As A Former Witness, Do You Still Carry Your Watchtower Cross? (page 2)

greendawn

That's the mystery that needs to be solved for some people that have family members that shun them it is easy to see why they have scores to settle with the WTS but for the rest it is some kind of strange uncanny power that does it, something beyond powerful conditioning that still has left some unperceived poisonous ideas in the unconscious mind.

Junction-Guy

This cult has tragically altered my life, so yeah I will carry my cross until the day I die, or the whole JW organization has been bulldozed to the ground. That doesnt mean I wont take a break or 2 every now and then, but it will always be at the back of my mind.

Sad emo

Lol, I thought this was about jewellry too!

Throwing a different perspective on the question (I'm not ex-JW but an abuse survivor) is it the cross we continue to carry, or when we've moved on, do we rather live in its shadow - acknowledging that it has made a huge impact on our life but choosing to lay aside the pain most of the time in order to move on? (I'm not very articulate but know what I'm trying to say!)

rebel8

Sometimes it is not the past that people are hanging onto, it is the ways the Borg affect our *current* lives that we are coping with.

For example I was recently commanded to "get over the past" because I was stressed about a jw getting my non-jw family member to refuse blood and almost die, then my property was trespassed upon by elders (19 years after I left the Borg) to "discuss" my attitudes about the blood policy.

Those are *current* events, not past events.

I don't see any reason for grown adults to adhere to other people's notions about how to feel about anything. All feelings are ok and valid.

The wanderer

Dear Friends:

All the reply's were excellent. I wrote
the article because it was troubling to
me as to why I still hold on.

Thanks again.

Respectfully,

The Wanderer

Junction-Guy

And another thing, if someone has moved beyond the JW's and now have a happy and successful life, then more power to them.

My only true happiness that I ever experienced is gone with the wind. There is only one way for me to truly move on from my JW experience and that is this:

1.Amanda and I reconcile

2.We move back to Paintsville, and I get a decent job there.

3.Reclaim our old friends.

4.Attend church together.

However since most of the above seem out of the question right now, I dont see any happiness in my future.

I was happy in 1994, making the most of every day, trying to live a normal life, while awaiting Armageddon.

If I had a decent job back then, I never would have left, and I never would have walked off from the only happiness I ever experienced in my life.

So until the day that the whole JW cult is foreclosed, padlocked, and bulldozed into oblivion, I will do whatever I can to expose it, and work towards its destruction.

LongHairGal

Hi Rich:

Everybody's replies are excellent and valid.

I think a lot of the reason for the anger that many are still feeling is that they feel they have no voice WITHIN the religion. It is all well and good that we can express ourselves here but some of us are frustrated that we aren't communicating to those who are still active in the religion about what really happened to us and what the hidden story really is.

LHG

rowan

I have been out of the WT or 6 years now. I got a degree, got married to a wonderful "wordly" man, have a great job, and freedom to do with my time whatever I want to. if 10 years ago somebody had told me that my life would be this "great" now, I wouln't have believed them.

All this said, last week I got diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to my experiences with the WT. As much as I kick and scream in denial of the fact, I am damaged. I choose to live my life fully, not to be defined by my pain, but I hurt inside. Is this my cross to carry? I don't know. As I said, I choose not be defined by my traumatic past, I want to get over the WT issues. I hope it will happen some day.

Now, if doing everything that is in my power to erode the WT defines me: Yes!!! I am proudly a former JW!

crazyblondeb

Like already mentioned, I carry the effects on what it has done to my life, that has carried over to the way it affects my relationships with family, friends, and even myself.

A couple months ago, because of the jw's....I allowed myself to get so depressed, I thought suicide was the only way out. I couldn't function, or really even handle day to day life. Thanks to a dear friend, and the support here, I'm back to myself!!

Next week, I'm going back home. I have decided that whatever my family thinks, that's THEIR problem, not mine. I'm not going to let them keep me from my daughter. Especially when she's getting ready to have a baby.

shelley

As A Former Witness, Do You Still Carry Your Watchtower Cross?

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