so many questions... (page 3)

jonathan dough

i'm a bit confused to find both Jw and 'apostates' on the same site... what gives there? i mean, when i was a JW, we were always taught to stay a LONG way from the 'bad guys'.

It's a set-up.

penny2

In the 8 weeks i self destructed not ONCE did ANYBODY go "hey man, are you ok?

It's such a controlling religion that when you step away from the mould, they just don't know what to say to you. Or they are scared that they are supporting someone who is no longer "good association."

It's bullying really - social isolation.

penny

JAFO

Ok. Maybe this isn't the most appropriate place for my first post, but I don't see any place for newbies to introduce themselves, and so I claim special privilege to use this thread because I'm Aussie Oz's wicked older brother...

I learned about this forum yesterday from my bro, followed a few links, and frankly, I have to say I'm stunned.

I was the first of the 5 kids in our family to leave the jw's, over 25 years ago now.. found my way alone through the wilderness via many misadventures to where I have been comfortable with who I am for a long time now. I'll leave my story for it's own thread, however.

Like Aussie, I have generally defended the dubs... seeing them as sadly deluded (like all christians - with apologies to any here) but basically good people and neighbours. A couple of years ago I learned from our younger sister (sorry bro, but you weren't the last to leave, she was) of the pedo scandals, and was not overly shocked, the entire culture of the dubs is a perfect sanctuary and hunting-ground for peds who want to avoid attracting attention. I'm sure word went out via the ped-networks that all they had to do was join the dubs, fake belief, and they'd have a nice safe hidey-hole amongst people who were highly unlikely to go to the police even if they were 'outed'.

Despite this, I continued to regard the organisation itself as sincere, if misguided.

That has now changed.

It's not quite the shock to the system that it currently is for my brother, but I certainly didn't get much sleep last night! And that's after having been reading devouring threads and documents until 3.30am...

Now I can clearly see that the entire thing was set up pretty much from the beginning by that scumbag Russell as a massive cash/power cow. The mould was cast right back then, and the fundamentals of the organisation haven't changed since.

I only wish it was possible to free our mother from their clutches. Unfortunately, it has been her life for 36 years now. Her belief is sincere, but she has always bucked the org where it came to associating/speaking-to/supporting her apostate kids, and we all agree it would not be fair to kick the only friend/support/belief-system structure she knows out from under her. To shatter her world and leave her struggling with feelings of betrayal and searching for meaning at her age would not be a kindness. That day may come, but I'd rather she reach that point by her own growing understanding.

By and large, the dubs are a chapter in my life that has been closed for a long time, and I've moved on. There are, however, things I've learned in the last 24 hours that I need to think about and discuss here, I think. So no doubt you'll hear more from me in the near future.

Hang in there Aussie Oz... it's a lot to absorb in one hit, but you can always Skype or phone me if you need to rant.

JAFO

Butterflyleia85

Welcome Aussie OZ and JAFO. Yeah they don't have a Introduction tab... but that works! looking forward to seeing more of your guy's posts!

penny2

Welcome JAFO. Must be great to have all 5 of you free.

Black Sheep

Hi JAFO. It's great to see you here with your bro.

Are the others out mentally?

Cheers

Chris

JAFO

Yes, it's a great feeling that we're all out.. being the black sheep all on my own for so long was not much fun either.. As for 'out mentally', if you mean as in they no longer believe it to be "The Truth", well, Aussie Oz is undergoing that awakening as we speak.. he was pretty much the holdout in that respect.

This forum is responsible for him coming to full consciousness, after 10+ years of him feeling that the failing was his, for not being able to live up to The Great Megalomaniacs expectations. I think he's doing ok, for somebody who was still convinced it was "The Truth" just a week or so ago.

For that, I'd like to thank everyone here.. I wish something like this had existed back in '83 when I gave the WTS the finger and walked.

yknot

I wish something like this had existed back in '83 when I gave the WTS the finger and walked.

........I take it you didn't find Nov's WT on independent thinking very 'encouraging'.......

(lol... neither did I)

Guest with Questions

JAFO: Welcome. Don't give up hope. My mom was a witness for 37 years, truly believing this was the truth. She knows too much to ever go back. What did it for her was reading Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz.

For her it was a slow process. It was made easier for her because she was the only one in our family who was a witness. She wouldn't be leaving family behind. I wasn't sure if she could handle it at her age but she is doing well.

JAFO

Thanks all, for the warm welcome..

I take it you didn't find Nov's WT on independent thinking very 'encouraging'

To be honest, I haven't read a WTS publication since the day I left...but hey, my streak of independent thinking was what made my 10 years in the bOrg (LOVE that term, btw) so hard to take.

In fact, after 26 years of freedom, even working out the meaning of many of the acronyms used here has been a bit of a stretch at times. There are so many terms that have not been a part of my world for so long.. (I still haven't twigged to what PO stands for ) Seeing some of the quotations and scriptural references posted here has been an... ummm... unsettling experience... I look at some of the pictures from the books and magazines, particularly the staged photo-scenes, and my skin crawls, my brain screams "propaganda!".. there was one in particular, a teenage boy with 3 elders, the caption was something about them lovingly helping him after some transgression.. there was not an ounce of compassion or loving concern in their faces.. they reminded me of vultures waiting to strike. (I guess that photo came out much more realistic than they'd intended.. )

At the bottom of the main page of watchtowerdocuments.com there is a link to an mp3 titled "2008 Higher Education Crafty Act of the Devil." Listening to it was much more difficult than I would have believed.. the guys voice is just so slimy.. I found myself wondering how anyone could fall for this crap.

Having said all that, I guess I'll have to go read that independent thinking article you mentioned.. curiosity is another curse of mine..

so many questions...

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