For those raised as Witnesses ... What was your personal crossroad?

by The wanderer 14 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  LtCmd.Lore

  I got smarter, simple as that. As I increased in knowledge I found it harder and harder to wrap my head around the flood story, and all the other obsurd things in the bible, but I didn't dare look up the facts I wanted to... See my biography for my other reasons.

  But eventualy I decided that I realy needed to know. That coupled with the fact that I knew I'd be completely bored in the paradise anyways, moved me to look this stuff up. I found a great website and I realized the whole flood story is a bunch of crap, I was pretty curious by now so I went to a couple of the links on the site and learned more. Well that got me started, and I'm still finding fault in pretty much every single article the society publishes.

  I made the decision to leave shortly before I turned 16, but I know it would be foolish to quit before I can support myself so my parents have no clue yet, I'm now 17 and a half and I intend to leave the borg before the end of next year...

  I wouldn't want to do it any other way, I'm glad I realised they're wrong when I did, because even though I had to wait about 3 years before I could say anything. It has given me plenty of time to figure out what facts I should use when I confront my parents, and the elders.

  And when I do it... I intend to be the only person in the room who keeps my cool... No outbursts of emotion coming from me... that's the plan anyways.
• 

  solo

  1.) How long did it take you to decide to leave the organization
  once you knew it was no longer the "truth" ?

  I left the org because of how my husband treated me and how the Elders dealt with it - I could just not tollerate it. As I could not live with my husband, leaving him would mean going against Jehovah so I had no choice to leave.

  It took about 10 years for me to realise it was not the truth and another couple of years to realise it is a cult
  
  2.) How much harder of an influence was it to weigh the decisions
  on leaving, realizing you had family and friends in the organization ?

  This is the whole reason it makes leaving so difficult, it was probably the most difficult, heart breaking decision of my life
  
  3.) If you had to do everything all over again would you have done
  things differently or exactly the same ?

  I would never had got baptised, I would have saved every penny so I could have left home at 16 and given myself a better chance. I would not have married JW. If I had the opportunity to do everything again I would do it totally differently, I would have questioned every single thing at every single bible study I would have given them hell and I would have shut my ears at all the meeting to try and prevent the brain washing. Isn't that what experience is all about? Why would you do things the same if you know the outcome?

  Nice questions though
• 

  XJW4EVR

  1.) How long did it take you to decide to leave the organization
  once you knew it was no longer the "truth" ?

  About ten years.

  2.) How much harder of an influence was it to weigh the decisions
  on leaving, realizing you had family and friends in the organization ?

  It definitely played a part in it. I was too afraid to step out on my own, especially at 18. I eventually left after I became economicly stable. I had a duty to be true to myself. I had grown tired of living a lie.

  3.) If you had to do everything all over again would you have done
  things differently or exactly the same ?

  I would have left earlier when I became convinced of the error of the Watchtower. The reason is that I now know that I could have made it without the additional help of other people.
• 

  Rabbit

  Crossroads:

  I had 2 of them:

  1) My marriage breaking up (I was viewed as "spiritually sick" which = "spiritually dangerous") I was "marked" as "Bad Ass-ociation" and shunned unofficially by my kids & dub family. The Elders showed me just how hypocritical and dangerous they can be. My faithful dub wife's family was top heavy with elders...there was none in my immediate family.

  2) The 'last straw'...was my Mom dying from the JW 'no blood' rule. The HLC, other elders and my dub relatives LIED about what real options (fractions) a Witness could take and keep Jehovah 'happy'. The Lie = Death in my Mom's case. There was no going back -- ever after that experience.

  THAT is what has to happen to get JW's to wake up finally...it has to get personal !

  1.) How long did it take you to decide to leave the organization
  once you knew it was no longer the "truth" ?

  Once I knew... I quickly started 'fading' by missing meetings and moving 2 - 3 times, somehow I did it correctly (for me).

  2.) How much harder of an influence was it to weigh the decisions
  on leaving, realizing you had family and friends in the organization ?

  This was the most difficult part. My family had broken up, my kids were shunning me and over 1/2 of my relatives are JW's. If I were free of that burden it would have been so much easier to leave under my own schedule and in doing it 'my' way.

  3.) If you had to do everything all over again would you have done
  things differently or exactly the same ?

  Knowing what I know now...sure, there were a lot of things I would do differently. Although 'getting out' of the WTS sphere of influence is simply the one best thing I did. I may have made mistakes, but, I did 'save' myself from further damage, I did fade successfully and was never DF/DA. In *my* case that was sacrosanct, my relatives, not being 'officially' ordered to shun me...at least has given me some audience and influence with my dub relatives.

  Rabbit
• 

  Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit

  I grew up in a very active family. I never was DFd, reproved, I was the perfect 'above reproach' young pioneer at 18.

  I still was the victim of slander occasionally, coldness, shunning, repeated scolding by elders, snubbing because I was a RP. Once when out in fs, an elder called me "Sisssssster" like it was the dirtiest word he knew, right then I stopped forgiving and tolerating, and seeing them for what they are. The doctrine and realization that I was worshipping The Society came 15 years later, almost 2 years ago, .