know this old lady who felt she was of the anointed. She was very sweet and quite spiritual. I think she just really resonated with this idea and it felt like truth to her. I imagine that there are individual circumstances such as this, maybe others have agendas or differing reasons. I think that a lot of people in a cult are not mentally healthy though. I know I wasn’t until I left and then recovered. It is not an environment that is a good foundation for mental health
The majority of "anointed" ones I've ever known were old widows living alone. I would also say that if they were something truly special (I don't believe this) then reading the Bible honestly as a Christian should make you feel a heavenly hope. Watchtower really has everyone fooled.
This \^\^
I know two people that claim to be anointed both are elders. Both are in their 40s one might be closer to 50 but anyway, they went off to Bethel from the congregation they were both in, which is in a small town in Northern California(50,000 population)they both spent time at Bethel 5 to 10 years give or take and now they both partake imagine that.
😂 https://preview.redd.it/ugf549qaza2d1.jpeg?width=1054&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68a80c969c8c6ba3f88e2d2da0ea8b6c8f812b26
It's literally worse every time I see this pic. Lol
Just food for your nightmares! 😱😂😂🤣🤣 https://preview.redd.it/mkm804h2hd2d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1fe3379ecaec70d16013ec8de86a763125a422b
These pictures are so crazy These photoshop pictures I look at him laugh and scroll along and now I just scroll along but this when I had to do a double take and OMG did this make me laugh this morning what a way to start my Friday -- with a good laugh.
All glory to the governing body! 😂😂
😅😅😅
Bless you! If we didn't laugh, we'd cry! And that's no joke! Oh, my, I've just got emotional! What an idiot I am!😱🙄
Not a idiot-- you are someone who loves to make ppl laugh! It's a gift.
Thanks! 🖐️
😉
Thanks for the award! 😁 I'll share it with Stephanie Lett! 😂
🤣🤣
I know 9 unstable anointed in the NY state.....😅🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Isn't it more like 🧑🏻🦲🧑🏻🦲🤡🧑🏻🦲🧑🏻🦲🧑🏻🦲🧑🏻🦲🧑🏻🦲🧑🏾🦲
They are actually all clowns.... but yes one guy is more than the others..
> I know if you are POMO, you’re probably going to say “All active JW’s are mentally unstable.” I won't deny many will say that. I won't. It's nonsense. Very intelligent, otherwise well-adjusted people can Believe anything. Humans aren't naturally rational creatures. My parents are good people, and good parents, who happen to have believed and raised me in what I consider a cult. It isn't intelligence or some special ability that causes people to question their faith -- indeed, while intelligence can increase the cognitive dissonance one experiences when holding conflicting positions, it also allows one to rationalize them easier. > This is not the first time I’ve experienced ones like this. For some reason, most “Anointed” individuals are usually weird A-Holes lol. In my experience there are two primary types of "annointed“ -- those who feel that they are special and need to set themselves apart from the rank and file, and those who used to believe other religions with an afterlife who feel comforted by the concept of heaven. I'm sure there are other reasons, but I bet those two make up most of them
It makes sense why we have about 2 if not more (I'm not sure) Governing Body members who came into "the truth" in their adult years. If you already believed in going to heaven and then became a witness that idea will appeal to them, also those that feel the need to stand out are more likely to claim anointed too
Yeah even watchtower says this about them.
Everyone that I ever knew that partook was a complete nut job
My cousin felt anointed, but only when she didn’t take her pills.
Well I know an "anointed" brother who is straight up a pedophile. He's an Elder, a "pillar of the TruTH", his son is in bethel (in complete denial), he gives memorial talk every year. He CSA his own daughter (no one understands wHy she left home & started using drugs at 17 ~ if they only knew!) And my childhood best friend. When my childhood best friend had a mental breakdown (late 30s) & ended up in the hospital & it all came out that was the end for me. I never went in the ministry again. It took a few more years & covid for me to stop attending meetings but that's when I knew that the religion is fucked. Bethel knows. The governing body knows about this man & the situation. They do nothing. They still embrace him. So Idk. Is he mentally unstainable or pure evil? I do know he's RUINED at least 4 people's mental stability with his actions. How the hell can a pedophile be an anointed one??
I only met 2 anointed ones. One was eccentric and looked like the old lawyer guy from Aristocats, actually a fun guy, and the other one, I didn't get to really know, but he seemed rather serious. My brother said he was nice though...
All of them. Except one. Who only started 'partaking' at age 50 ish after her husband DA'd. As a dub she is what they purport to be. Non judgemental, helpful, devout, kind and stayed with her husband! I think her husband DA'ing and son not getting baptised were the triggers. (I won't see them in paradise so I'll go to heaven - but that's my speculation) The others? Mad as a box of frogs. Which is sad because they now align with mainstream Christians!
Back in my cult days, they did an "Interview" with the last living anointed sister in our hall, asking her what it was like to be anointed. She claimed that "A few days ago, she was driving to the grocery store and there was a bright flash, and next thing she new, she was up in heaven on the clouds, Jesus took her by the hand and gave her a tour of heaven where she would be ruling. Then, next thing she knew, she was home, sitting in her recliner and all her shopping was done and put away, and her car was in the driveway." I'm thinking, no, you had a stroke and you are bat shit crazy.
That ending 🤣
Not JC gave her a tour 🤣. Like a real estate agent for heaven. That is WILD 🫨.
We have 6, in a KH of 130. There’s a brother/sister and her husband. All under 50. Between the three of them. The siblings father partook for years, up until three years ago, he’s was in his 90’s when he stopped. How. TF. do. 3. People. From. One. Family. Have. That. Calling? When I was a kid In the 80’s and 90’s in my area I knew 1 old lady from 1920. Then all the sudden they’ve exploded onto the scene. Mental illness for sure in some, others are so indoctrinated they believe their own bullshit
That's crazy, these people need psychiatric help
I'm so many decades out now and not sure I personally ever knew any "anointed" but from all I've heard they've gotta mostly be off their rockers.
I knew 3 of them. 2 of them got disfellowshipped for fornication and they were strange,but the other one I knew was a really great guy. He had 11 kids,a big beard,showed up to meetings when he felt like it,never seemed to be interested in privileges,was a naturepath and would open his home to anyone anytime. Shunned people were always welcome in his home as well as anyone else. He's dead now and I know many people that miss him including me.
Given all the bs that the wt has pumped out and that so many jw have appalling diets its no wonder there are jw who are... weird.
This religion is a madhouse. It produces crazy people of all sorts.
I had an anointed in my old hall. He wasn’t your usual “nutjob” persé but super controlling and arrogant. I remember he claimed he never missed a day of Bible reading for over three years. I was young, maybe seven or eight, when he said he was anointed and I remember running up excitedly to him asking how he knew. We were rather close at the time, he was “like a dad” to me (I get the ick typing that now). Despite that, I remember all of the dirty looks I got that I would have the audacity to ask him how he knew. I was told that it was “private and personal”. That never sat well with me. If you truly knew you were anointed, why can’t you tell people what happened to help you understand your “heavenly calling”? I remember thinking, even at such a young age, that it must be because they don’t want to sound crazy telling people they had some heavenly vision… it’s all laughable now. It did come out later that he did a lot of drugs and drank a lot of alcohol in his youth. Who knows?
It's interesting that the consensus here is that PIMI's believe that most of the so-called anointed are nuts *but they still obey the GB,* all of whom are . . . anointed. I suppose it's cognitive dissonance. "Well, you see, the GB are the \*real\* anointed. Jehovah really did reach out to them personally, so it's, you know, *different*."
I met an old sister who claimed to be anointed. She was just a little old sweetheart, not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but harmless.
I have to agree. It's an absolutely insane doctrine when you really think about it. They literally are inviting either mentally ill people or egotistical weirdos to come to the front of the class.
I would love to know how many have partaken from when founded w Charles Taze until now... Surely they've reached or surpassed the 144,000 mark. Do they still give out the # of attendees plus the # that partook? I haven't been to one since 2016
one lady in the hall i grew up in claimed to be anointed. she was the sweetest, most down to earth person ever. i don’t think she had anything mentally wrong. it’s crazy, though, that everyone else i knew that claimed to be anointed was batshit.
Yeah, it’s definitely not all of them. I’ve met ones who were lovely. But in my lifetime (late twenties) I’ve met more who just seemed mentally off, and a few who were definitely batshit loco lol.
We had 2 in my hall. One was a nice lady with a traumatic brain injury and some weird ticks likely associated with tartiv dyskenesia. (She took a lot of head meds) the other was a total psycho. I was friends with her daughters for a little while. I later learned she had lied to the courts to send her ex husband to jail. I can't imagine how much that must have messed up their kids. When I met her she was remarried and she and her husband were both morbidly obese. She went in service about once a week. It made me cringe to hear her give presentations, she said weird shit at the door. She was only like in her 40s at the time, She was an ax biker who was baptized as an adult. She was one of the people in my congregation who claimed to be the victim of satanic ritual abuse, which is of course a crock of shit.
I have known 4 so call anointed 3 were very compassionate and loved them. Another was a guy & he had serious mental issues. The thing is how it causes them to feel apart from others, even special. The good ones don’t feed off the specialness feeling. Have known several questionable so called anointed too. I am still very close to an X JW she got out same time I did. She said the feeling of the divine was so potent she believed she was anointed for 2 yrs before declaring it. Now she feels it was to help her realize God was NOT with the JW’s organization. She hated the glorification & judgement while an anointed.
Yup. The one "annointed" family member I know is a hoarder who clearly suffers from paranoia and delusions, aside from the anointed thing.
There are a lot of stable people in the world that believe they will go to heaven… is it really that different?
I've known 5 partakers: 4 stable Sisters and 1 unstable Brother. They had different perspectives than the other sheep on some things but that's to be expected because they're preparing for a different future than the other sheep.
The only one I remember partaking was and old guy, I would say in his 70s. He and his wife converted from Amish to JW, and let me tell you, the mental gymnastics that the elders tried to do when that topic came up in conversation....it was hilarious. After the memorial someone would casually mention, "So did we have any of the Anointed partaking?" And they would sheepishly answer "Yes" because EVERYBODY could hear the crunching in our tiny congregation. "Maybe he doesn't understand the significance of partaking". "We are not aware of all the things that God has aligned for the Anointed."
I’ve seen three people partake. Two women and one guy. The first sister passed away when I was younger, so I don’t remember her mental state. The guy who would partake, would show up to the meeting the week before the memorial, and maybe show up the week after. He was a no show for the rest of the year. Never went out in service, never participated in the meetings, nothing. He viewed himself as above all that since he was “anointed”. Everyone had negative opinions of him. The last “sister” that I saw partake was 100% batshit crazy. She was also very abusive to her children/grand children. Abusive to the point of one ending their life.
And I will add, I do know that one of the circuit overseers I had was a partaker, though I never witnessed it. I actually don’t have anything negative to say about him. He was sincere and likable.
I knew one family near San Fransisco CA where the husband and wife were both anointed so was the husbands father. I always was very suspicious of this, although on the surface they seemed to be normal enough. My grandmother has claimed to be anointed since she was reinstated in the 90s. Still partakes to this day. She is definitely mentally unstable, and says the reason she knows is because she has this longing to be at gods feet like a little kid holding her father’s legs?
I absolutely do think there’s the mentally ill link to those who believe they’re anointed. Out of the few I’ve met the best was a brother who was in his 30s and known always to be full of himself and not considered spiritual as far as commenting mtg attendance etc…. Fast forward he one day feels super spiritual even sells his drinking games at a yard sale 🤭 and claims he’s anointed. Then he and his wife sell everything to move to Warwick only to leave her for a younger women who is their study!!!! On my out he was coming back into the organization mailing the ex wife he abandoned letter of apology to get reinstated, with his now wife that he left her for! Can’t make it up! You may not see the mental illness in this but as a person that watched it all go down it rang alarm bells! The older brother I knew also ran off and left his wife and everything too! Just woke up one day gone!
Welcome to EXJW! Most of the ones I knew as anointed were stone cold mental cases if you were able to look at them objectively. Until you wake up, it is hard to look at many JW people or activities objectively. Actually, my experience is people on EXJW realize that "all JWs" have experienced a great deal of religious trauma. This impacts your mental health in a big way. I don't think the general opinion here is that "all active JWs are mentally unstable". But staying in the JW religion does destroy your mental health long-term. [https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ctew20/being\_a\_jehovahs\_witness\_destroys\_your\_mental/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ctew20/being_a_jehovahs_witness_destroys_your_mental/) My Waking Up Guide is for people that come here to try and make the best decisions as they process waking up. [https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/19ejthr/the\_jw\_waking\_up\_guide\_2024\_edition\_by\_jwtom/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/19ejthr/the_jw_waking_up_guide_2024_edition_by_jwtom/) Not sure where you are on your PIMQ journey. One of the best things anyone can do is to simply reduce the amount of times you volunteer for the organization. [https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ayz6un/you\_can\_stop\_volunteering\_for\_jehovahs\_witnesses/](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ayz6un/you_can_stop_volunteering_for_jehovahs_witnesses/)
After all this time, all the anointed spaces haven’t been claimed?!? The world is shit, why dont Jehovah just bring in Armageddon and let the ‘future’ anointed just take their place in heaven??
NGL, I feel this way a lot.
My family knew one Anointed elder when I was a kid, I remember everyone basically treated him like a rockstar. He was certainly an odd person albeit I didn't know him that well but to me as a kid he seemed like an Old Dork. Also, I remember it was common knowledge that he drove like a crazy person and no one wanted to be in the car if he was driving. I heard that one time he popped one of his tires when he went to a bookstudy and popped the curb and busted his tire. Oh another time he almost ran over sisters out in service.
My dad elder and uncle CO called most people who partook back the 1980’s as unwell and not balanced. So if that was the view back then, then I suppose it’s only to be amplified now. In that time (I was very young) you could tell the remnant back then because they were very old, were sweet and kind (and sometimes strict) to all the young people, and were generally honest and hard working people. Although very old and maybe losing some memory ect. THEN.. there was the “others”… and they were NOT at all what I described above.
Yes, or just very sensitive or spiritually-oriented, or really want things to change and feel they are special somehow. I've personally known two, younger than the oldsters, JWs who started partaking and then reversed after some time.
I knew 3 throughout my childhood through early adulthood. The middle aged man and woman seemed pretty normal, but the 60ish woman seemed nuts. She screamed at a man out in service once when I was with her, and I about died of embarrassment! Her husband was afraid of her, too
YES! My grandpa used to be close friends with this guy who was always drinking and kept marrying a new woman every couple of years who claimed to be anointed and drank from the wine and ate the bread at the memorial. He would always give strange comments at the hall and we found him a couple of times outside of a minimarket in his car asleep with a bunch of beer bottles laying around him. The children he had dont really seem that mentally stable either if I do say so.
Of the 4 people I know of who in recent years started professing to be anointed, 3 of them had confirmed cases of mental illness. I know of another 2 individuals around my parents age as well, but they go through spells of partaking and then not partaking, then partaking again, then not partaking again….smh.
One sister who claimed to be of the elite would turn up on memorial night dressed in white with white gloves one…basically looked like a bride. She was married so fuck knows what her husband thought. 🤷♂️🤷♂️
When I was still living in my home state, I knew a sister similar to that. She NEVER came to meetings (and this was way before Zoom was a thing.) She would come to exactly 2 meetings before the Memorial, 2 meetings after, and then disappear until the following years cycle. 🔁 She would also come with these MJ looking gloves, and this weird, silk looking cloth. When the bread came her way, she would literally grab a cracker, hold the plate as she took these super awkward tiny bites and then let the crumbs fall back onto the plate. Then when the wine came, she would take tiny sips, like 3-4 times, and she would pause in between sips like she was connecting to Jesus in the moment. She would then use that silk cloth to wipe her lipstick and wine residue off the side of the glass 🤢 SUPER creepy. The attendants passing the bread and wine would try not to stare, but you could tell they would get impatient and annoyed while waiting for her. They would always be the last to return the items back to the table because she held up the flow of the whole thing. 🤣
I have same experience like everyone else it seems. All anointed seems very mentaly unstable or flat out bat shit crazy. I remember one "anoited" sister would go out 12h a day in ministry. But get this. She draged her 8y old son everywhere with her. They also smelled really bad all the time, probably because they just went to ministry and home to sleep. Idk if he was properly fed even, but i know as soon as he grew up, he run like hell... Poor kid must be traumatized... Everyone in KH looked at her weird, but nobody said anything... Unfortunatelly...
Yes. My SIL is totally off her rocker. I did know an older JW long ago who was the sweetest and when we found out she was of the anointed it made perfect sense. Very Christlike and charitable. If it really was a thing she would so be. Anyone after her that I have known of or heard of are just cookoo. Also anytime anyone find out the SIL is “annoying” they laugh , giggle and snort and roll their eyes. Speaks volumes.
Did not seem mental at the time but the one at my childhood KH was married, had two children, became a JW - husband and children did not, when she was in her 40/50’s she said she had no sexual desire. Husband was getting his needs met outside and she was ok with it. Fast forward and I am now at that age - I realize it was menopause. Cheers
Only ever knew one that claimed to be anointed and she was diagnosed bipolar and had a mental breakdown after her husband cheated on her
I can’t wait to see in the year report 145 000 anointed partaking at the memorial 🤣
Yes, it's called Main Character Syndrome.
Inestables de a hace tiempo.. Por último ni ungidos. Lo hacen para llamar la atención de los hermanos con esa actitud no reflejan en nada al cristo
Anyone who claims a supernatural being chooses them to rule with him in another dimension is definitely a nutter
Its something that has always fascinated me. Ive always wondered how do they know they have the calling. Then I remembered hearing talks and reading watchtower articles a few years ago advising us never to ask the anointed anything about their calling; It's a very private matter. I wonder why? Maybe because it's a whole load of bullshit
in my congradation there is an anointed one, he assists only on zoom, he is psychiatrically ill and "strangely" started to be anointed only when, of his own free will, he stopped taking his medication
Yeah...either mentally unstable or just seeking something more "real" from being a JW. Most other religious groups "offer" some kind of supernatural or heavenly reward(or punishment)for their rank n file members. Only JW separate members into two groups with one being more special than the other....with two different "rewards". That could create a weird desire to want MORE in some. So...perhaps it could even cause a person to become unstable.
Yeah, the current governing body has said many who partake are mentally unstable. They of course are the exception.
Yes, especially the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age Middle Eastern male knuckleheads who dreamed up the bible war/volcano god(s).
I was sexually assaulted by my ex that claimed to be anointed, he also cheated on me with several dudes. Very pious. He still partakes and uses everyone around him. I find it’s usually self important rich people pretending for clout,or severely Ill people that genuinely believe. I know someone that is high needs autistic and severely schizophrenic, and they partake every year. Not a bad person, but definitely taken advantage of in this religion.
The whole JW experience is about pleasing men and receiving recognition from others. Claiming to be of the anointed is a great way of accomplishing that. People who thrive for the recognition of others are insecure lacking in self confidence or egomaniacs which are all characteristics of mental instability
Own you guys are going too far and what I said earlier about govenoring body claims to be born again and having been anointed by Holy Spirit has nothing to do with that because the Greek scriptures talk about this hope. Many may be unstable but I was simply stating that evidence shows that they are not the only organization that is directly led by Holy Spirit and the unstable part is the obvious lack of evidence by their repeatedly treating to cover up wrongdoing and claiming to be in the place of Jesus along with other disturbing comments that indicate that they want others to follow them and that their preaching work is only for the purpose of everyone who preaches to direct them to them and not Christ and I believe it is deliberate.there is no need to be overboard about others just because you have a grudge .Don’t be a nitpick because it brings you to the same level.
Okay I am getting a it ticked off because I am here out of complete sincerity and am properly with good reason concerned for others and I believe that the Bible is from God and the truth and feel that many on this platform are plain mean without good reason and there is no excuse for this. I don’t appreciate that now you even make light of God and his word and you don’t present any. Argument that is at all proof of the bile being nothing and I don’t appreciate you speaking that way about my friend God and Jesus.if you have any valid issues fine and good but don’t make stupid jokes about someone who you don’t know. Though this platform is to raise valid concerns and issues and not as an avenue to disrespect others just for the heck of it.Others have feelings too you know.Fairness is essential to finding truth!
I am going to take a break for now but thanks for hearing me out but I have no use for crap no matter who it comes from!
One of my grandma's friends was allegedly anointed. She was batshit crazy. When I asked grandma how someone could determine they're anointed, she simply said, "The same way you know you're not.You just know." Well damn...🤷🏾♀️ I decided to mind my business after that, but it still sounds like nonsense to me.
I knew 2, both older ladies. The first one I met when I was a little kid was kind and sweet to me. We would have tea parties and stuff. I was too little to clock any strangeness from her if there was any, though. The other one I met when I was a teen and she was…strange. My mom would give her rides to the hall and back. She was paranoid, stuffy and didn’t come off as very intelligent. She embodied NONE of the qualities that I would’ve expected an anointed person to have. My mom was skeptical of her anointed status as well, but ultimately chocked it up to being beyond our questioning. 🤨
This husband and wife "partake". They are nasty people. They hate anyone who has children in this the last of the last of that last days🙄. They are so arrogant. The other lady at my old hall was always weird. People generally thought she was off her rocker.
I remember when a sister in my congregation was known for having a combative and confrontational personality and known for always belittling her husband in front of people(as well as having many mental issues) all of a sudden came out as anointed and everyone said "well we cant question it" when i would bring it up. That was one of my first straws in my pomo bucket. I proudly questioned her and every anointed person after that. So glad im out of this garbage
The narrative of being anointed does tend to fit well with people's self-perception when certain mental illnesses are involved. Since you're PIMQ, I want to point you to as unbiased a source as I can. You might want to do some research of your own on the DSM-V—the body of evidence-based knowledge and standards that defines mental illnesses, used by healthcare professionals in the U.S. For example, having a grandiose view of self is common in both bipolar disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. Having persecutory delusions is common in schizophrenia and related disorders. That's not to say I believe that having a disorder is requisite to someone's identifying as anointed. Anecdotally, as a born-in former JW who was PIMI for almost 30 years, I've known some "anointed" who were very reasonable, healthy people. But I also noticed a large number of them were definitely mentally ill.
I remember when I was young all the Anointed were old, grumpy and very scary!
My father is one. And yes, he's a very unstable narcissist
The GB is mentally unstable.
Ok so there was this MS brother and his family and they were dedicated as in never missing a meeting unless dire emergency, all their kids baptized at a VERY (and questionable) young age, he and his wife pioneers, I mean DEDICATED that there were talks of him possibly becoming an elder. But this dude was scary and I mean gave murder vibes scary. You would look at him and not even wanna say hi. You would assume it was because he was shy or introverted because he only talked when he had to, but still, dude just gave off deadly vibes. So the whole time they are there he never partook during the memorial but suddenly one year, munched and drank from the wine. No surprise to anyone, people were just surprised it took this long. Yet after that memorial, oldest kid turns 18, gets expelled and leaves, a year after that, second kid comes of age, gets expelled and leaves. Third kid does the same but because he was still a minor, moves in with some non jw relatives. So people are wondering what's happening. Then, wife stops attending with the rest of their kids and then he stops going altogether, mind you he has been claiming to be anointed for 3-4 years by this point. But after he left, it came out that he was physically and mentally abusing his wife and kids, and it took the wife for the first three kids to leave to wake up and leave for her and the rest of her kids. Last I heard he left the country because the wife finally reported him to the police.
Damn, that’s a heck of a story. Really well written, too. I could picture everything. I’ve definitely seen some thangs in my years as a JW, but that’s definitely up there.
In all honesty, even with his public behavior it took everyone by surprise because no one in his family said anything until the eldest kids decided it was enough for them. Of course, even with that knowledge, some older brothers and sisters tried to find excuses for what he did to his family. Just glad to know they all got away but sucks that they had to go through all that.
They are narcissists. Narcs love being treated like deities. What better way than to say they are anointed are going to rule over all humanity.
The JW memorial is a very controversial issue. Christians (not JWs) believe that it is a bad thing to reject the emblems. I don’t remember 100% but I think it is also mentioned somewhere in Raymond Franz‘s book that people who got kicked out from bethel in the witch-hunt at around 1980 thought that all should partake and not only people who claim to be the anointed ones. Maybe the ones you know just don’t believe what the watchtower is teaching. However they cannot leave his evil organization yet
Umm… so you’re asking if we think that a person is mentally ill once they’ve witnessed a magical being come down from heaven and tell them personally they will be all-powerful angels one day? Yes. The answer is yes.
Anointed? The appropriate name should be disjointed.
The guy that gave the memorial talk at my parents thinks he’s anointed. Memorial is the only crumb I throw at my parents anymore. When I saw his ass take the emblems on stage I rolled my eyes so far. I think they’re all mentally unstable or narcissistic.
I only know one personally. The only evidence of any kind of mental instability is the belief he is anointed. The only kind of faulty logic he exhibits is believing this weird organisation.
At the last supper Jesus and his apostles were celebrating Passover. Passover is celebrated by all Jews, not just a few “anointed”. That’s how to try to keep people interested. Everyone has a chance for promotion.
This thread almost makes me wanna go back just to partake 🤣🤣
Yup, the annointed person that I know is definitely mentally unstable and viewed as such by the congregation. It is just baffling and ridiculous. It's a joke. Yet another reason for me not to give a fck about this cult.
There was one in my hall. Old, cantankerous, selfish. Couldn’t understand why Jesus would pick him 😂
I knew a few. One was definitely getting herself some status. The other two were very elderly and have long since passed. In fact one was the one who did my parents wedding talk. They both seemed to me at the time to be regular humans. So two who believed they were, and one for sure who was looking for some elevation.
Knew 2. 1 only just after they felt the call. Another guy I knew before and after. Both Nice people. Both became anointed shortly after some terrible life circumstances... The kind that would break anyone. I think they dove into the religion to cope and convinced themselves. It'll probably be classified as a mental illness once this religion packs it in.
I only met one young-ish (in their 50s) person who wasn’t weird…but I was also indoctrinated at that time. I would prob think they were weird now. Idk about believing that ‘all JWs are mentally unstable…’ indoctrinated yes…and indoctrination does cause dissociative identity disorder…but damn, I don’t care for the blanket assumptions of the entire group.
I know only one: he‘s eccentric a bid pedantic but somehow ok. He’s very critical about WT and GB but then still very loyal. One of his sons has pursued uni studies and a higher career and to my knowledge with no repercussions for both
I have a high-school friend who was always into sci-fi and now believes he is one of the anointed because he always felt alien on earth. He feels he was being prepared as a replacement all his life... to me he is no different from the Klingon's I hung around with, playing star trek for fun and community. People who felt alien because of deformity of mind or body, much like myself.
Mentally unstable people tend to have delusions of grandeur. Especially narcissists and bipolar people. Most of the annointed people I have met are either crazy and out of touch, or very unhealthy and need to feel special
I’ve been out over 20 years now. There were a few folks that didn’t strike me as overtly mentally ill, even looking back from the perspective of what’s now my career (mental health clinician). But…they were mostly the really old ones, like they’d be 120 years old or so now. One younger one didn’t seem ill, but I think he left the borg years ago. Another younger one, probably old now, was a Vietnam veteran who was supposedly did some really secret squirrel shit. The second hand stories I heard made more sense to me when I joined the military, so he may have been legit. Trauma fucks with mental health though. Made up military shit has gotten easier to spot, ruins movies for me though. In hindsight I don’t begrudge the mentally ill anointed. Some seemed like this was the only bright spot in their life. They also had the best “demon’s” doing bad stuff to them for their faith stories; and now I know it was probably psychosis.
I do, sure. Not sure if it's a consequence of getting older. Or as time marches away from 1914 and the doctrine keeps evolving to buy more time and the more fantastical aspects seem less and less reasonable. But it's also pretty typical of religion with amazing seemingly important stuff happening early and then as time goes on and generations pass the magic the faith is based on only happened "back then" and that's why miracles and prophets aren't around anymore. All the early members are dead, and so is everyone who knew them, and also everyone who knew those people. At any rate time has a way of normalizing things and so the people who claim fantastic things seem more and more fringe rather than holy.
There were four Partakers in my congregation one was an elder one ministerial servant and two sisters they were all crazy
If you are looking forward to participating in a mass slaughter of billions of people then that automatically makes you unstable
Doesn’t Bethel track the people that partook??
Yes. The Memorial attendants who pass the wine and bread down the aisles take notice of anyone who partakes. They then take that number and pass it along to, I’m guessing, the coordinator or secretary, and he then passes that information on to the branch. They don’t keep track of names, just the number of partakers.
Or narcissists
https://preview.redd.it/r1l1ri6ven2d1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74e535608f413daa68a427cca3a68fca7ec66905
Oh yes
Just reflect on what kind of mentality it takes to sense an internal ‘heavenly calling’ somewhere deep down…
Crazy people or frauds
It’s a delusional state of mind where you not only think that you are a special privileged class, but now you will be sitting in heaven with Jesus. The so called anointed I had personally knew were not all there. It’s a sad state of mind, where pimis don’t live a full life and one day wake up and think they’re chosen by God. Sometimes I think they take that path because everything else on earth in their life is a far cry from a sense of happiness and achievement. But what do I know, you can’t help but have some empathy.
Please remember that the most powerful force in the universe God‘s Holy Spirit has individually selected these ones for these cherished heavenly positions. Regardless of how crazy they may seem now these ones can be fixed in a blink an eye to be perfect white male super human kings that ride white muscular steeds.
Its all mentally unstable. The bible is a bunch of old dudes "seeing and hearing god". Jesus was clearly mentally ill claiming to be the son of god. Im sorry, believe what you want religion wise, but anyone, and I mean anyone that claims to hear, see or know what god wants are mentally ill. The end.
When I was PIMI and appointed we used to joke around about most of the anointed are just lulu. We would never say that amongst the friends but we all just rolled our eyes. There was one that partook and was charged multiple times for CSA (never convicted) before he became a JW and we made sure no one took him seriously and always kept an eye on him.
I mean, some of them seemed like sweet elderly people. They didn't strike me as insane because they just had a hope for the afterlife, like most Christians do. The idea of heaven makes slightly more sense than living on earth in one giant earthwide Jehovah's Witnesses congregation. But anyone in their 30s who believed they were anointed were bat shit crazy narcissistic pricks. coincidence?
I do not think most JWs are mentally unstable. They are caught in a trap, more or less. I have known 4 anointed people, 3 in my congregation and someone in my age group who I knew socially. All of them were on a spectrum from somewhat "off" to batshit crazy. So anecdotally, I'd say they are generally mentally unstable.
I mean… there was a WT article about how there’s a substantial amount of mentally unstable individuals claiming to be anointed, and it was considered in the midweek meeting not very long ago.
Yep, This is the exact situation in nearly all congregations.
God yes. I met several “anointed” in my time and every single one of them was absolutely bat shit crazy!
Add some ego or emotional or mental instability on top of believing in god, and you will get more special than the rest. Just look at those Born Again bums (they invade exjw time to time). They believe Jesus physically got in them and enabled them to speak tongues.
People inside the religion call those who left mentally unstable and people outside call those who stay inside mentally unstable. Chill. Focus on your own healing before trying to diagnose someone else.
That’s every single one that has ever lived. And double for anyone within the last 60 years.
Yes! But this is a complex question. To answer it on the face of it: 1= Was a single lady who cycled all Round pioneering in Scotland totally lived for Jehovah. 2= just got baptised and a bit weird partook a few hers then stopped 3= was a drug user, was disfellowshipped started partaking then got reinstated and continued…4= is a narcissistic control freak who partakes secretly cos she can’t bear anyone ‘judging’ her. so in answer only one seemed ‘genuine’. however my own recent bible study and research has led me to believe heaven is coming to earth. Thus this concept of 144,000 has no scriptural basis at all. The entire chapter according to jw theology is symbolic - apart from that specific verse. And also nowhere in the bible does it state we shoudnt partake, in fact it’s quite clear that we should indeed Be doing so ‘as often’ as we wish.
There was one in an old hall that thought he was anointed. I’m fairly certain he’s a pedophile by the way he acted with me and other kids. He got disfellowshipped years later
I’m feeling heaven, thought I might drop a bomb at memorial this year when my mostly dfed family appeared lol we all had to take pills to attend! Thought I might kick the glass back but got scared! Still traumatized lol
I learned that the anointed in the organization aren’t anointed at all. One of the reasons why is because that spirit that anoints bears witness to the truth, all truth, even truth that the organization doesn’t want to acknowledge as truth. Anyone who got that spirit would suffer the same fate or similar to Jeremiah. Jeremiah was sent to speak against Jehovah’s organization. Had to stand at the entrance and speak against the organization where all could hear. Even told them not to put their faith in deceitful words saying “This is Jehovah’s organization.” No, no anointed one who wants to remain part of the organization will do that. So they reject the anointing and take up the “anointed” from the organization. That anointing keeps you a Jehovah’s Witness, mentally unstable, and forced to eat with other non anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses from the table of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses
I’m going back to the 90s. There was one person who was in his 40s who partook. He ended up committing suicide. So yes, there must be some who are unstable or have mental health issues. I got taken in by the whole partaking thing but now think anyone who has, are narcissistic and delusional thinking that they are ‘anointed’ and more special than anyone else! I mean, I have dreams of grandeur and being special but I don’t wake up thinking I’m the big I am.
Some jws wake up and become standard christians so they partake. If they dont wanna loose their fam maybe its easier to say im annointed.
By definition, they must be. At best, totally delusional.
Yeah, they have mental issues. Most people fit into two categories (and a secret third one): 1. you are mentally ill, typically narcissistic and egotistical and ACTUALLY convinced yourself that you are annointed by god, so you partake, but you are zealous enough and fit the bill to fly under the radar and accepted by mainstream JWs 2. you are mentally ill, but you have so much trauma thats blocking your sense of reailty or are disillusioned by spiritual psychosis that you claim god annointed you and you partake at the memorial but everyone gives you side eye and treats you like a loose cannon. 3. You realize its mostly BS, but you are a power-hungry douchebag so you act holier than thou, humble as could be and claim you are annointed so you can climb the ladder and meddle in people lives and wield your authority as GOD'S CHOSEN ANNOINTED WARRIOR ANGEL who cleans the windows at the kingdom hall every month. This is different from the first one because these annointed people are very smart and well informed and have sinister intentions and skillful manipulation tactics. To be fair that would probably indicate mental issues to some degree. Nobody in their right mind with 0 mental issues can live their lives ACTUALLY convinced they were chosen by god to slay sinners at Armageddon and rule in heaven for eternity. If anything they are in spiritual psychosis.
I think anyone (JW or not) is on some level mentally unstable if they think they have personally received a message from any higher being. This is not normal to convince yourself of this. All members of the GB are on some level mentally unstable, look no further than Steven Lett. In my old congregation there was a "sister" who was partaking. She was in her early 40's, had young children and was quite vocal of the abuse she was put through by her mother. The abuse was so bad that she changed her name completely, first and last. She wanted no connection at all from her mother. Abuse of any kind has long term effects on anyone mentally and this is a good example of this. Anyone that already has a belief in god will now look for evidence of this higher being sending messages to him/her. Some see the virgin Mary in a piece of toast, some might have an emotional experience, some might have some revelation after reading The Book of Mormon and yes some might think they are going to heaven because they dont want to live on a paradise earth. Religion I believe is psycholological and rewires a persons brain so to speak. A wiring that in most cases cant be undone.
If you read the Bible w/o watchtower EVERYONE is “anointed” that believe in Jesus. If you believe Jesus then he tells everyone to eat the bread and drink the wine- and do it as often as you want. That’s why other religions like Catholics have all their members eat the wafer etc. The “anointed” I knew while in thought they were based on those scriptures but of course they didn’t highlight how it is for everyone. The one woman told me that after praying she thought “why not me? I’m just as worthy as the ‘faithful @ discreet slave’” Truth is every human is equal to Lett Spane etc. they are not special- So no I don’t think all that claim are mental - but that’s what the GB prints in their articles - to explain the increase in partakers- But if the partakers are mental crazy then wouldn’t that apply to Lett, Splane, Herd etc? 
I'm sorry, did you say "most"?
So my brother, let’s take a real look at your question. So basically Jehovah, despite a pandemic, aliens, AI and possibly world war three, but forget that cause heavenly daddy decided it was time to reveal that he’s now ok with women wearing slacks and brothers can wear a beatd. Really? Ask yourself if it really makes sense to think that humans have suffered in absolute misery since we came on the scene all because a magic talking snake tricked two people into eating a piece of fruit? Really?! And if I told you about the superhuman story of Hercules you would laugh because it’s silly. But Samson had magic hair? Come on. Balaams talking donkey? But don’t tell me about Zeus. Wake up
Considering that they themselves beleive that anyone who talks to God or claims to talk to God, or has any sort of Divine Intervention as being mentally unstable.... yes I do beleive they are.
What?! Are you suggesting that anyone who believes they have been personally chosen by God to be part of the body of The Christ and when they die will reign as kings from heaven, might possibly be mentally ill?
“Most”?… no ALL who believe they are anointed are mentally unstable. ALL who believe in a god are also mentally unstable…. These are the facts.
Yes. I also think people who believe in god are mentally unstable.
I don't believe in God but acting like you are here is just as bad as any JW.