NO REGRETS!
VILLABOLO
To Ex-JWs: Do You Regret Learning it Was a Lie?
by leavingwt 116 Replies latest jw friends
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LockedChaos
I just regret that it took me
28 years AFTER I left to find it out
Better to have freedom now than never
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paul from cleveland
Is it possible that you can decide for yourself
That is the so-called universal issue. Can man decide for himself what is right and wrong. I don't know that yet.
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AllTimeJeff
Yes, but that's the so-called universal issue. It all comes back to that.
The universal issue: Whose right is it to rule (you)?
I understand that the indoctrination makes that the big question. But that question didn't come from you, did it? That question came from a source that lies, the Governing Body.
Thats the JW big question. What is your big question?
As I said, there is much we all have to learn and grow, me and you both in our own ways. I don't mean to be disrespectful, if I have, I apologize. I was just curious as to why you adopted as your own, a question that wasn't of your own making?
I really do wish you peace of mind.
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paul from cleveland
The universal issue
Thats the JW big question
I didn't think of it but I can't think of a better explaination as to why the world is the way it is.
The universal issue: Whose right is it to rule (you)?
I can rule myself but in the end I'll still be dead. If it's possible to have life, I want it. If that means submitting to God, I'll gladly do it.
However, I really don't know what's true because the WT doctrine makes so much sense on paper but doesn't work in real life (for me).
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dgp
Paul from Cleveland, if the doctrine doesn't make sense in real life, it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
You also wrote:
Can man decide for himself what is right and wrong
Yes. Man can decide for himself what is right and wrong. If you don't believe me, see how the WTBTS has spent 130 years making decisions that turn out WRONG, and people who leave decide what is RIGHT.
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dgp
Cantleave, you wrote:
The thing is I now don not have the ambition. Most people at 43 have reached their peak, I don't know if I want to expend the energies I should have in my 20's and 30's in my 40's
Only you know how you feel, physically speaking. But you can still reach a lot more. Go for it. You can do it. You're way better than what the WTBTS let you be.
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diamondiiz
Paul: Watch Tower really messed you up. I know how you feel about death and how sad it is to realize that we will die instead of living forever. BUT the reality is that you look at the real world and you see everything dying at some point, humans have all died and are are still dying. As JWs, we were constantly programmed to believe that under the WTS umbrella we will live forever without death and this idea has been repeated over and over again to the point that we subconsciously thought it was true and we were living a dream that we wouldn't die as long as we were in the "ark". The problem is that the "ark" was a lie and we were never in a safe place to begin with but now that we realized this we also come to realize that we are mortal and we will die like billions of others out there and really there is no real alternative or real hope to this - that is very depressing at first and may last a while until we get over it or get help getting over it. We can believe that God will step in but than again no one has heard from God for how long? We can believe in the bible but Jesus never taught earthly paradise either, sure the theory makes sense but it's not even what Christ taught. Then we can also ask ourselves, if God is real why doesn't he answer prayers of sincere ones? Sure, people say that they had their prayers answers but in what way? That they had food and a job and a roof over their heads? A happy marriage? So do many athiests, so where is God's answer if not a coincidence of where we live or a person that we actually got married to? When you sit down and really think about it, you won't find prayers being answered nor do you find acts of God today and the past is questionable.
One can look at WTS and see the lies they tell and how many of it's present followers know little of the wts true past? If this crap of a religion continues, 200 or 400 years from today Russell will be a prophet and Rutherford too. People then won't have a clue what was published in 1900 nor will they hear about all the BS teachings sponsored by WTS today, but will read in their WTS how wonderful Russell, and his successors were and that will be the truth to these people at that time. The same possibly can be said for the bible. How much do we know about Jesus outside of the bible?
You seem to feel guilty for something you've done that may have caused you to be disfellowshipped and now you feel guilty that you're going to die. But are these people that cast you off not going to die? You've learned enough about wts lies that you should realize that these people would be more accountable before God than you. They are the false prophets teaching lies and spreading deception by following GB blindly, the elders are like followers of Baal's prophets and that's what GB would equate to. If you believe in God you can look at it that way. You are depressed and need help getting over it and since you appear young you will come to realize that you have a long life ahead of you and you should make the best of it. Get education, plan to do what you enjoy in life, find real friends who won't drop you because some stranger tells them to. We all have problems with certain aspects of our lives when we left a cult but trust me when I say that living a real life is better than living and hoping a dream that isn't and won't materialize as per WTS. Would you feel better if you continued with WTS and 60 or so years from now, the end didn't come, you're sick in hospital with a hope of paradise that just isn't materializing? You're going to die and you look back at your life and you didn't have a pleasant job, you didn't enjoy life, you didn't marry but pioneered, you did't have kids because you imagined the end was near and this system was so horrible that you couldn't imagine having kids in it? How would you feel? Would you wonder if you made a right choice? Would you maybe question if your belief system was all but a dream? Worse yet, what if you gave your entire life to WTS and when you're old and close to death you come to know that WTS decieved you and they turned out to be liars? How devestating would that be to you as your life is almost gone? Wouldn't that be worse - much worse than the situation you are in now? And how many of JWs are in that very position today? Dying of old age after sacrificing their entire life for a dream that should have happened long time ago and isn't happening now. They've seen their loved ones die and their loved ones will see them die without seeing the dream come true.
I'm guessing you're a teen or early 20s, and your entire life is ahead of you. You can find enough evidence to prove to yourself beyond a doubt that WTS is a fraud. You lost nothing other than years in an oppressive cult. Healing takes time, for some it takes longer than others. I know I've repeated myself couple times but you need help getting over your depression and getting over the guilt and over the dream that WTS taught. Life is what you make of it, it can be great only if you put effort towards it.
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White Dove
Every time I tried so terribly hard to do everything "just so," I would get angry in order to stubbornly do it. While in such an angry and strict state, I was not happy. My kids were not happy, either. It came and went, those waves of "just so" attempts. It was such a relief to not feel obligated and a failure, that I was actually elated to know that I was free to not try again. I could quit spinning my wheels and just live a normal life like everyone else. This relative normalcy is so wonderful. I'll never go back to that which held me captive for almost 40 years.
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LouBelle
I do not regret for one moment that I learnt that the truth was a lie. I do not regret it at all. I gave up family, all my friends, I've been shunned but I am free free free. I'm so grateful for that freedom to walk my path as I know how - I would NEVER EVER want to go back to that - I wasn't being the real Louise - I was stunted, had to watch everything I said, the loudness of my laugh - come on.
No and no.