I hope it's alright that I post a question, even though I've never had any affiliation with JW organization. I have a friend who has been trying to convince me for years to study with JW. I've been doing alot of research on JW and was just wondering if people here would be kind enough to tell me why they have decided to quit their affiliation with JW organization. Did you end your affiliation on your own or was it due to disfellowshipping? Any sincere replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Not aJW, but have a question
by roseybarb 31 Replies latest jw friends
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bigmouth
You're very welcome to ask anything you like roseybarb.
In my case it was the discovery of the secret affiliation that the Watchtower society had with the United Nations. Historically, the UN represents Gods mortal enemy in the eyes of JW's. I could not be a member of a group that displayed that kind of hypocrisy.
If you click on the 'Best Of' forum you can get all the information about this subject there.
Pete -
MinisterAmos
In my case I have to stay associated if I want to keep speaking with my relatives. If I leave they will shun me, even Mommy Dearest!
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abuttercup
Hi there.
I was a young girl when I was kicked out. Barely 16. I bet you, I couldn't of told you anything other than what pertained to my imediate life. Yet, as young and nieve as I was when I went to a party, got drunk, and then date raped did the org help, No. They told me it was all of my fault. I am over the tragedy, but really think long and hard before you tiptoe through the "bible" with JW's
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Gopher
I was disfellowshipped from there, but mentally I still was in it for a few months. I thought I was going back.
After a while of not being there, I didn't miss it at all. Then I did some research on Randall Watters' site www.freeminds.org, which had a link to this site, where I found quite a few former JW's who had experiences like mine or even worse. I've found that the religion in which I was raised was really just a scam. I feel sad for some of my former friends still in there, but I cannot ever go back. Not only do I no longer believe, I have found they actually do a lot of harm. (Read the experiences on this site for a multitude of examples.)
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Merry Magdalene
I was raised a JW, had a hard time making sense of what I was taught through childhood on, learned I couldn't discuss my doubts without facing negative consequences, didn't like how I was treated as a young adult, ran into some problems with elders when I wanted to get married, eloped, and gradually drifted away.
They didn't disfellowship me until years later, after my husband and I were in a serious car accident and were then divorced. Because I had stayed at my JW mother's to recuperate and my mother and I were making some small progress in healing our damaged relationship, the elders decided I was a spiritual danger to her and ganged up on me one evening in my apartment, giving me the third degree about my lifestyle and beliefs. They asked me to disassociate myself from the congregation. I wrote them a letter refusing and telling them I did not want to be cut off from my JW family and assuring them I was no danger to anyone.
They then disfellowshiped me without informing me themselves or giving me a chance to formally appeal the decision.
My mother died last year. She tried hard to shun me and her only biological grandchild while she was alive but didn't always succeed, so that left her feeling torn and guilty and always trying hard to "do the right thing". I was allowed to care for her the last 3 weeks of her life, and my JW family was quite nice, but now they are shunning me again for the most part. I also was not allowed to attend the dinner after my mother's funeral.
~Merry
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AuldSoul
I disassociated myself in December 2005. I made that choice because I discovered that the organization does not hold itself to the same standards to which it holds everyone else. I found that inexcusable. (Romans 2:1, 2)
Later, I discovered that even though I knew a lot of facts about Jesus I didn't ever have a personal relationship with him. Now I do. If I were a JW right now, that lack of a personal relationship with Jesus would be the reason for my disassociation.
Respectfully,
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OnTheWayOut
I was a very active JW, but since 1995, I started studying their changing doctrines.
That year, they changed their major teaching that there would be people who were
alive in 1914 still alive when Armageddon arrived. I learned that they led people to
believe the end would come in 1975, and when it didn't, they said that it was not
their fault. They said rank and file members read too much into their "hopes."
After I decided that they changed things, I started looking on the internet for what
other things they have changed over the years. I was shocked at the number of
changes. On just Armageddon alone, it was supposed to arrive in 1914, 1915, 1918,
1925, the Forties, the Fifties, 1975, and no later than 2000.
You can learn much more here and at other websites. Just Google "Jehovah's Witnesses."Now I am slowly fading from JW activity, because if I just quit, they might disfellowship me
for not believing everything their Governing Body says. If I am disfellowshipped, they will
expect my mother to never speak to me again. -
Mystla
Here's a great site: http://www.reexamine.org/quotes/ It uses their own literature to show what's wrong with them. It doesn't draw conclusions for you, it just quotes their stuff.
One big "stumbling block" for me was the treatment, or lack thereof, of pedophiles. They require two witnesses to even disfellowship a child molester.. how many abusers will abuse in front of a witness? Then, if they are convinced of a child molesters guilt they will take away their priveleges.. reprove them, etc. but they do not report them to the police, and they do not allow the congregation to be informed of the nature of the monster in their midst.
I know one woman, with children, who almost married a JW man who had a history of molesting children. A friend found out about his past and let her know. The elders in her hall knew of his past and that they were dating and that she had children, yet they chose not to tell her. Why? It would be considered slander. If it was discovered that her friend told her, the friend could be disfellowshiped for slander. I don't know about you, but to me this mess does not sound like it's under God's direction.
I hope some of this helps.
Misty
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jgnat
Not a JW here, but I married one. I studied the Witness doctrine and concluded it was not for me. I recently started a thread where I explained why. Here it is.