A warning....

Justice-One

I just posted this on another forum I visit, in their "religion" section. I wanted to put out a warning, because so many people think the JW's are "good people" and may get sucked in before they know it. What ya think?.....

"I was "raised" as a good little "JW." I quit believing in what they teach about 15 years before I finally told my wife that I was no longer going to go to "the meetings." (Six per week.) The reason for this is that once you make this decission, you are "cut off" or maybe "disfellowshiped" from all your family and friends. This in my opinion is how they are managing to maintain what they have left in the way of membership. Many do not believe, they just have nowhere to go. But I took my time, and developed friends and contacts outside of the "hall." So when I finally quit, I did not care if they shunned me. (My sisters where already out, and my true believing Mom...who I loved deeply...had passed away.) So, I'm finally free of this cult. As I told my wife, "I'm glad I'm not going to be there if the Kool-Aid comes out." (This of course did not go over well. <G>)

But please, never let your friends get sucked into to this cult. A cult that will disfellowship you for..... among other things, getting or giving a blood transfussion, (even if it means saving your childs life) wearing a Cross, celebrating ANY of the holidays, smoking, voting, or even joining the YMCA. (And you can be "marked" for much much more.) They are a HIGH CONTROL group, and in my opinion a very dangerous one.

But they have left their mark on me. Scarred would probably be a better word. I just don't know what to believe anymore. I do know that I have, and will continue to try to live a good moral and upright life. But sometimes all I see is blackness at the end. I really wish I could feel different."

SirNose586

Let 'em know, J-1. Once the ball really gets rolling, I'll probably have a story like that...

Warlock

But they have left their mark on me. Scarred would probably be a better word. I just don't know what to believe anymore. I do know that I have, and will continue to try to live a good moral and upright life. But sometimes all I see is blackness at the end. I really wish I could feel different."

You just put into words the way I feel at times. I couldn't have said it any better.

Warlock

daniel-p

But they have left their mark on me. Scarred would probably be a better word. I just don't know what to believe anymore. I do know that I have, and will continue to try to live a good moral and upright life. But sometimes all I see is blackness at the end. I really wish I could feel different."

I know what you're talking about. Whenever any of this comes up in discussion with my wife I feel a panic all over again, like the rug is going to be pulled out from under me. I try to overcome this and trust her as the one person who will give me unconditional love - but the risk is always there that she won't. Perhaps that's what trust really means, then. Growing up in a JW household forced me to re-learn the meaning of trust. To this day I find it very, very hard. I want to, but it's much easier to be a sole agent. I have tried to tell her that my morals and principles towards her are unchanged, but I don't know if she really gets it. I guess she just cannot fathom the willing principled life without accountability to God and earthly representatives.

Sometimes I feel a general panic about life, as I see time go by so fast and feel myself getting older, but I would rather have that than to become old knowing everything I did was a waste.

fullofdoubtnow

Good for you J-1, I hope it's effective in keeping people out of the jws

I wanted to put out a warning, because so many people think the JW's are "good people" and may get sucked in before they know it.

I wish I'd read a warning like that before I ever met any jws.

ttbeachbum

I often wonder what convinced my maternal figure to become a JW. The only conclusion I can logically come up with is peer pressure; One of her friends converted.

Now having said that, I had a 'wordly school friend' that was very confused; I left almost 20 years ago and she actually became a JW a couple of years ago;

Justice-One

I want to, but it's much easier to be a sole agent.

I know exactly what you mean. After I left "the truth" I came to realize that I never really had any true friends. They were all cardboard cut-outs of friends. It has been said that if you can have just ONE really good friend in life, that you are very lucky. So, I guess I landed on my feet here. I was lucky enough to make a true friend that was there to support me in my decision to leave the cult. I trust this person implicitly, and he me. I feel that is the true brother that I never had. He is also on the very short list of people I will allow to stand behind me with a loaded rifle...and in my book, this says a lot.

You know, this reminds me of the old joke....a good friend will bail you out of jail. Your best friend will be sitting beside you saying "Damm, we F'ed up."

anewme

I think writing about your frustration and anger over your mishandling and mistreatment and the merciless way DFd people are treated is a good way to divest yourself of much inner suffering.

We who have been DFd feel we have been wronged. The punishment seems WAY TOO MUCH for the sin committed.
And we feel helpless to find any justice for ourselves. (Even religious people enjoy hoping God will strike down their enemies. And now they have taken that from us too.) They have told us God has turned his back on us and is no longer listening to our prayers. All that is hogwash of course and merely techniques to control us even after we have been excommunicated from their group.

I feel that this forum and others like it are allowing us to vent our anger and frustration and sorrow and doing a lot to aid us in healing from the awful experience of being a witness and then being kicked out.
We are comforted if our wrongs are heard and listened to by the community of caring people.
To publish your sorrows and receive a kindred spirit's kind words of comfort in return is the beginning of true healing.

Justice-One

Roger that!

Santisimo

Our search for God is a journey. Like any long trip, there are detours and stops along the way. Pick up a copy of the Tanakh and read it. Leave all you preconceived ideas behind and just read it with an open mind - God will handle the rest for you.

Tanakh = Hebrew Scriptures.

Read the original - it will amaze you.

A warning....

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