by jayhawk1 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I was reading through the thread, "How good does if feel to you not attending meetings anymore?" I realized something. Many of us got out between 5 and 6 years ago. What happened around then for so many of us to leave at the same time?
Thinking back... Was it the internet? Was it some change in doctrine? Was it because of the year 2000? Did we realize how many years have passed since 1914?
What was it?
For me it was because my dad died and I no longer had to pretend I liked going to meetings.
For some 1975 was the reason to leave, others like me was 1995, when they changed the generation definition. And we can't forget the year 2000.... The end was supposed to come in the 20th century, yeah sure.
I've only been out a year, but my boyfriend left almost 7 years ago. He left because the eldersin the cong we were both in recommended a brother who was rumoured to be a child abuser to be an elder (the same brother is now in jail, part way through a 7.5 year sentence for child abuse).
The brother was appointed, despite the rumours, and Trev just couldn't see how this was right. He started examining some other doctrines, read CoC, and decided it wasn't the truth, so he left.
Good question. Do you know for a fact that there was a spike in the numbers of those leaving? Doesn't matter - it is inevitable with the proliferation of internet access and capabilities that the information highway is providing many with the road map to get out of the borg. I think the fact that the Watchtower, Bull Shit and Tract Society is demonizing the internet is proof positive.
That was the point where I got so tired of faking that I just quit.
I'm not so sure there is a spike that starts and stops at around 5 or 6 years ago. What I am seeing is that the ones who leave now seem less needy of long term therapy. I would like to know what causes that, but I personally know of at least four that have left and only stopped by here on their way to swiftly rejecting everything about JWs, including discussing the religion after the fact.
It seems that there is a bridge point beyond which people just don't seem to have ever been as attached to the organization as I was. That isn't backed by hard data, but that is the sense of the situation that I have. Gut instincts are proven wildly inaccurate every day, though, so it is just an opinion that should be valued at the recipient's discretion.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
Hi Jay,
I agree.. there was a significant change.. The internet is a very significant thing..around that time.. But I also think, the Great Tribulation started around the time of 9/11.. I know, others don't, but I do..and also think that the WT..began to be like fluff, after that time.. Nothing significant or spirited anymore..
Thanks for the interesting point..
That was when I took information to the P.O. in the congregation and to two other Elders showing them the Guardian article about the NGO thing plus showed them an email from the UN stating it was true, plus from the UN web site proving it was B.S. that they need to join the NGO's to gain access to its library. I was put on reproof for causing divisions. My dad was DF'd becasue he told them he would continue to tell others about it and then let them decided if the Society was correct.
I would say that with the 1914 generation change in 1995 there was a more or less steady increase in those leaving. I know that's true for myself and a lot of others here who left at that time.
The turn of the century was probably another spike, as many would know that the work was supposed to be completed by then, and it's a strong psychological factor as well.
A main factor is the Internet - easy access to information that, far from being the lies and deception we were told it would be, turns out to totally verify our doubts about the validity of the JW organization. It's become increasingly easy and clear to see that the old WTS mare ain't what she claims to be!
And Crisis of Conscience has been a huge factor. I remember Bethel's Fred Rusk telling me that one of the reasons Ray Franz and the others left Bethel was they didn't like going out in the ministry (who did!). Well, I don't know how many he brought into the Witnesses, but he's had a hand in taking tens of thousands out.
Yes, AuldSoul, most of the ex-Witnesses I know have little or nothing to do with sites like this, and I'm sure they wonder why I post here. My girlfriend says that I seem to want to fight the WTS and JWs as hard as I worked for them for decades I was a member. Probably some weird psychological shit going on there!
How I explained it to my ex-wife, still a JW, was that I was like a person who'd lived and worked for a totalitarian country for much of his life, but had escaped toanother land and grown to see how oppressive his homeland really was. It would be totally natural for me to then work hard at trying to defeat that totalitarian government, for the sake of the people still stuck there. Look at the Cuban refugees in Florida and you'll see what I mean.
S4
I have only been out for about a year and a half. But what got me out was the fact that when my parents left something they said stuck in the back of my mind. When I saw the movie National treaurer, it all came together. See my initial topic introducing myself. Perhaps you may want to get your loved one still in the Borg a copy of that movie..Ha Ha!
Sincerely,
Lady Liberty
