Can you think of a positive thing the JW's gave you?

by Greensleeves 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  Greensleeves

  This is something that will possibly piss off a lot of people. I left the JW family I was raised in when I was 16. I had a lot of angst and just wanted freedom. I spent some time in my early 20's reconsidering that decision to leave JWdom and came back to the decision I made at 16, but was more logical and informed that time around.

  But there is one thing that helped me break through all of the doctrine and everything else I felt. I looked for a positive in a negative situation.

  I have seriously looked at my past experiences with the JW organization, and I can see some benifits. Things I learned. Skills that actually paid off later in life. I don't want to hear anything about how they don't want you to go to college or anything like that. I went to College, I graduated.

  To speak for myself, I learned;

  The Theocratic Ministry School helped me with public speaking skills. This helped me in College.

  I developed excellent reading and study skills.

  I learned dicipline.

  I learned much about ancient societies and history.

  I traveled to different places and met many different people.

  I learned morals and how religion plays a part in it.

  What did you take as a positive from the Jehovah's Witnesses? Forget about the negative for a minute, and think about the positive things you gained in you experiences.
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  New light for you

  I agree with not being afraid to talk to anybody, or talk in front of people. and i was the most shy person in the word before, if i didn't get into the witnesses, i would still be sitting in a corner. They gave me tons of instant-all beit conditional- friends and made you comfortable talking to everyone.

  I also like that we always were comfortable with people of every age bracket, i think that's from the hall as well.
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  zeroday

  I learned Christian morality till I saw others (usually prominent ones) getting away with gross wrong doing with nothing more than a slap on the wrist...
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  Greensleeves

  I learned Christian morality till I saw others (usually prominent ones) getting away with gross wrong doing with nothing more than a slap on the wrist...

  So fairness was not something you found. I have witnessed that myself as well.

  I found the morals "as a taught subject" were beneficial to me. I don't really care how other people applied them or whether they did at all. I found the teachings taught some good things about Marriage, and if more people applied them maybe there wouldn't be so many divorces. How many Witnesses do you see get divorced? Few. That helps to provide a home with Mom and Pop for any children that are born.
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  FreudianSlip

  -Comfort with public speaking

  -Skill at coming up with funny skits (that's all the 5 minute talks for sisters were)

  -(Not sure if this is positive), but my fear of Jehovah kept my out of trouble.. like drug use, pre-martial sex, etc.

  -A sense of community

  -The ability to question religion
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  FreedomFrog

  I recently found peace within myself which was an accelerating feeling. As were you, I was very angst and angry.

  I'm ending my first degree and just signed up for my second.

  The positive is that I did learn how to research (one of the reasons why I'm where I'm at now). I have to admit though, the way I was taught was in a very daunting way but it gave me the beginning skills that helped me learn the proper way for college. Now I love to research.

  I'm shy by nature but the service meetings pushed the shyness back a bit. I now have 3 very good friends, one of which is now considered a best friend that I can go over and spend time with. If my shyness was still in the forefront, I wouldn't have made my friends as easily.
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  zeroday

  How many Witnesses do you see get divorced? Few.

  I saw many divorced witnesses many who schemed to adulterate and get reinstated, some committ adultry and not disfellowshipped only publicly reproved and "oh go ahead and get married"...actually JW's have the same rate of divorce as the general public...
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  *summer*

  I learned to be more careful with my trust.
  
  I learned that not every nice and smiling face loves me for the right reasons.
  
  You may say this can be learned from life in general. But it just happens that JWs are the ones who really opened my eyes to real smooth and syrupy hypocrisy.
  
  I refuse to put all JWs in the same basket. It would be very unfair. But it happens to be my own experience.
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  Greensleeves

  Very good!

  I don't know. Maybe this thread was a bad idea. I just wanted to share the things you don't hear much about on this forum. Everyone wants to destroy the Witnesses. I see them as good but mislead people. I also see the good things I was raised with, and I had a solid and loving family.

  I appreciate the time people take to research and post arguements refutting the Witnesses. But none of that matters to me. I already know why I left. Some people need this forum, I just realized I don't. Good luck to everyone. I hope things work out.
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  zeroday

  Being new here I can understand your frustration with the responses give here but being that a good many people here were destroyed by this mind control cult not many have fond memories of the witnesses...When I first became a witness I truely believed I was entering into a spiritual paradise and found the one and only true religion I was taught that NO HYPOCRICY was tolerated in Jehovah's Organization only to find it was all a lie...so sorry if you got your feelings hurt but many here got their lives hurt...