Hi, new to this forum. Figured I'd let everyone know about my story before I got involved. (page 5)

stuckinamovement

Welcome to the forum man. Your experiences are shared by many on this board.

SIAM

infpalex

I read the whole thing... it's great to know you, welcome! :) I'm new here too, and it's a great place to be :)

Dude! That was a great read! I know you are left in this shitty place in your life right now, but you have taken a stand and provided a soft landing for when your wife is ready to jump. I really hope she does, life outside is so much better than life inside. I do feel for you both, being caught between these two polar opposites of social status. Hope you can resolve it soon.

I wish more than anything that I had read as much and as widely as you did in your younger years. I was also of above average intelligence (not sure anymore since my JW lobotomy!) and yet I was so obedient and submissive to the Society that I wouldn't have dared read anything that challenged my beliefs, and if I had I would simply have put it down as the rambling product of this system of things. Eventually though, logic and reason won the day, mainly via my own thought processes and the doubts I had accumulated in over three decades of JW life.

Some of your experiences within your own family are truly heartbreaking, but by no means isolated in ex-JW communities as we all know, such is the tragedy of our former faith system. I know it reaffirms my own decision to leave when I read experiences like yours, I really appreciate the detail you went into. Especially the stuff about ecology and the animal kingdom etc, this was a pivotal subject for me in the process of rejecting the indoctrination, without really even doing any research on it. The natural world is based on survival, whatever it takes, be it violence, procreating with multiple partners, cannibalism, etc. I found the water canopy arguments fascinating, not something I have ever looked into, but then again I did decide I wouldn't spend any more of my life researching Watchtower doctrine after I left the organisation. I look in here regularly to see what's going down in the witness world and to offer encouragement to people that spill their guts like you have, and like I did myself.

I wish you every happiness in your life out here in the real world, you clearly have the ability to do great things, and wherever that takes you and your wife I am sure it will turn out well. Sending out positive vibes to you!

Millions

wyorobert

Interesting story and welcome.

I'm a peace loving person, but my hat's off to you for not beating the sap out of your best friend. I understand why he burnt you from a JW perspective, but sadly what he was really doing is trying to get back in their good graces by sacrificing you. There can never really be friendships within the organization because living in the truth means living a lie. In a make believe world you can only have make believe friends.

I'm sorry for your wife. Life is tough enough without adding that kind of anxiety. If you had that night to do over again, what would you have said to comfort her?

straightshooter

Welcome to this forum. Very touching story.

jookbeard

wow thats a long one read a couple of segments and will return later,welcome BTW!

mochamint22

Hi there. I read your story and I want to commend you for writing it. It takes a lot of courage to put your emotions out there. My heart dropped as I read about your sister and as the pieces started to fall apart surrounding your DFing. I have been "inactive" for a couple years now and I haven't DAd myself only so that I can maintain my relationship with my brother. But, I fear, that too will soon come to light. I have no interest in blindly following this religion anymore and I refuse to teach my kids this way of life. Just wanted to say that I am sorry for your losses, but you have gained freedom thru all of it and you will start to feel a lot better as time passes. I hope that your wife will start to sort things out. But it's a hard process and most times, it's just easier to ignore it and act like it doesnt exist. That's how I operate currently. I don't think about it and act like its not even a factor.

Mochamint

jgnat

Welcome.

Yeah, chess. I'm coffee-house competent, but the training was enough for me to learn to think a couple moves ahead.

I hope your sister finds a way out.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Welcome!

Thanks for sharing your story. Yes, I read the whole thing. And if we ever meet, I'll do the beer-buying !

JonathanH

Thank you for all your heart felt greetings and welcomes. I have a list of all your drinks and will be sending them out as soon as I can, hopefully they will still be hot when they reach you.

I look forward to being a part of your community here, a support network is very cathartic during rough times. Overall though, I feel as if I've landed on my feet. There have certainly been hard times, times when fifty or sixty years additional years of living seemed to be way too tall of an order, but I've gotten a handle on things. I'm currently brushing up on some trigonometry and algebra on account of my intent of matriculating for the fall semester at my local community college. I am going to school for Engineering. I intend to get my Bachelors of Science degree, but I'm starting with my Associates degree, because honestly, it's just way cheaper than a university. And hopefully I can get a decent entry level position with my AS, and then work on my next two years of school.

I look forward to future conversations here, and thank you again for all your support, and double thanks to those that managed to slog through the whole thing. I'll try not to be so long winded in the future.

Hi, new to this forum. Figured I'd let everyone know about my story before I got involved.

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