Hi. My name is Russ, I'm 40 years old, from the UK, and I left the JWs nearly 5 years ago. I've been a member of the yuku board throughout that time, so there are probably some on here who know me already. There seems to be more activity over here at the moment, so I thought I'd pop in and say hi.
I was raised as a JW, started questioning it when I was 16, but there was no internet back then (well, no www anyway) so I got sucked right in and got baptized when I was 18. Auxiliary pioneered on and off for a couple of years, then became a Ministerial Servant. Started having doubts, so stepped down. Joined the Portuguese group in 2001 (probably the only useful thing to come out of my time with the JWs was learning another language). That kept me busy, and let me suppress my doubts, so I was reinstated as a Ministerial Servant and was being groomed for becoming an elder (I gave public talks in English and Portuguese).
Doubts came back again, and I stepped down again. Got really depressed and tried very hard to re-convince myself that it was "the truth", without much success. Eventually admitted to myself that I no longer believed, and felt the weight lift off my shoulders - no more depression (I was "cured by Satan" according to my dad). Stopped going to meetings in 2010, and started reading apostate stuff. Now I'm a sceptic, atheist, humanist, human being.
My wife is still a JW. My older brother was never baptised but is now 'studying' (actually, I think he is feigning interest for reasons I won't go into right now). My younger brother was also never baptised, and is a free thinker (unfortunately I don't see him much as he lives in Northern Ireland). My mum remained a JW until she died in 2013, and my dad is still devout. My Mother-in-law is a JW, and my Father-in-law has been 'studying' for several months and is making 'progress' toward complete assimilation.
I have a daughter who is about to turn eight. All the family she knows apart from me are now heavily involved with JWs, so I worry about her future, but she doesn't go to meetings (my wife rarely goes although that's not by choice), and she's very intelligent, so I hope she'll eventually see it for what it is.
I'm interested in science, astronomy, weight lifting, writing, drawing, classical guitar, home brewing, philosophy, and loads of other stuff.
I was raised as a JW, started questioning it when I was 16, but there was no internet back then (well, no www anyway) so I got sucked right in and got baptized when I was 18. Auxiliary pioneered on and off for a couple of years, then became a Ministerial Servant. Started having doubts, so stepped down. Joined the Portuguese group in 2001 (probably the only useful thing to come out of my time with the JWs was learning another language). That kept me busy, and let me suppress my doubts, so I was reinstated as a Ministerial Servant and was being groomed for becoming an elder (I gave public talks in English and Portuguese).
Doubts came back again, and I stepped down again. Got really depressed and tried very hard to re-convince myself that it was "the truth", without much success. Eventually admitted to myself that I no longer believed, and felt the weight lift off my shoulders - no more depression (I was "cured by Satan" according to my dad). Stopped going to meetings in 2010, and started reading apostate stuff. Now I'm a sceptic, atheist, humanist, human being.
My wife is still a JW. My older brother was never baptised but is now 'studying' (actually, I think he is feigning interest for reasons I won't go into right now). My younger brother was also never baptised, and is a free thinker (unfortunately I don't see him much as he lives in Northern Ireland). My mum remained a JW until she died in 2013, and my dad is still devout. My Mother-in-law is a JW, and my Father-in-law has been 'studying' for several months and is making 'progress' toward complete assimilation.
I have a daughter who is about to turn eight. All the family she knows apart from me are now heavily involved with JWs, so I worry about her future, but she doesn't go to meetings (my wife rarely goes although that's not by choice), and she's very intelligent, so I hope she'll eventually see it for what it is.
I'm interested in science, astronomy, weight lifting, writing, drawing, classical guitar, home brewing, philosophy, and loads of other stuff.