Out of the cult? You ARE Lucky!

mentallyfree31

Just wanted to share an experience I had yesterday, that made me realize just how lucky I am to be out of this cult.

Brief background: When I graduated high school in 1995, i started doing janitorial worker (shocker!!) while pioneering. I worked for a 72 year old special pioneer, who had been a special pioneer for decades. I worked for him three years, until 1998.

As you know, I left the cult in December 2009. Yesterday, I was passing the Kingdom Hall on the highway, and saw this "brother" that I used to work for in 1995. He is almost 90 years old now, and has been special pioneering for 40 to 50 years. He could barely walk, but had his bookbag in hand, waking up the steps to the Kingdom Hall to go in service.

It really hit me hard. I am lucky to be out of this. I wanted to stop the car and get out and kiss the ground. I felt like the luckiest man alive. It doesn't matter what I lost to leave this organization. I am free. And I can't think of anything better than being free.

For those who remember my family's story, you will remember that it was a routine mistake on a blood test (of my brother leavingwt's second unborn child) that is responsible for us leaving the cult. If that test hadn't come back with a false positive, my whole family would still be in this, going strong, at every meeting.

Not a day passes, that I don't smile and remember just how lucky I am to be out!

-MF31-

sizemik

We are all lucky . . . and may we never forget it!

Pams girl

THE BUTTERFLY OF FREEDOM

WHY DO YOU FLY OUTSIDE THE BOX?

I FLY OUTSDIE THE BOX BECAUSE I CAN............

BUT WE KNOW THE BOX.....WE ARE SAFE INSIDE THE BOX.......!

THAT MY FRIEND IS WHY I LEAVE IT..........FOR YOU MAY BE SAFE.......BUT I AM FREE......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wobble

We might be free to do and think as we want, because we are out of the cult, but if you have family in the cult, its tentacles still reach out to grab you, and you can never be as one who never was a JW.

They simply will not allow it.

My family have just shunned Mrs Wobble and I by not inviting us to our great-niece's wedding last Saturday. We are not DA'd or DF'd just inactive non-attenders of meetings, (officially).

O.K, so we would not have actually attended, for a variety of reasons, but we would have kindly explained why, has anyone from the family kindly explained to me why we are persona non grata ? No.

I can guess what their cult thinking is on this, but had I been a great uncle living a few doors away from the bride (as I am) who had never been a JW I am sure I would have got an invite.

We escape the cult, but not what it makes our loved ones in to if they are still in it.

baltar447

Do you have a link to a thread with your family's story? I'd like to read it thx.

Giordano

My wife and I walked out in the late 1960's. We were serving where the the need was great as pioneers and I was also the assistant presiding minister (1960's terms), ministry school conductor, gave 30 one hour talks (big boy talks) in a 2 year period and other various jobs including taking care of the publishers cards (or whatever they were called back then). It took us two years to fade and it was all unknown territory as there was no organized opposition or books one could draw on for encouragement. They had just focused on 1975 as the probable end of this old world and of course vietnam was ragging and sucking up age appropriate young men in the draft. Hell of a time to leave the JW world.

So after an intense year of private study and conversations we deprogramed ourselves said 'screw this, they've made it all up' and we left. Nothing like moving out of the area. Before we left however I pulled our publishers cards! They can have them back if they give us back our four years of service, missed education etc.

Out of the Cult? Yes indeed we were lucky. I was 23, my wife was 20, we had our whole lives ahead of us and............. my how good it's been!

P.S. A beautiful son came along and that was it for Vietnam though it was a close one for a while. 1975? By then I had totally forgotten about it the way you totally forget about stepping in dog crap. You scrape it off and move on.

wobble

Dear baltar447,

I have never done an actual thread on my family story, but I have given a lot of information on various posts, so regular readers will know a lot about me,and my Uber-dub family, maybe I should write it in full, along with including my slow awakening and fast exit !

I wrote a piece and submitted it to a newspaper entitled "I grew up in a religious cult", they have not published it as yet, but I may flesh that out and make a topic on it. Soon.

baltar447

Thanks wobble, I was actually referring the OP. But I enjoy reading anyone's experiences, thanks.

leavingwt

Do you have a link to a thread with your family's story? I'd like to read it thx.

Baltar447: You have a PM.

We have yet to write the entire story. It's partially complete. I would also like to do a few videos, before the memories fade. Our older brother, who has never participated on the forums, was instrumental in assisting me with reaching my younger brother and our parents. I want people to hear him tell the story in his own words.

I have found it very difficult to write my story, primarily for two reasons: (1) emotionally, it is very taxing to re-open the wounds and (2) there are still in-laws who are active in the organization, and they are part of the story.

Out of the cult? You ARE Lucky!

Share this