Judging by the kind of emotional, school, social, spiritual life my teenager children have now - a very healthy life because I made sure I raised them away from the Watchtower CULT and JW family - knowing the influence their teachings have in every little detail of a person's life since you are born, I can blame them for a lot of my internal disfunctionalities, thoughts, behaviours, etc., BUT they are not an excuse anymore to continue that pattern of life ... I have recognized the source of my problems and take steps to remedy the situation and help others that are not necessarily ex-JWs but have problems rooted in their past.
Do You Blame Your Current Life's Issues Because You Were A JW?
by minimus 63 Replies latest jw friends
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Iamallcool
Yes. Life goes on.......
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inbutout
I was about 7 years old when my parents started studying with the witnesses and soon after they started studying we were told that association with our worldly relatives was not a good idea - and no more Christmas, birthdays etc. Our new family was the brothers and sisters in the Kingdom Hall. Just like many other newbies into the witness religion, we stopped associating with our relatives. I really missed one of my aunts who was always so kind and generous to us and always made us feel welcome in her home. After we became witnessed the few times that we did see her ended very badly as my parents always tried to convert her and she wanted no part of changing her own religion. Needless to say we became estranged and after many many years I found out that she had started getting dimentia and was in a nursing home. I really wanted to see her and hoped that she would remember the little boy who stayed at her house many weekends and all the fun we had at Christmas and New years and other occasions. When i got to the nursing home she did not recognize me but i did stay and talk to her for a long time about everything and nothing. When i left i realized that i had missed so much by not having her in my life and cried in my car on the way home. She died a very short time later. I dont blame my parents for alienating our family from loved ones, as they were simply doing what they were told. I blame myself for listening to the witnesses and buying into the fact that "all worldy people are evil and must be avoided. I blame myself for trying to adopt the brothers and sister in the congregation as my new family - when in reality they could really care less about me and I have realized that in this religion " love " is absolutely conditional on toeing the witness line and that obedience to the society is first and foremost and trumps all family ties.
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straightshooter
I feel that I have been blessed and cursed by being a jw. When I was a jw, it prevented me from becoming a drug addict or an alcoholic. I did have some good friends in the cong. I dropped out of higher education because of being a jw and possibly lost out economically. There were so real back-biters in the cong that were out to hurt me and my family. So it was a mixed experience.