by salsa girl 38 Replies latest jw experiences
Hi Mouthy!!
Thank you. Yes, I consider myself to have had a very lucky escape! Thank God I never had any close family members in it! It is STAGGERING to read accounts of people on this board who are literally being held hostage to this organisation because they can't bear to lose contact with their loved ones. I feel so sad for them.
LOL!! Yes, I was born and raised in South London!
SALSA GIRL: Congratulations! Now, thankfully you won't have wasted 20 years or more of your life there. I also noticed there was little interest in anybody who didn't fit into the category of married with kids. All your other observations are correct. I am a single woman who was 'judged' and gossiped about because I work full time to support myself. I was hardly invited anywhere and had to RUN from users who target singles and other 'vulnerable' persons to do favors. All in all, I am thankful for my so-called worldly upbringing because I would have been very damaged by this exploitive group if I did not RESIST!
I saw all of my WT indoctrination studies fall by the wayside (thanks goodness) and as I think back on it, some bailed after getting unsatisfactory answers to their questions- others didn't have the perfect WT "look" or family situation so they never fit in at the KH, so they quit, too.
Good for you- those nosey JWs and elders did you a favor.
Welcome here salsa girl! I'm glad you escaped in time.
Congratulations salsa girl, for having the discretion to investigate this cult before taking the oath of initiation...I mean plunge. If the Internet had been around when I was 12, I might have avoided a life of hell. I'm thankful for finally learning what you did while I still have my golden years ahead of me.
Way to go Salsa Girl. I was born into this circus and am held hostage (for now.) It's great to see anyone spared this misery.
Welcome Salsa Girl - I envy you not being sucked in - congratulations.
I was raised a witness from birth and ended up wasting 42 years in this cult.
ANGUS
Welcome, Where did you get your nick from?
I would caution anyone not to invest too much importance in the theatrics of attention whores and drama queens in forums like these. While the Watchtower Society has run amok and is hurtling down a path of apostasy and idolatry, it's hardly Jonestown or the Medieval Inquisition. Every Church denomination is going to have doctrines and policies that fly in the face of Scripture. Any true follower of Christ is going to be frustrated and persecuted by their families, so-called "brothers", and false friends (Matt 10:32-38) to one extent or another. Do not confuse this with what most JWs do by pissing people off, then claiming "persecution" when people dislike them.
JWs definitely give an alternative viewpoint to the Bible (when they do talk about it) and when varying viewpoints are weighed in light of Scripture, the truth is easier to find. One service JWs and Mormons offer is presenting the idea that maybe churches have some very fundamental doctrines completely wrong. The problem lies in the Society trying to leverage the appreciation shown by people who have been encouraged to think outside the box of mainstream religion into worship of itself. If you’re rescued from a burning building by a fireman, that’s good, but if you set up a shrine to him and make him your god because of it, that’s bad.
Witnesses will show you a lot of truths that you may have not ever thought of, before. Interspersed in those truths will be some complete garbage. It’s your responsibility to be able to separate the realities from the dogma (Heb 5:13-14, Eph 4:14).
The Bible study structure is such (at least with the book What Does the Bible Really Teach) that you’re presented with mostly slam-dunk arguments. Little is said about the blood issue and nothing about the “faithful and discreet slave”. Interesting how something heard multiple times per meeting isn’t even mentioned in the entire book about the fundamental teachings of JWs. This is one of those doctrines saved for later, like Xenu (in Scientology) or how God used to just be a good Mormon and got his own universe to rule over as a reward.
You can tell the doctrine is untrue, because JWs vacillate between denying there is a hierarchy and attempting to defend it with misapplied Bible verses. Perhaps this is why it’s saved until later, after you’re already hooked with the stuff they can establish, scripturally. Imagine if they did cold calls, opening with the message of the Governing Body and how everyone should unquestioningly obey their interpretation of the Bible and submit to their leadership. John the Baptist made bolder statements than that about Jesus with pride and success. If JWs are so confident in their idea of the “faithful and discreet slave”, let them shout it from the rooftops and stop sweeping it under the rug.
At that I fell down before his feet to worship him. But he tells me: “Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who have the work of witnessing to Jesus.” – Rev 19:10 This verse should temper our feelings toward the Society, who merely give an imperfect, human, best-guess message. If we have read the Bible and still allow ourselves to worship a publishing company, in spite of all warnings against human leadership, I’m fairly confident that will be considered in our final judgment. Also, if we don’t know what the Bible says on the subject because we were too lazy or apathetic to actually read it for ourselves, but instead comfortable with the Cliff’s Notes version from the Society, I likewise doubt much sympathy will be shown.
If we allow our human relationships (family, acquaintances, human authority figures) to adversely affect our relationship with our Creator, there are many, many warnings against that, not only in the Bible but in the Watchtower literature. The truth is in there, but there are some needles in the haystack that given time we’ll discover. Eventually, a stand for Jesus, Jehovah, and the Bible may lead false friends and self-important elders to shun us, but that was foretold (John 10:16-17, 24-28, 16:1-4).
Or, this is another path one may take:
All the same, many even of the rulers actually put faith in him, but because of the Pharisees they would not confess [him], in order not to be expelled from the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than even the glory of God. - John 12:42-43
If you perform for the glory of men, so you can get a pat on the back from elders, other JWs, or the person studying with you, you’re receiving your payment in full (Mat 6:1-21). But, if you’re willing to take the abuse of those around you, in the defense of God’s holy Word, then “Happy are YOU when people reproach YOU and persecute YOU and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against YOU for my sake. Rejoice and leap for joy, since YOUR reward is great in the heavens; for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to YOU.” – Mat 5:11-12
If you’re looking for a nice, easy path where nobody will bother you for your beliefs, “If YOU were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because YOU are no part of the world, but I have chosen YOU out of the world, on this account the world hates YOU.” – John 15:19 Of course, JWs will try to tell you that outsiders will be the thorn in your side for true beliefs, but that isn’t what Jesus indicated. Who “persecuted the prophets”? “YOUR brothers that are hating YOU, that are excluding YOU by reason of my name, said, ‘May Jehovah be glorified!’ He must also appear with rejoicing on YOUR part, and they are the ones that will be put to shame.” - Isa 66:5
I suggest you continue your study with Jehovah’s Witnesses, but read the Bible for yourself. Learn to differentiate between Scripture and dogma and make a firm stand for the real truth, even when it contradicts JW Truth tm . “For if someone, because of conscience toward God, bears up under grievous things and suffers unjustly, this is an agreeable thing.” – 1Pet 2:19
Welcome to JWN! Thankfully you have a sixth sense. I had a lot of doubts when I got baptized, but it was easy to put them aside since my mom and brother, and a man who claimed to love me already in. The whole experience was awful to say the least.
