It's OK Lurkers, Paranoid former JW's, and even you current JW's....

by AllTimeJeff 31 Replies latest jw friends

  • AllTimeJeff
    AllTimeJeff

    It's ok.... to post here on the internet, on JWN, and other JW related forums.

    First of all, as we all know, the Governing Body doesn't provide a forum for JW's to "associate" with their brothers and sisters. I'm just guessing, and I could be wrong, that its harder to control the flock when they have free access to information and each other. Damn electricity and the technology it brings....

    Anyway, I realize that for anyone leaving, or for practicing JW's, to post is a nervous thing. Because it is so frowned upon. The flock is "encouraged" to not be on the internet at all, associating with people they don't know. Even though the orders come from a Governing Body that they don't know either. Oh, the irony.

    I remember when I first left, wondering thanks to the indoctrination I had received if somehow I was being monitored. I wasn't. As long as I wasn't posting copyrighted information, it is my opinion that they were happy I wasn't sharing what I knew about them within a congregation, where I might do the most damage to their indoctrination efforts. Considering the fact that I made the decision to leave and not share what I knew with others, the GB was happy to let me go. My exit, and others like me, were and continue to be an accepted cost of doing business. As is the accepted fact that former JW's will continue to talk about their experiences upon their exits. Yes, accepted. They are aware of it, know they can do nothing about it, and don't really sweat it.

    Their's is a strategic plan to fight this battle of mis-information and propaganda in the field where they feel it does the most good: At KH meetings and WT publications that serve to demonize the internet and scare their flocks from even listenting to anyone with a negative word about their little cult.

    So don't worry. Post away. Just don't put copyrighted stuff of their's on the internet, and you will be fine. After all, we may be invited to take life's water free, but it costs a helluva lot in lawyers fees to re-post WT literature on the internet.

    However, it is free to share what we know, and it's ok to do so. They won't chase you. In fact, YOU will have made progress to the extent that you no longer let the fear that the GB has instilled in you stopping you from moving forward and moving on.

    So whether it's posting, or just reading here on JWN, or www.freeminds.org , don't let fear or propaganda stop you from learning about JW's. Just like JW's want to get others to learn about the real origins of their faith, many like me would like you to learn about the real origins of yours. It's only fair that you do.

  • VampireDCLXV
    VampireDCLXV

    Great thread Jeff!

    I agree. Come on y'all and stop being so chicken. Say somethin' already!

    V665

  • AllTimeJeff
    AllTimeJeff

    I should say, even if you don't post, just read, learn, and make up your own mind. To figure out that JW's don't have the truth based on the evidence is so overwhelming, that most people who are contacted by them slam the door in their face. And with good reason.

    If they can turn down a cult, we can leave one. But it won't happen without real knowledge of the cult.

  • JW GoneBad
    JW GoneBad

    Thank you for the welcome and the invitation to contribute to the discussions. I definitely will as time and circumstances permit.

  • braveheart
    braveheart

    Hello JW GoneBad....great name... Welcome and congrats on your independant thinking...look forward to hearing your story.

    Peace and Strength in your quest to FREEDOM. -BH

  • Ding
    Ding

    I realize the fear active JWs may have about posting here, but I would appreciate knowing if you are finding these posts encouraging and helpful or the opposite.

    Are there things you would like to see covered that are being ignored?

  • miseryloveselders
    miseryloveselders

    I remember the first time I posted.........wow. It was like killing a small fuzzy animal for the first time. Maybe thats not a good comparison, I don't know. All I know was that it was a tremendous hump. There were several times I came close to posting but my conscience plagued me so much that I couldn't do it. So many times I was gonna create a user acount but I just couldn't do it. I had spoken to disfellowshipped people low-key in times past out of sympathy. Certain friends I knew as a teenager that got DFd I talked to without others knowing. Hung out with a couple of them. I haven't really done that in years as you grow apart from people as you get older for the various reasons we all know. Posting here though, was an alltogether different experience though. We're talking about conversing with.....eek!!! Apostates!! You guys are the worst of the worse as far as former JWs go. I didn't know what to really expect while lurking. I wasn't expecting Satan worshipping kitten killers, but I wasn't expecting characters like Mouthy either.

    I have to say, that first post and hanging around was one of the greatest decisions I've ever made in my life. Otherwise I'd still be mad as hell, and frustrated, and you want to know the worst part? I wouldn't have known why I felt so miserable. I had a feeling for a long time that something wasn't right, and maybe I knew exactly what it was years ago but got so caught up in the hamster wheel that I forgot. I assimilated and gradually forgot how to isolate and verbalize what things I felt are dead wrong in this organization. I had also forgotten how to do the same for the good things in this organization which was kinda of an unintentional result of posting, debating, and conversing here. Its like I'm reclaiming my identity, although the argument can be made that maybe I never had one. Been a heck of ride since I got that phony hotmail account that I'll never remember the password to ever again. Well worth it.

  • palmtree67
    palmtree67

    I have posted pictures here and other information, that I'm sure would make it easy to identify me.

    However, I doubt I am of any importance to them.

    In real life, I just live a quiet life - separate from the JW's - I don't bother them and they rarely bother me.

  • Lozhasleft
    Lozhasleft

    Good thread Jeff...I can identify with a lot that you've said Misery...I remember feeling that things werent as they should be in the Org, but I just kept pushing it away and feeling guilty....such a relief nowadays to be who I am and speak my mind with a clear conscience...I say it often and I mean it ...this forum site is a good place to be.

    Loz x

  • laverite
    laverite

    Great thread! Although I was already out, I lurked for years and years before setting up an account. There have to be tons of people reading this right now without a login...I know...That was me until a few months ago.

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