To dubs and lurkers. The real truth about "apostates."

by parakeet 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  parakeet

  We "apostates" here often wax eloquent about what baaaaadddddd people we are, mostly, I think, to shock the dubs that naively come here expecting to hear whitewashed dubspeak. I admit, it's fun to bait dubbies from time to time with (mostly fictional) tales about debauchery and mayhem.

  But maybe it's time for a reality check to let lurkers and dubs see what we have actually accomplished with our lives since leaving the WTS and dubdom. It would be good for them to see that we don't automatically turn into crackhead satan-worshippers who shoot dogs and spit on the pavement.

  It's time to shine, fellow apostates! Tell the dubs what you've accomplished in your life that would not have been possible had you remained a dub. Let them see what's possible when one's mind is free from the imprisonment imposed by WT lies and evasions.

  Pay attention, lurkers. With a few exceptions from some of the wise-asses here, you will see what can be possible for you, too.
• 

  sooner7nc

  Let me list the things I've not done since leaving the WT:

  (1) Slept around on my wife

  (2) Stolen anything

  (3) Killed anyone

  Now, I'll list the things I didn't do while in the WT:

  (1) Slept around on my wife

  (2) Stolen anything

  (3) Killed anyone

  Now let me list the one thing that I do every chance I get, and that I obsess over:

  (1) Telling every person that I can how false and evil the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is. Warning the good people of this earth that there is an organization that wishes to suck the soul right out of them, leaving a dry worthless husk. Should you be afraid that the people on this board will harm you or lead you into some wrongdoing? Not at all. I, we, don't wish you to do anything harmful to you or anyone else. What should you be fearful of? The real Truth...not your perverted false truth
• 

  gubberningbody

  "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear." - Jesus

  In any case I think it's like the old proverb about advice:

  "Someone who knows the difference between good and bad advice doesn't need it."

  By the same token, I believe that the business of trying to convince others of anything to be a bit presumptuous and shrill.

  (I place this reply of mine in the above category.)
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  palmtree67

  While I was a JW, a group of "sisters" stalked and harrassed me to the point that I had to go to the police. Charges were laid and an elder was removed and his wife was public reproved over it, but the stalking and harrassing never really stopped.

  Since I left:

  I am marrying a great guy who worshhips the ground I walk on.

  I have a great job that I love, and they like me so much that they trained me for the position.

  It's been less than 2 years and I have 50 people coming to my wedding and many who offered to help with the preparations. People I hadn't thought of inviting, begged to come.

  I am much happier and much more well-rested and have better friends.
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  Lady Lee

  I stopped thinking about suicide. I thought I was crazy. I thought I would never be good enough or do enough despite the fact that I was an elder's wife, had created this image of the ideal JW family, was the sign language interpreter in the cong and did a great deal to help people feel like they belonged.

  I got the much needed therapy that was denied to me as a JW.

  After 15 years of marriage I divorced an abusive husband that was a well-respected elder. He also abused his kids to the point of kicking them while he was in one of rages. He married a new woman in the cong who had two kids and abused them as well. She left him after 10 years

  I worked with people with a wide range of physical disabilities

  I went back to school and graduated with honors from college and then went to university.

  I had a career I loved, working with people who had been abused. I feel privileged to have been able to really help people turn their lives around.

  My daughters are not JWs. We have learned the real meaning of family and can openly express our love for one another.

  I am happier, more balanced and stronger than I have ever been.

  Despite a chronic health problem that has put me in a wheelchair I still find great value and beauty in life and the world around me.

  And here I do what I can to let people know that there is a real luife outside the WT walls.

  And I haven't thought about suicide once since I left.
• 

  shamus100

  Stopped drinking.

  Stopped AD's

  Stopped thinking about suicide

  Got a real career

  Make real money

  Am really happy

  Worship satan and drink blood of crows every day, singing praises to beelzebub.

  Now one of the above statements is completely false. Figure it out and get a cookie!
• 

  agonus

  The truth about "apostates" is: That's exactly what the GB are - by their own definition.

  When we point out their deliberate misrepresentation of past teachings, we're actually being MORE loyal to the original teachers, and therefore LESS apostate than the ones who would label us "apostate".

  "Apostasy" does not mean "abandoning your God, values, or morality". It literally means "a standing away". That's it. Standing away from something you once held to, good, bad, or indifferent.

  How far are the current leaders of the WT "standing away" from its original teachings?
• 

  WTWizard

  I have not started molesting children, or killing babies. Nor do I go around stealing things that are going to create economic loss to the victims, cheating on my taxes on purpose, or lying just to see what I can get away with. Nor have I adopted a lifestyle of selling drugs, shooting the cops, or blasting my music so loud that it creates a noise hazard for everyone around.

  However, I now have a normal viewpoint toward celebrating holidays (each one should be allowed to decide how to celebrate and which ones they choose to celebrate). I also do not waste time going around pestering people handing out material that just shows people how to sell or push the exact same material, under death threat (God will destroy you if you don't). I have quit representing God as a loving Being that kills people that do not do His will (which is not very loving). I have quit wasting gas and electricity supporting this wasteful distribution of wastes of paper. Whether it contributes to global warming or not (and I believe it does not), it still wastes resources and pollutes for nothing--something I no longer do.
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  pixiesticks

  I feel I am a better, more stable, more confident, more caring person now I'm not a Jehovah's Witness.
  
  When I was a Witness, I had a very selfish attitude. I worried only about myself and my family and, although I would help out other Witnesses when I could, I never even thought about actively helping anyone outside the "truth". What would be the point? They were all going to die at Armageddeon anyway, I reasoned.
  It was only when I left that I realised what a selfish, self-absorbed life I had been living! I had an overwhelming urge to start making a positive difference. I started looking for volunteer work and getting actively involved in raising money for charity. Where, as a Witness, I'd only ever donated money to the Society, who used the money to either print more literature, or build more Kingdom Halls abroad, now I was donating to charities that were really helping people right now! I know many Witnesses view this kind of work as putting a plaster (or bandaid) on a dying world, but I see now that that way of thinking is just so negative and unhelpful. People are suffering now and they need help, not a tract, leaflet or book!
  
  I'm not depressed or anxious anymore. In my last few years as a Witness I would get so anxious that some days I couldn't even bring myself to leave my bedroom and I'd get panicy and have to lock myself in the toilets for the whole day at assemblies. It got to a point were I was even considering medication, something I really didn't want to have to do. Thankfully I found a cure that didn't involve pills - I finally got the courage to visit those so-called 'apostate' websites, one of which was Jehovah's Witness Recovery and discover through research that I'd been living an illusion.
  
  I'm planning to go to college and I'm planning lots of exciting holiday destinations!
  
  I haven't started smoking, using drugs, having lots of premiscuous sex, stealing or cheating! My "worldly" friends are more loyal and devoted to me than any of my Witness friends ever were. I know I can tell my "worldly" friends anything and they won't judge me. They accept me for who I am (and I don't have to worry that they'll tell the elders on me if they think I did or said something wrong!).
  
  If there are any active Witnesses reading this, I really hope they can see that the Society lies about what it's like outside the Org. They paint this picture of an awful, evil, completely immoral place wrapped up in an attractive looking package. I can tell you, from someone now on that outside, that simply not true. It certainly isn't all wonderful and rosy (nothing is!), but you don't have to be scared of it. There are so many great things out here and so many genuinely good, kind, loving people too, despite what the Witnesses will tell you.
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  cantleave

  I am far less judgemental on others. I don't chastise my kids because they are doing things that are perfectly normal. I don't take kids at on school nights so their education is disrupted. I don't see my neighbours as bird food.

  I still love my wife and family. I reinstated friendships with people I really love, but who could see through the hypocrisy of a man made organisation.

  I still need to get my career on track and forget that I was a ever a brainwashed JW-Cult member.