How Long Did It Take You To Snap Out Of Watchtower Think? (page 2)

alphafemale

It's been 13 years since I last attended a meeting but I still feel guilty, guilty, guilty about celebrating Christmas; accepting Mother's Day gifts from my children; buying Easter eggs and birthday presents etc,etc,etc. Just the idea of having someone elses blood transfused into my body disgusts me. As for accessing this site and actually posting- well, my well trained JW conscience has gone into overdrive!!! Trying my best to ignore it though ;) Alpha

jgnat

Welcome, AlphaFemale. I hope your jitters subside, and you come to enjoy this place as much as I do.

littlerockguy

I still have periods of phantom beliefs that pop up in my head from time to time. When I left I still believed a lot of it. Around the time I quit going I just concentrating on getting away from it all physically and put it in the back of my mind and concentrating on establishing my life elsewhere where I would be accepted for who I am and not accepted on a conditional basis and also figure out who I am anyway. However JWD, Dogpatch's freeminds website and C of C has been a tremendous help. Dont know what I would have done without them. LRG

Euphemism

Intellectually... it took 10 months from the time I started questioning major doctrines, until I decided to leave. It took another 3-4 months for me to completely put aside the Bible and Christianity, and it wasn't until I read The Moral Animal the following year that I became firmly atheist.

Psychologically... the effects stay around much longer, I think.

AK - Jeff

My full 'discovery' began in the winter of 2003/2004. By the time I had read both of Franz's books, I knew I would never go back. However, the 'healing' portion takes a lot longer. I feel like I am now 80% healed. I suspect the Watchtower embeds will last a while longer yet.

Once I knew they were wrong, I dove into holidays, birthdays, forbidden movies, and especially books on whatever interested me at the moment. Finally, 6 months or so back, I began to read voraciously about early church history and attend the occasional church service.

Leaving off the harsh judgement of everyone and everything has been hardest probably. That just seems to be built into the religion.

Not easy to shed - that damn religion.

Jeff

thecarpenter

I've been out about a year now and sometimes I feel a little guilt, but I usually dispense with these feeling relatively quickly. I like to confront these feeling head on because if I allow them to linger, it just creates fears (this is one of the techniques they recommend in cognitive behavioral therapy, don't run away from your fears). I plan on giving blood next month and to do other things that would surely get me df'ed if the borg found out, which at this point I don't care.

minimus

For years, I knewit wasn't right. But it takes careful planning for some to get out.

zack

I'm still a fader. Like Minimus said, for some it takes careful planning. I'm patient. Mentally, however, after reading CoC all I had been feeling and thinking

was confirmed. Freeminds and JWD were a big help in not feeling isolated. The boards helped me to see that I WASN"T crazy, that I wasn't the ONLY one

who saw the emperor wore no clothes. As an elder it was difficult to fade, but I have formulated a plan and its been working. The fact the the WT sees no end

in sight, in spite of the "urgency" they assert is also a big help. My grandparents are long dead, my parents are in their 70's, my wife's parents will shortly be in

theirs---- it's a lot easier to point these things out (promises delayed, etc...)to some of my closer friends and allow them to draw their own inferences.

Abandoned

From when I was totally convinced, about a month or two. From when I first decided to stop going, about five or six years.

lighthouse19something

My wife and had been fading for sometime, stayed because my family and 'friends' were in. When we moved were they didn't know us, fading was easier., but 2 years ago my needed blood, and I told her medical treatments should be a personal private decision.

How Long Did It Take You To Snap Out Of Watchtower Think?

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