Is the Internet An Answer to the JW Cliche Lament - "Where Else Can We Go?" (page 2)

OUTLAW

"Where else can we go"..The words of someone who has been institutanalized..I`ve been in prison so long "where else can I go"..All the mental hospitals are full "where else can I go"..LOL!!.....There was no internet when I got out..You guys are lucky...OUTLAW

deeskis

Yes, the internet is a fantastic resources. I wish it had been around when I was getting out. Hope it can eventually help some of my family members.

Best wishes

D

Anitar

I just want to take this opportunity to reach out to all the Jehovah Witnesses who are reading this, questioning their religion, and desperate for truth. Don't be ashamed to think for yourself, don't be afraid of using the internet. Stand up for what is right, even if it means losing everyone you love.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

We here on JWD may not have the answer, but at least we have the question.

Anitar

mcsemike

Many good points were made here. It's always puzzled me why anyone has to "go anywhere else". Where were they BEFORE they became a JW? Crying at home because they were Catholic or Jewish? Maybe some of us were looking for the "answers to the universe", but it doesn't require us to join the WT to find them. As we know, they don't have any answers.

Anitar, I always like your comments. You reminded me of a quote I heard: " I'd rather belong to a religion that allowed questions and didn't have all the answers than to a religion that had all the answers and didn't allow questions." I think that says enough to bury the WTS for good.

I had questions for years. I was first contacted in Oct. 1971 when a JW at work placed the "God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years". The yellow book that we all hated. Even when I became a BS conductor, other elders called each other and me to figure out the questions and answers. Whoever wrote that was drunk. It was the offer of the month. I gave it back to the guy and they gave me the Truth Book. It seemed to fill in my empty spaces from being raised Catholic. But even when I finally got baptized in 1977, I never really, really felt it was absolutely the proven truth. I doubted all those years.

I finally started looking on the Internet in 1998 when my nine year old daughter was raped by a JW and learned of these sites and the WT policy on this issue. The floodgates opened and I quit immediately. I never looked back. I once heard a former JW say that if the WT was the truth, he'd rather be a Nazi. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I understand his point. Being a network engineer helped me even more to work on the Internet and get involved in Silent Lambs. I'm so glad for what I learned from everyone here and on other forums. Thank you all for your posts.

KW13

Belief that one must go anywhere is part of the Watchtower programming.

genius! i never even thought of that

blondie

"Wherever I go, there I am"

I heard that once on a comedy show; actually it had a more profound meaning for me.

It is not "where I am" that matters because I am me no matter where I am.

This probably grew out of being in an abusive family that I could not leave. I left so many ways, through books that challenged my mind and entertained me with the lives of other people and possible and fantastic futures, my music and composition, finding ways to hang onto who I was and wanted to be in spite of the abuse around me. I also found support from teachers and neighbors and playmates.

Eventually, I physically left my family, but I was already was on the road to freedom. It took time and several stages but I feel that I my healing is mostly complete.

I do believe that people leave the abusive WTS mentally long before they take that last step out the KH door. Many would leave regardless of whether there would be someone on the other side to help them. But it is nice to find like minded people.

Blondie

KW13

"Wherever I go, there I am"
I heard that once on a comedy show; actually it had a more profound meaning for me.
It is not "where I am" that matters because I am me no matter where I am.
This probably grew out of being in an abusive family that I could not leave. I left so many ways, through books that challenged my mind and entertained me with the lives of other people and possible and fantastic futures, my music and composition, finding ways to hang onto who I was and wanted to be in spite of the abuse around me. I also found support from teachers and neighbors and playmates.
Eventually, I physically left my family, but I was already was on the road to freedom. It took time and several stages but I feel that I my healing is mostly complete.
I do believe that people leave the abusive WTS mentally long before they take that last step out the KH door. Many would leave regardless of whether there would be someone on the other side to help them. But it is nice to find like minded people.
Blondie

hey blondie, your story strikes a few chords there

mcsemike

Me too, Blondie. Very nice post. I also lost myself in my music. I've even been in touch with Terry since his music and background made such an impression on me. Sometimes the quote "We are a product of our environment" is more true than we realize at the time. If we change our environment, the product should change. My best to all. M.A.N. from SL

parakeet

Seeker4:
***The Internet made all the difference to me.***
When I left, the Internet did not exist, but ironically, it was Barbara Grizzutti Harrison's book, "Visions of Glory" that made all the difference to me.

Seeker4

I found Barbara's book at the local library when I was an active JW - I was an elder or MS at the time, can't exactly remember. I read it. I think I may have read an excerpt from it earlier in Ms. Magazine.

I certainly didn't leave the Witnesses at the time, but what she wrote definitely stayed with me. There were in my congregation at the time Witnesses from Brooklyn who had been close friends with Barbara and her family, so there was a bit of a personal connection as well.

I had a brief e-mail correspondence with Barbara not too long ago, just before she passed away. She was an exceptionally talented writer, and I think how she says what she says about the Witnesses is as good as writing can get.

S4

Is the Internet An Answer to the JW Cliche Lament - "Where Else Can We Go?"

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