Being Brought Up As A Jehovah's Witness---Was It A "BAD" Upbringing? (page 3)

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It wasn't the worst, but it could've been a LOT better.

Well I brought my kids up JWs ( except one who would not accept)
Taught them not to steal,lie,cheat,swear,no drugs,no sleeping outside of marriage.
respect their elders, I feel that was all good teaching!!!

The bad I taught,I am ashamed to say is>everyone else out side the BORG are wrong.
The "worldy people" are not to be trusted.No you cant go on a date with out a chaperon.
No you cant join in after hours sports at school.No you cant sit in the class when they say prayer
or the pledge of allegiance
.Ofcourse you cant accept a Christmas gift.Birthdays OUT! What watch the Smerfts OH NO!
So what did I achieve out of all that teaching???? well let me tell you
Alan my son left home ..couldnt stand the teaching.......died at 46 heart attack
Susan married a man( no sex before marriage) divorced ! now on her 3rd hubby( left the WT PTL
Annmarie.......Shuns me !!!! Very strong JW
Faith....was before all this ,I got pregnant at 16 had no morals....She died in the bombing( england war.
Melanie....very faithful girl...left to marry an unbeliever ,died at 42.Thank God she KNEW the Real truth before she died
So Now I sit .....what a hell of a waste of time I spent ( 25 years) doing what a bunch of old men said. DO!!!

caliber

I believe that born-ins with a restrict Elder father have very bad experiences.

I have reasonably happy memories of childhood because up to about 15

actually I had quite a normal childhood ( not being in the truth).... not being exposed to restricted life style until

around 13-14 . I had normal friendships, Birthdays, Christmas, baseball teams !

I wasn't forced to sit through thousands of meetings from diapers on . I think that my mind was allowed freedom to develop in a reasonable

natural manner .

My parents were loving, restrict but fair always reasonable... never forced things like regular field service . So I guess

it was a break to have a father who was considered "weak in the truth"... meaning not forcing rigid WT rules

believed that life was to be enjoyed !

I faced none of the abuse and mistreatment that so many here have...they have much more reason for bitterness

And foremost if I were to be able to magically change my upbringing I would not have met my wife of 31 years whom

I dearly love with all my heart !!! ........ ~~~Cal

thebiggestlie

to me the cons outweighed the pros. I feel a bit "broken" as an adult now. But at least i made it out. But the strained family relations and the loss of a "normal" childhood have left me with mixed emotions about the whole thing. Luckily i had loving parents who would have been just as loving and supportive regardless of what religion they held membership in. I had good times and the friends i did have were good. But i felt lonely as a child and perplexed by what was going on around me

Leprechaun

Yes of course, being raised a Witness was unhealthy. Being fed a steady diet that almost everything you do in life is offensive to Jehovah god, like that is not distructive to ones mental health, hello hellohello anyone home. Witness's teach that most e verything in life that is fun has some negative connotation to it, I wish I would not have been raised like that, but most of all I wish I would not have raised my own kids like that. Those GB SOB’s, and my dad god rest his soul had his head in the sand.

Tuesday

I don't think the pros would be anything that I wouldn't have been taught otherwise. My parents were divorced, the same basic "good" things people here are saying were the pros of being raised a JW is really just the pros of having responsible parents. My father taught me not to steal or lie and all that fun stuff.

The stuff I learned as a JW was how to not get so attached to my friends that I couldn't drop them at a moment's notice, how to make sure no one can find out any of my real feelings, here's a good one...how to not really read a selection but still be able to answer questions about it by remember specific questions. The really good stuff I feel any parent would've taught me, in fact I know this because my father who was an apostate taught me the same things.

TheMan

I had parents that loved me. Sure it wasn't ideal, and because of our circumstances, as a family we were very isolated (being an only "hearing" child of deaf parents, in a religion that isolates you from the world and in a "hearing" hall that all but ignored us....). On top of this, my parents were very strict on enforcing the witness rules to a t, and as a good little only child boy, I ate it all up and become the exemplary little witness boy who wanted to be baptized at 9. Ugh...

That combination I think kind of messed me up a little bit, but I'm dealing. I remind myself that many kids out there have had far worse experiences unfortunately, and I thank my lucky stars I was not one of them. It still doesn't get rid of the pain, though.... , and the wish that I was never exposed to this ridiculous excuse of a "religion."

Which makes me ask, do I feel guilty for feeling this way, should I just be thankful for the good memories? And it goes round and round...

Purza

I agree with a lot of the posters who lament the fact that they were not given the goal of going to college. I see not having a college degree as a negative and my life would have turned out much different if I could have went to school and not married so young. However, I had a good childhood and I don't have any regrets - other that not having a college degree in my 20s. It is so much harder for me to attain in my 40s.

Purza

Being Brought Up As A Jehovah's Witness---Was It A "BAD" Upbringing?

isaacaustin

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saywhat29

mouthy

caliber

thebiggestlie

Leprechaun

Tuesday

TheMan

Purza

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