parents became jw in 1959...was 8 years old at the time...ms in 1976...stopped meetings same year....df in 1978...freedom at last. have never been to a meeting since & sure don't regret it
magoo
What year Did you Stop Attending Meetings - How Long were you a JW ?
by flipper 138 Replies latest jw friends
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Justitia Themis
Born in, stopped attending in 2007 after 46 years.
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xmkx
I "born in" and after 15 years with the JWs being my entire world I quit in 2001. I know I'm not the most representative sample - I'm one of those that never could shake my independent thinking and was just lucky enough to have a family that was so blatantly "off" that I saw through the dysfunctionality and attempted to escape it, even though at the time I just knew that I was a hypocrite as long as I stayed.
I do think more are leaving than before, and while I don't know much about adults, the place I have noticed this the most is among young people. My aunt was only 12 years older than me and while the majority of young JWs her age stayed in the religion until their 30's or later, the majority my own age have left by now even though we haven't even hit 30 yet. It seems to be the most common between the ages of 16 and 21, usually having something to do with things that are generally considered a normal teenage act outside of the JWs.
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coffee_black
Born in third generation (1952) Baptized 1960 at 8 years old....Started questioning and researching in 1990... manned the why 1914 helpline starting in 1992 while fading but still in "good standing"...was outed in 1993 so I DAed.
Coffee
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deep-blue-sea
Baptized in 1962 at 15.
Active till 2005, at 58
Not yet dissociated, but will come soon!
My husband: Born in, baptized at 12. Super active elder, active till 2004 at 59. disassociated last year (2009) poor us........
Never gone back to meetings!
Regards, Claudia
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The Finger
1996. Depends how you look at it. (in some ways i still am, and in some ways I never was.)
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flipper
Wow. Really, wow. Thanks for all of your responses. Here are the factual figures you reported on this thread . Interpret them as you see the figures . After listing the figures- I'll give my take- and welcome all of your takes as well !
Of the 55 or more responses this is how your years of being a Jehovah's Witness breaks down :
50 or more years in the witnesses - 3 people
40 or more years in the witnesses - 6 people
30 or more years in the witnesses - 14 people
20 or more years in the witnesses - 15 people
10 or more years in the witnesses - 12 people
5 or more years in the witnesses - 1 person
0-4 years as a witness - 1 person
I'm trying to determine what these figures may indicate. Perhaps it's indicating a more abundant exiting of people from age 20 through age
50 or so ? It seems evident as some have mentioned- the longer one is in the witness cult ( 40 +yrs. ) the less likely they'll leave and that
those still trapped in the mind control as " newbie witnesses " ( under 10 years or so ) are still in the " honeymoon " phase of the JW cult
relationship - not knowing about " 1975 " or unaware of " old light " regarding " generation " changes perhaps ? It seems evident that
between 10 to 40 years in the JW organization a person seems to see through the scam. What do you think has caused this ?
Here are the years you exited and how THEY break down -
2010 - 1 person
2009 - 5 people
2008 - 7 people
2007 - 5 people
2006 - 6 people
2005 - 6 people
2004 - 2 people
2003 - 1 person
2002 - 1 person
2001 - 4 people
2000 - 2 people
1998- 2 people
1997 - 1 person
1996 - 1 person
1995 - 2 people
1994 - 1 person
1993 - 1 person
1988 - 2 people
1987 - 1 person
1984 - 2 people
1983 - 1 person
1980 - 1 person
1978 - 1 person
1976 - 1 person
So these are how the years broke down of each of your exiting. As some have mentioned before : Recently exiting people are the one's
that need a support board like this the most - however do you think it shows something else ? I'll let you determine that. As always -
I look forward to your responses. Thanks for replying. Peace out to all of you, Mr. Flipper
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Heaven
Back in my day, we didn't go to any meetings because we were just studying. Neither of my parents were baptised and my Dad worked second shift so he wasn't available to go to any meetings during the week. When I turned 12, my Mom started working part-time as well. There was only the Sunday Bible Book Study at our house (sometimes held at the couple's house that was conducting our study). My Mom tried to attend the Memorial as best she could. I only remember going to 1 of those.
Somewhere between my 16th and 19th birthday, these studies ceased. As we kids got older, we all started working at jobs and none of our schedules aligned. So that was somewhere between 1979 and 1982.
edited to add: I guess you can consider me a 'born-in' since the bound Watchtower and Awake! books in my parents bookcases start at 1960 and I was born in 1963. I am 46 but I mentally exited at age 16 (30 years ago) , physically exiting when I left home to attend College, age 19 (27 years ago).
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cantleave
From birth - 42 years - stopped last November (2009)
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troubled mind
Born in , baptized @17 in 1978 . Last meeting in 2006 age 44 .