Just found this page and wanted to introduce myself

Rzach

Hi,

I just found this page and wanted to introduce myself. I noticed that there wasn't a category for introductions so I hope

this is the right place.

I was born in 1979 to a JW family. (My mother has been a witness since she was 10. She is 56 now.)

I spent the next 14 years going to meetings and assemblies, and going door to door.

I was the oldest of four brothers. And I was expected to set a good example for them.

When I was around six my dad divorced my mother, then he was disfellowshipped shortly thereafter.

At the age of eight my mother started putting pressure on me to get baptized. I resisted. (I never did get babtized.)

Around the same time she had me enrolled to start giving talks. Luckily our congregation had three rooms they used

for the talks. I got stuck with the small group of people who were all just starting the ministerial school.

When I was 10 we moved to a new congregation. This one was terrible. People were divided between two different elders

who hated each other.

A year later we were attending a different congregation. It was a better place. All kept going the same until I was 13.

Around this time I started to notice that my worldly friends were having fun on the weekends while I got to spend

Saturday having a bible study with an elder, and Sunday at the Kingdom Hall. The elder who gave me my study was the one who

set me on the path that led to me quitting the "truth". See I heard about a "satanic game" called Dungeons and Dragons. The articles

that the WTS put out on it only got me curious to see what it was really about. I prayed to Jehovah for guidance. The next day I went to a

Goodwill store and found a copy of the old 1978 basic rules set. I bought it for 30 cents and went home. Boy was that a eye opener.

The game was not at all like people had told me it was. I then started wondering what else they were wrong about. I started to wonder

about a lot of things at that point. The elder who was conducting my study was discussing evolution when he told me "God may have used

evolution as tool." At that point the wheels in my mind started to really turn. I think he noticed, because he had a discussion with

my mother and told her I needed to decide my priorities in life. That very day I told my mother that I didn't want to be a Witness. She

said that it was my decision and that she didn't mind. Boy did she lie. For the next nine years she treated me like I was the cause of all

of the problems in her life. My family all treated me different. It was like they would talk down to me. Even their body language was

different. Since I was not a witness I spent my teen years trying different religions. None of them really fit. I couldn't find it in

myself to believe in the trinity. Nor could I embrace many of more philisophical religions. I eventually became very critical of all

religions. Whenever one of the Witnesses from the congregation would stop by to talk to my mother they would always try to reason with me

biblically. So I reasoned back. "If god is all knowing and all seeing, then he knew that Adam and Eve were going to sin. More so he knew

that the Devil was going to tempt them. Even worse he knew this before he made everything." I would say. To which the usual response was

"But Jehovah gave them free will. They could make up their own minds. He didn't know that they were going to sin." So I would reply

"Then your god is not all knowing or all seeing. Which means he can fail. And if he can fail the Devil can win. And he is a liar". At this

point they were normally quite angry at me.

I have spent the last 12 years being free of that cultish bs. And I can say that I am better for it. More so I was finally able to get my

mother to realize that D&D is just a game, and that her son was not a demon possesed fiend. She and my youngest brother are still part of

the cult but she still talks to me at least. Most of the rest of my family still thinks I am evil, but I don't care for their stuck up

ways either. I have found a religous path that makes sense to me. And I have friends who are better than the ones I had as a witness.The

only thing I miss as a witness is the dramas they used to do during the District Conventions. The ones with the people who dressed as

bible characters.

I am glad I found this board. It's nice to have people out their who understand what it is like to deal with these situations. Nice

to meet you all.

Thank you for your time.

poppers

Welcome, Rzach. I hope you will enjoy your time here; you are among friends.

poppers

candidlynuts

hi rzach

i was born jw and was in it most of my 40 yrs

since i left i have friends that play d&d and i agree. its nothing like the deomized, mind altering game that it was portrayed as by the wtbs.

i do have fun teasing jw relatives that let their kids read classic literature such as tolkein and now the harry potter series.. by telling them its just d&d wrapped up in different packages. freaks them out lol

FlyingHighNow

Welcome. You're really very lucky to have realized the Watchtower Sham as a teenager. I am the opposite. I got suckered into a study at 17. You'll love it here. I hope that you will stick around and post often.

serendipity

Hi Rzach, welcome to the forum!

AuldSoul

Welcome!

My jaunts into the deep, dark world of RPG started with MERP (Middle-Earth Role-Playing) systems, then went to Rifts, then to D&D. LOL, it is comical the huge deal the WTS made out of role-playing. EVERY ONE OF THEM role plays, they just don't know it.

They all want a +16 Sword of Spirit and full Mithril armor (-17 AC) when the CO is around, and they strip down to their basic Shirt and Pants armor when they are gathering to watch a football game at Elder BetterTVThanYours house.

And they have different classes, too. There is Sister DressesNaughty, she plays a slut and everyone knows it. There is old Brother Sagacious, a well-respected sage who always has a knowing twinkle in his eye. There are the roughnecks and hoodlums (young men who need to get straightened out) and the Guilds, "Elder's Wives," "Elders" (with the less respected but equally well known accompanying guild "Friends of Elders"), "Ministerial Servants," "Pioneer Partners," "Materialists," the "Fun Girls," and the "Cool Kids."

It is possible to belong to more than one Guild, but in doing so you run the constant risk of expulsion from one or the other. There is constant stress if you join any of them to make sure that your fame rating doesn't drop too low in the guild or guilds you are in. Should that happen, your Guild membership will be revoked, pending bowing and scraping before the Guild Master (or Mistress).

If it drops much lower, through lawlessness or perceived "bad acts" (per guild/game rules), you may be at risk for expulsion from the game altogether, until and unless you come back and apologize sincerely to the Dungeon Master. And outside the game is where the weeping and gnashing of your teeth shall be. You will remember the respect you once had and regret, forgetting all the stress of getting and maintaining that fame by playing at something you are not.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

-Aude Sapere. (Meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Widsom/Understanding)

Just found this page and wanted to introduce myself

Rzach

poppers

candidlynuts

FlyingHighNow

serendipity

AuldSoul

greendawn

SickofLies

freedomlover

AudeSapere

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