Easiest thing I ever did was leaving. It was when I joined up that I lost/abandoned my friends and family. Since I left the jovies, I've patched things up with old friends and thank goodness for my family. They stuck through my cult experiences with me.
Was It Easy For You To Leave "The Truth"?
by minimus 30 Replies latest jw friends
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troubled mind
I think we slowly started leaving even before we even realized it. It made it a bit easier . The year before we quit my husband was told he could no longer attend quick builds because his service time was near non-existance . Then we stopped attending book study . We still gave talks , but since our sevice time was so bad friends pulled away from socializing w/us . They actually made it pretty easy .....no one came around or talked to us anymore anyways . Our JW relatives in the congregation never did much with us either since they are so much more theocratic than us . My relatives still talk to me just not very often, and we have to keep the conversation light . I made a mistake early on telling a few 'close' friends what some of my doubts (apostate views) were , they are the ones that shun me now . Oh well .
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I quit!
I had to get out and I'm so happy that I did. I didn't want to lose friends and family but the decision not to associate with me was theirs not mine. The good of being out far out weighs the bad.
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Soledad
Long before my physical exit I was mentally "out" for many many years. I couldn't find a rational explanation for wanting to leave but my intuition was right on when I often felt that something was off with "The Truth." Since I was born and raised in it I didn't know any better. It wasn't all that bad once I made the decision. Of course there was all the drama, threats, blackmail, yada yada.....but I never doubted for a second that I had to do it. I don't have much family in, and once I left my brother did too. Strange how the people who ignored me the most while I was in had the most to say about my "spirituality." Whatever.
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IsaacJS2
For me, leaving was easy--staying was hard. Even at only 6 years, I think I stayed longer than was necessary. But I was about to get married and I think that gave me a final blind spot. Staying became even more difficult after that. Ever since I was baptized, all I saw was ugliness at the Hall. When the blind spot was gone, I realized that I was measuring myself against this standard that kept them above me, always above me. My existence had no value to me any more. If I didn't leave, I was afraid I would do something unskippy to myself. That's when I finally realized the Society was poison.
Why should I keep struggling to get more poison? Suddenly, I just cut it all loose and I was gone.
It bugs them when you do that. You're supposed to feel bad for leaving, not better. It's like you don't think they're better than you any more... And that's your part to play in the game. They try to make you feel guilty or bad for not making them feel better and more certain like you're supposed to. So they keep coming around to try and squeeze what they need from you, deluding themselves about you to feel better about themselves.
I say, let'em starve on it. I give'em nothing but wisecracks or silence. They hate that! Saps them of the will to live. Heh heh.
IsaacJ
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lonelysheep
Easiest thing I ever did was leaving. It was when I joined up that I lost/abandoned my friends and family.
This was my experience as well. I only deal with the family/friend who stuck by me even though I was studying with the dubs. I'm so thankful for JWD. No one else could understand why I did what I did-broke away from everything and everyone "wordly".
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greendawn
It was easy since I had virtually no relatives and no friends (it was hard to socialise in the JW society) worth worrying about in the org, I had been an active member for only about one year. I only had some lingering doubts that got cleared up after the internet came out leaving me with no doubt that the WTS was nothing but a scum.
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undercover
Leaving the "truth"...as in the religious aspect...wasn't so hard...once I realized and had proven to myself that it was not the "truth".
It was leaving the life of being who I was that was hard. My family and most of my social network was JW. To leave meant to leave that old JW life and try to start a new one...
...and it hasn't been easy nor have I completed the task. Being that my family is JW, I am constantly bombarded and reminded of the "truth" and even though I am inactive and have been for some time, the struggle continues to find my own way without JW influence. As long as I have family still in and am married to a somewhat still believing mate, I'll have that struggle.
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willyloman
It bugs them when you do that. You're supposed to feel bad for leaving, not better.
A dub at work (another department, don't run into him much) approached and asked where I was attending meetings now. He's in my old congo. I told him I wasn't going to meetings anymore. He asked why, so I gave him my "presentation" and left him with the thought that I was much happier now.
Some days later he came by my office and gave me a Kingdom Ministry with an article highlighted - something about leaving Jehovah leads to misery and it's never too late to come back. I looked through the highlighted portions and asked, "Why did you think I would be interested in this? Do I appear to be miserable?"
"No," he said, "that's just it, you seem pretty happy. But that's because Satan isn't attacking you any more."
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minimus
Isn't it great that both Satan & Jehovah are leaving you alone?