The lost generation

by noni1974 24 Replies latest jw experiences

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  SnakesInTheTower

  very interesting observation

  I started lurking here several years ago, when i was in my 30s... i signed up not long after my 40th birthday....I will be 41 soon...

  the generation issue was a huge thiing for me...as i used to study the chronology of the bible and the WTBT$ version of it...I knew it was BS long before the WT in 95 came out.

  ...unfortunately for the Borg, I actually studied outside resources too..and things did not add up...it made as much sense as OBVES ramblings... which I have read only once....lol

  took me years to finally walk away completely...and the tendrils are still in my mind...cutting them loose and watching them shrivel up and die takes time.

  Snakes ()
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  bluesbreaker59

  I started doubting in my early teens, then the change in 1995 happened when I was 14, that pretty much sealed my fate, once I thought about that. I started fading at 21, then came back at 24, and finally DF'd at 25 1/2. While I was at college I read many things about "da troof", the Dateline about child abuse came out then, and I was shocked, especially the 1975 ordeal. I confirmed that there was a 2 witness rule with my elder father and elder grandpa, and that's what made me start my initial fade at 21. I came back because some brothers that were old friends of my family showed some interest in helping me out and having me over, eventually they invited me to go to their hall. Well my (now ex) wife, wouldn't go along, so I went alone. I later found out about her affair at work, that had been going on for quite a while, but she refused to tell the elders. I then saw "the love" of the elders, when they yelled at me in the back room about "leaving my wife on unscriptural grounds", they kept telling me over and over again, to return to her and make our marriage work. Then when I'd leave the committee, I'd drive by her boyfriend's place and her car was there. Many times I invited the elders to go with me, and time and time again, they refused. They told me I would never be scripturally free, because "she was doing nothing wrong", "I filed for an unscriptural divorce, because I didn't wait on Jehovah". I got so tired of that BS, plus all the many doctrinal changes, I decided late in 2006 that I no longer wanted to be a witness, so I started fading again, because I wanted no part of that organization anymore. Then in early 2007, I got busted for having a girlfriend. Ever since I've been reading and researching alot of things in the organization's dark past.
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  Dorktacular

  I've been out almost 10 years, but I just started posting this year. I guess it took me this long to seek out others who have the same experiences as myself. Neither my wife nor any of my friends have a clue what it was like to be raised as a JW. It helps to talk.
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  avidbiblereader

  It is like two people working in the same company that is showing huge signs of crumbling

  One person is getting ready to retire, the other a younger one can find a new job.

  The one close to retirement hangs on to the end, hoping to get the benefits that they WORKED all their lives for, the other sees the writing on the wall and finds a new job.

  abr
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  noni1974

  I was born and raised in.Forth generation.My family is firmly in the Borg.I have one first cousin who is DF 'ed and one who never got baptized.(Brother and sister in the same family)Other than them everyone else is a dub.

  I think what helped me was my being a reble.I've never believed something just because someone told me too.I never really believed in the religious parts of the dubs.I just kind of stayed in because that was all I knew.It was a social thing for me.Then when I got older and started to work I made friends outside of the borg and I left.I was almost 24 at the time.I knew myself well enough at 24 to know that even though it would cause pain and anger in my family and even though I would disapoint my parents I had to live my own life.I had to do what I needed to to be happy.I was tired of living a certian way just because I was told I should or because all my family did that.

  I was raised a dub but some how I learned to think for myself.I think it's cool to have so many peers my own age here and on other boards who have all left.They remember things in the same context I do.I can relate to them because of going through the same things.

  I hope the next generation sees the light and leaves.
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  yknot

  Hey we are not lost, we are "special"

  Those of us in our 30's experienced a time of "deeper" examination, some of us during our most formative years, questioning was not wrong, it was encouraged! "Test all things" was my first congregations motto after 1975.

  For most of us our parents would have read to us the peach book, I think it was "Paradise Lost", then we were spoon fed "My book of Bible Stories". Depending on congregation, we either saw disgust at blaming the R&F brothers for 1975, or those who hit a new depression. Either way, this changed the dynamics of our congregations. The post 1975 world was like a time not seen since 1925. There were open questions and rebuttals. Calls for answers.

  I remember a Sister speaking about the "great disappointment". She said that 1975 would have profound effects on us, rather we wanted them or not. That we would never view the world with such blind embrace.

  Many seeds of doubt were sown in the 70's, now seems to be the season for them to bloom.
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  nvrgnbk

  I was in my early 30s when I "woke up".
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  helncon

  I think the age of the internet was starting to be predominant when we were all late teens but untill you get late 20's you want answers and the sense of self awareness.
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  Priest73

  I woke up around 25, although I really started fading around 23. So about 9 years ago. Well, I guess I didn't really fade. I just walked away. About 2 years ago I started poking around to see what was going on in the borg and found this site. Whoo Hoo.
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  Priest73

  Well put helncon.