just found this site today

TopDog

this is a great site, thank you to whoever started it. i left the "truth" about 6 years ago and like many I still feel guilty about it. my older brother lives in Dominican Republic, he moved there about 12 years ago to help where the need is greater. being raised a witness, i don't regret, because i still value the morals i was raised with and i'm close with my family....well...some of them anyways. my family may not agree with my decision, but almost all of them still treat me with respect and don't look down on me. i guess i'm one of the lucky ones. i guess it's just nice to know that there are so many of us that still kind of have issues with witnesses. i'm not apostate, i still believe some things they do, just don't go to meetings anymore. anyways, i've rambled on enough, nice to meet everyone and thanks again, i'll talk to ya'll soon

jwfacts

Welcome TopDog, you will find this site helps clear away a lot of the guilt. Particularly beneficial is to read some information on cults, such as Hassans Releasing the Bonds, in order to understand how high control religions manipulate a persons thinking ability.

I would love to know what things you still believe. As time goes on and you research you will find you believe less and less. I have found that most of what is unique to JW doctrine is unique because it is wrong.

fullofdoubtnow

Hi TopDog, and welcome to the forum

stillajwexelder

Hi TopDog and welcome to the forum

Seeker4

Welcome!

S4

skyking

Welcome

AuldSoul

TopDog,

i'm not apostate, i still believe some things they do

Welcome to the forum.

Not all who've left JWs have rejected everything JWs teach. "Apostate" is just a convenient label used to demonize a lot of people as a group to avoid addressing them (and their concerns) individually. Don't get trapped by the hype.

Unfortunately, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, you don't get the freedom to define what is and is not an apostate. Their scales of what is or is not an apostate aren't the same as yours. You think that if you still believe some things (or even most things) they believe, then you aren't an apostate. They think if you reject anything they teach, you are an apostate.

For instance: I flatly rejected their teaching that Jesus is only the mediator for the 144,000. I also rejected that the Bible teaches that the word "paradise" refers to earth (see the concordance for the New World Translation, "paradise"). I also rejected the notion that the organization should be held to a different moral standard than individual JWs are held to. (Romans 2:1, 2) So, they formed a judicial committee (which is also entirely unscriptural). So, I disassociated myself. So, I am labeled an apostate.

Does that fit what you call "apostasy"?

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

TopDog

wow, jwfacts and auldsoul, you guys are just way too smart for me i think, lol. no disrespect intended, i do mean that. auldsoul, u bring up points that i never thought of about apostacy. i suppose to current witnesses, i am an apostate because i do celebrate b'days and x-mas. doh well. i was never df'd and never da'd myself officially, i just stopped going. jwfacts, i still do believe in creation, not evolution and i'd like to think that there will be a resurrection and that i haven't been so bad in my life that i will see the people that were close to me that have passed away again. my grandfather passed suddenly when i was in grade 2 and my mother due to cancer when i was in grade 5. i just like to think that i'm still a good person, even tho i'm not a witness anymore

katiekitten

Woof and welcome Topdog!

diamondblue1974

Welcome to the forum Topdog. Hope you find what you are looking for.

i'm not apostate

True freedom comes when you no longer acknowledge their phoney labels; I prefer the term, 'free-thinker'.

Gary

just found this site today

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