My new question at yahoo answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081009225436AAnEwp1
Please add your reason.
Ex Jehovah's Witnesses, Why Did You Leave The Watchtower?
by Tired of the Hypocrisy 32 Replies latest jw friends
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caliber
I think it is fair to say that ones faith in the WT can only be broken after several hits. Years of indoctrination
with no free time to think and reason greatly delay any would be quick exit. Even after some cracks appear
fear, guilt and a sense of loyalty interfere with progress. If these things weren't enough then ones sense of pride kicks in..
How could I possibly so fooled ......so wrong ?
But if I had to epitomize (1) lack of support for the 1918-1919 appointment by God (2) lack of true brotherly love
The book C.O.C. was a great aid .. here was not a raging evil apostate filled with anger and hate but a humble
sincere truth seeker freely admitting to error and wasted years within the inner circle of the WT. The fantasy
of the all wise ..all loving Governing Body for me was broken !
Caliber
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Sasha
Been throught this before, here it is again:
I questioned whether or not the governing body of the JW was all members of the annointed. They said "Oh yes" NOT!!!!
In other words, that and some other lies, plus a feeling, I cannot quite discribe, came over me, like a panic attack and I knew it was (Not false) but NOT the chosen religion of the true God.
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wobble
I have posted on Yahoo my answer , and I think it is a good idea simply to state the reason(s) you left in the first place,not ramble on about all you have gleaned since from JWD and elsewhere.
I think the more of us do this, the effect will be a drip drip of info instead of one big hit,it will be more powerfull for JW's to see the full panoply of reasons from different posters.
Love
Wobble
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justhuman
First reason the false dating of WT's 607 B.C
Then it was the generation issue that supposed they will witness the end of the world.
The failure of the prophecy of the King of South and North.
The fact that JW's have an elit club within the congregation. I was unemployed for 4 months and I was looking for a job and there was a "brother" that we have grown up together and he was a manager of one of the major automobile company, and they needed a sales person who could speak english. I asked him for that job and he didn't reply to me. Then I found out few weeks later he hired a messenger from another car company that they are on competition!!! Plus you see the wealthy JW's having an inner club, travelling abroad to Assembleys, "Holy Tours"in Brooklyn. I have witness injustice in the WT, and specially those who their fathers are elders with prominent possition. My dad was removed for being an elder for a stupid reason...he spend all of his life in the WT...
WT it is an outopia
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coffee_black
I wrote this a while back to a jw who asked what made me leave.
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For a number of years, I had concerns. Something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but like any good JW, I tried to ignore the red flags that arose over time. There were many issues, but I’ll only touch on a just a couple because this will get very long if I try to include everything from a span of many years.
1: My dad died in 1978 of kidney failure. During his lengthy illness the subject of kidney transplant arose. My parents sought the advice of the society, and found that, according to the society, organ transplantation was “against Jehovah’s law”, and that it amounted to cannibalism. My dad did not have a transplant as a direct result of this reasoning. He remained on dialysis (which was not enough in his case) until his death. Two years later, the society changed their policy, and it became a matter of conscience as to whether or not to have a transplant.
I cannot tell you the emotion I felt when reading the “questions from the readers” that was the vehicle for the policy change. Now, most JWs will say that …”well, he was faithful and he’ll be back in the new system.” The question is “who was he faithful to?” It wasn’t Jehovah that demanded that he abstain from a transplant. His death did not result from being faithful to Jehovah…and faithfulness to the instruction of an organization is not the basis by which one gains salvation. Further, my dad was 68 years old when he died, a relatively young man. No one can replace the years he lost… I have 2 children who would have loved to have had a grandfather. He would have enriched their lives immensely. Now, who claims responsibility for this? Was it Jehovah who made the mistake? No….Jehovah does not make mistakes. The society went “beyond what is written” with terrible consequences, consequences that they do not take responsibility for…or even apologize for.
At that point, I was still very much “in” the organization, and I tried very hard to avoid thinking about it.
2: When my son was about 7 years old, one of his friends from the congregation, an elder’s son came for a visit. They were outside playing when a little boy from the neighborhood wanted to join them. The elder’s son started screaming at the little boy telling him that Jehovah hated him….that he wasn’t one of Jehovah’s witnesses and that he was going to die at Armageddon. I heard the commotion and went outside to see the little boy in tears and my son trying to comfort him. I called the elder and asked him to come and get his son. Where does that kind of hatred come from? Any religion that teaches a child to hate is not only unchristian, it’s dangerous.
Still in…trying to rationalize this as an isolated incident…
3: When my daughter was 13, she was very observant, wise beyond her years. She saw things going on in the congregation that she knew were wrong. She asked me on several occasions “Where is the love….isn’t that supposed to be the identifying mark of the true religion? Well, where is it?” I had no answer for her because she was right. It wasn’t there. It wasn’t just one congregation either. We were in several in Florida. I have attended congregations from MA to CA to Fl. The most important identifying mark… and it is virtually absent….
Still in, still trying to make excuses….
Many many more issues arose over time, and I continued to push them to the back of my mind. It got awfully crowded back there….and finally after my divorce in 1990 I decided to assess my life, and examine all that I believed. It was a turning point for me.
As a JW I had told countless people to examine their religion. I had never taken my own advice. I decided to do so. If it really was the truth, I would apply myself “whole-souled” If it wasn’t, it was time I knew. It was Fall, 1990. I was 38 years old.
I have an extensive library of JW publications that goes back to the turn of the 20 th century. I started at the beginning, and read continuously. It took nearly 2 years, and it broke my heart.
The society claims that they were chosen to represent Jehovah in 1918-1919 (depending on which publication you reference.) They claim that they were chosen based on the fact that they, and they alone were teaching Bible truths. If they were truly chosen on that basis, why is it that the teachings of today have little if any resemblance to what they taught then? I know what they taught then, because I have read it from the original publications. Not the same teachings at all….not by any stretch of the imagination.
The first really major books published by the society was the series “Studies in the Scriptures” The final volume was published in 1917, and was the most recent publication at the supposed time of their being chosen. I think every JW should have that book as required reading. It is filled with the craziest stuff I have ever read. And to add insult to injury, on the cover of this book (and all of the Studies in the Scriptures) is the symbol of the Egyptian sun God, Ra. Now I ask you, in examining the religions of the world, do you really think that Jehovah would choose a group that has the symbol of another god on the cover of their main teaching tool? And just what is it doing there to begin with?
It got worse the more I read. Changing teachings…false prophecies… 1874…1914, 1918, 1925…on and on. The original calculation to get to the year 1914 was taken from the measurements of the “Great Pyramid of Giza” from something called the “Pyramid inch”….first written about by Charles Piazzi Smythe…a mystic. The “Ancient worthies” men like Abraham, Isaac & Jacob were supposed to be resurrected in 1925, and Judge Rutherford even had a mansion built for them, and deeded to them. It’s in San Diego, and it was sold in the early 40s after that prophecy failed. Did you know that Adam was the first Pharaoh…and he’s buried in the sphinx? Yup and Jehovah resides in the Pleadies…. On and on. No jw today believes any of this stuff, no thinking person would…but it’s the substance by which they were supposedly chosen by God.
Ah, but you will say…we have new light!!! Look at Proverbs 4:18!! Please do, but this time read the whole chapter. This scripture does not teach “new light”. It is the story of a father teaching his son the best way to live his life… To sum it up: If you live a righteous life, you live an enlightened life. If you live a wicked life, you live in darkness. It has nothing to do with justifying changing teachings. Jehovah doesn’t change. Truth doesn’t change.
There’s so much more…I could literally write a book…but I have no desire to do so. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. It is truly a mess. There is literally nothing to trust!
Since I have been out, I have found out even more. Here are just a few of the disturbing facts:
* The society was part of the United Nations for 10 years until they were outed. (they were an NGO…non governmental organization) They teach that the UN is the wild beast spoken of in Revelation…yet they were an active member. Their reason? So they could use the UN library. That must be some library if they are willing to lie down with the beast in order to have access to it. In order to be an NGO, you have to support their charter and promote the UN agenda . Ever wonder why the society published some articles in the Awake that seemed to support the UN? Well that was to fulfill the UN requirements of NGOs.
* The watchtower is a major stockholder in Rand Cam… a company that manufactures weapons of war. What are they doing trading in the stock market, anyway? Aren’t they a Non profit organization? How many shares of stock did Jesus own?
* There is a huge problem with pedophiles in the organization. Statistically a bigger problem than in the Catholic church….and just as covered up. There are over 23,000 cases in the watchtower’s own files. There are numerous lawsuits going on across the country right now.
There is documentation for every word I have said here…. And so much more, sorry to say.
Ah, but they are imperfect men, you say. They’ve made mistakes that’s all. Ok, then why not judge all religions by the same standard.? They are also made up of imperfect men. The society condemns all other religions for doing things that they themselves are guilty of. Why a double standard?
As I said before, it would have been easier to ignore the evidence and stay. ..to bury my head and try to ignore the facts. It was all I ever knew…ever believed…and it crumbled before my eyes. My consciennce won’t allow me to remain part of that organization. Live up to their standards? No, it’s the other way around. They do not live up to my standards. And they definitely do not live up to Jehovah’s standards. Faithful and Discreet Slave? There is nothing faithful nor discreet about their record. They are not who they claim to be. Their history confirms this sad fact.
Coffee
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justhuman
That is sad story cofee-black
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Sasha
Thing about the blood though, my aunt just died of septic shock from a transfusion. I know that since 83 they have been checking the blood but I found out through many hours of research, that all blood carries different bacteria's and well, I'm not saying not to go for it, but it kinda makes one think. Thousands of people die of septic shock now adays from blood transfusions.
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WTWizard
Easy. I did the math. I mentally split the possibilities into 4 cells, based on whether the religion was true or not and whether I stay or leave.
(1) The religion is false and I leave. I cut my losses. I still destroyed value by wasting people's time on a scam, but I stop doing that, cutting my losses and the destruction of value. I know I will still die, but at least I am not wasting more of my time in field circus rewarding Jehovah for keeping me celibate.
(2) The religion is false and I stay in. I continue destroying value, wasting time and energy and contributing to needless deaths. They eventually get more out of me, rewarding Jehovah and the Washtowel Slaveholdery for their respective roles in keeping me celibate and miserable. Plus, I miss out on all the worldly fun and have to put up with extra anxiety about ordinary things. Worst of all, I risk helping the Washtowel Slaveholdery plunge all mankind into the Second Dark Ages, all the while being forced to die celibate and sterile.
(3) The religion is the truth and I leave. I ditch the workload, and enjoy to the best of my ability what's left after Jehovah continues impeding with my life. I get destroyed at Armageddon, but at least I do not have to reward Jehovah for His role in making me miserable or put up with it forever.
(4) The religion is the truth and I stay in. All I have to look forward to is a stagnant eternity. All that's available to me is other men, and any member of the opposite sex I am attracted to had to die on my account. And I have to live with myself and that situation forever--not just until I die.
Of all the possibilities, the last one (the one that most continuing witlesses gamble is the truth) is by far the worst. It is worse than getting destroyed. But, analyzing all the possibilities, it is worse if I stay in regardless of whether or not it is the truth. That gives me nothing to lose by turning apostate, and enables me to be totally objective in bashing my experiences with the Washtowel Slaveholdery (even if only the minority, or just myself, have actually had those particularly experiences). I also have the ability to read anything negative about the religion without caring about whether Jehovah is pxxxed.
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coffee_black
Thing about the blood though, my aunt just died of septic shock from a transfusion
Then that is a medical issue, not a religious one. A religious organization should not be in the business of making that decision for anyone. An adult can make an educated choice, weighing all the risks an benefits without the watchtower going beyond what is written in the Bible.... and making it law....and then of course, the wtbts does not take any of the responsibility for the outcome.
Coffee