When I was leaving the JWs , I often used to read "testimonies" from ex-Mormons & was often struck by how similar they were to my experience. There are a few accounts given here by ex-mormons - a bit hapazard but interesting.
ex-mormon stories - very similar to JW
by dozy 4 Replies latest jw friends
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cantleave
when exiting the JW's I read ex mormon sites and was shocked by the similarities.
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scotinsw
I had a colleague who had been brought up a Morm but had never been baptised or become a fully fledged member. I always remember her telling me that her sister had and had then got pregnant and was a single mother and how the Mormons had all ignored her and wouldn't have anything to do with her. I told her that I thought that was bad as this was a really tough thing for her.
Little did I realise that it was very similar to the shunnign that goes on with JWs. I suppose that was one of my first thoughts that shunning DF'd people was wrong.
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tec
'Morg'... instead of Borg. I thought that was funny. (Not as clever as Borg, mind you.)
I find it strange to read those testimonials and stuff. I've known a lot of mormon people, and they always came off as warm and open. I'm not doubting the site or anything. I just wonder how much I really saw... or if Mormons are just the same as any other group, with people of all sorts. The only thing that makes it hard on them is that they're separated and isolated from the rest of Christianity, just like the JW's. I didn't know they shunned - though I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I don't know that they do.
Now as for JW's, I got that hint of disapproval/judgment for the rest of the world very quickly. And I didn't feel the 'love' that my study teachers said I would when I went to the Kingdom Hall. I only went once, for the last supper. Some people were nice, smiling, welcome. But I got distinct 'judging' and 'suspicion' from one lady in particular.
It stayed with me.
I lied and said I thought going was nice. But after the hype about it, I was really disappointed.
Tammy
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IsaacJ22
Many "worldly" people who meet JWs think they're also nice, warm, not at all crazy or cultish, and all that. I've read articles in newspapers about the Witnesses which were very one sided, so even journalists can be fooled. Of course, they just went to some meetings or followed the Witnesses around, who surely were very careful to avoid certain things or put a nice shine to all the crappy stuff.
Basically, like all groups, Mormons and JWs put their best foot forward to the public (the world) but keep all the dirty stuff buried. I'm sure they tell little white lies and deny controversial things to outsiders just as JWs do so as not to stumble any potential converts and not seem too "cult like." If you think about it, that's pretty much what you'd expect, isn't it?
At any rate, I've always found the similarities between the WTS and the Mormons kinda interesting. I've often wondered about other groups, like the 7th Day Adventists and Christadelphians. But you never hear so much about any of them.