by chappy 46 Replies latest jw friends
OK all you ex's, be honest. Do you ever have that little voice pop in your head and say "What if - just what IF they're right?"
It happens to me on occasion and I've been totally out for years. Intellectually, I know that they're dead wrong. Apparently it's psychological; years of brainwashing has done it's damage. Can any of you long timers honestly say that the damage is totally and completely reversed?
later,
chappy
Yes, sometimes. Then I just remind myself why I left....and feel much better.
ashitaka
Chappy:
This happens to me on occasion. In my case, the cure has been to go to a meeting. When you're there, you remeber why you left and you can see how much your thinking has changed. The talks that were always so full of "spiritual food" seem petty and stupid. That's when I know I can never go back.
AMarie
Chappy,
Interesting question. Apparently, it's also on the minds of others. Notice this other thread today from Aud8 about whether anyone on our board is 'scared' by recent events: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=15574&site=3
I honestly have that thought "what if the JW's have been right" cross my mind, mainly because my parents and grandparents are in the truth. And also I only became disentangled from the JW organization about a year ago.
When that happens, I remind myself how cruel and unchristian they can be (in the disfellowshipping and enforced shunning arrangement), and I remember how they lord it over you and basically try to run your life. Then I think, God wouldn't want that sort of control -- after all, he gave us free will (2 Cor. 3:17 -- 'where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom')
And then I come back to this evil, apostate board and read all the experiences people have gone through, and all the false prophecies that have issued from the supposed 'faithful slave'. Before long, I'm feeling very fine again to be on the "outside"!!
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
I did for a while, but there has just been so much that I've seen and learned that I'm absolutely certain the Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the truth and are not right. I NEVER think "oh, they may have been right after all."
S4
Truth be known, I'm not nor have I ever been a JW, but my friend tried to 'show me the truth'..
At times, I've had a question in my head of what if..
Then, I re-read all the stuff where they claimed to be prophets, all the predictions that didn't come true, and then re-read the scriptures about false prophets..
As soon as I re-read the scriptures, the anxiety (after all, the bible itself says don't even fear a false propher) goes away, and I say god cannot lie.. He wrote it in the bible, and they met the criteria MANY times for false prophets.. Therefor, it is impossible for events to happen the way they predict.. (God will frustrate their predictions).. And guess what, they've made many predictions, and not one has come true, so god is certainly frustrating their predictions, isn't he!!!
Claiming to be "GOD" or god's representative is a very powerful message.. I've never been indoctrinated, and every once in a while I get the question too, so I can only imagine the 'fear' that people who were indoctrinated get..
My recommendation: Keep a copy of their claims of 'prophecy' and their list of failed predictions, and a copy of Deut 18:18-22 handy for just those times.. Believe in god, he cannot lie, he will not deceive, he told us how to identify false prophets, and they are easily identified as false prophets many times.. Trust in god, do not fear them, and go on with your life!!!!
It works for me, anyway.. Your mileage may vary <G>
- Wannahelp
Hi,
That thought has never entered my mind. regards,Tina
Jehovahs Witnesses,Proudly Serving Their Corporate Masters!
yes I have from time to time. I think that because I was totally in it for 28 years and made stands for it the wallpaper is going to take a long time to come down. My wife says that if I ever go back.....I am going back alone! She says that she has never felt so good and alive since leaving.
UO
It's just a conditioned reflex. Sometimes I have spent weeks driving abroad on the right side of the road. I can pop into a cafe, come out and twice I have started to drive on the left. Learned behaviour that will pass in time.
Englishman.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be....
Hi
I have had that little voice. Part of that is because I chose a religious path that JWs abhor, Paganism. Am I really ruled by Satan? I dont think so, because I have love in my life and I always try to be loving to others.
I hate it when JWs say "the only reason you read apostate stuff is to make yourself feel better. You CANT live upto it so you need an excuse". They are SO wrong! In the JWs ignorance is bliss, the hardest thing to do is admit that its not true and live your life without all the fairytale answers.
Sirona
