Can you admit that you "used to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses"?

by undercover 40 Replies latest jw friends

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  wednesday

  
  I had some recent medical treatment so this has come up. The lady at the hospital desk was so upset that declared 'no religion" that she more or less insisted I say "christian", so I did to appease her. I guess it is true, I still do consider myself christian. I seldom have to tell anyone anything unless I'm getting medical treatment and like I said, "christian" seems to work very well around here.

  A long time before I stopped attending meetings, I stopped going in FS . It just happened one day, I decided to myself I can't do this, I can't hurt another single person by bringing them into such a hateful bunch of people. I could not live with myself if they treated another person like they have me. I will not be a party to this any longer." and so I quit. I never peddled their stuff again. I attended meetings for several years longer, but stopped giving people literature or "witnessing" to anyone.
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  Mulan

  I used to tell people all the time. Now I avoid it. I find it embarrassing.

  Occasionally I have to explain not celebrating Christmas almost my entire life, and I say I was raised in a cult that didn't do holildays. It usually takes them by surprise and they don't ask the obvious questions.
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  HadEnuf

  If it comes up in some way and is pertinent to the conversation...I most certainly do. I want people to know what they really are instead of the "sugar coated" version they may get from a JW at their door or some sappy convention or KH build story in their local newspaper. Yeah...it's usually good for the shock value too.
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  Van Gogh

  Mouthy,
  You seriously rock - on the back of the beast!
  I find it liberating to come out - sometimes - the only way to explain the inadequacy to connect - explain "autism" experienced by me and "outsiders" - only, though, when I assess the other to possess some ability to understand. In the secular Netherlands people wil feel nothing but pity for you. Or, hey, whatever you want to believe is ok with me. No questions asked. But I feel less ashamed mentioning it compared to when I was a jaydoubleyougobbledygook. Any shrink who does not understand is an inadequate shrink. They all recognize the mechanisms. Makes you feel more stupid, yes. No more or less than anyone else.
  VG
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  tijkmo

  do it all the time

  it explains who and what and why i am
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  Honesty

  I admit to being a former JW.

  It usually leads into a discussion of False Prophets.
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  looking_glass

  Yes. I don't have a problem with it because it is like any part of my past, it is just that MY PAST. What bothers me is the insane JW at my office that won't let it go that I was raised a JW. Now she gets under my skin.
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  Quentin

  Don't broadcast it from the roof tops, don't hide it under a bush...was a time I kept it seceret for fear of the other person being, unknow to me, a witnesses, but that was a long time ago. Like Mouthy I've done my fair share of speaking engagments. I'm one of those who has no shame for having been one. Those that don't tell may fell different someday, then again may not. We each deal with it in our own way...
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  nsrn

  "My parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. I was raised that, but I left. Now I'm a Methodist." I like seeing other people's reactions. Some people look puzzled. Others look shocked or just don't know what to say. We talk about religion at work quite a bit. There are several witnesses in the company, including the CFO, so I'm pretty careful to not say a lot outside my department. But my closest coworkers are very supportive.
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  Athanasius

  The subject rarely comes up for me. Most of my friends and co-workers know that I am an Episcopalian. However, last year a co-worker's daughter married a JW. The way she described her new son-in-law, he didn't sound very "theocratic." However, the groom's parents were devout JWs and my co-worker was doing all she could to accommodate them at the wedding ceremony and reception. So I told her that I understood her dilemma as I had been raised in that religion. I wasn't embarrassed to mention my former religious affiliation, nor did it raise any eyebrows. People often change religions, its no big deal.