I've lurked a long time: JW's produce some of the most paranoid humans (page 5)

stuckinamovement

Welcome Unlearn!

It is nice to hear your intro. You are not alone here on the Board. Great Posts. Love you back.

SIAM

Franklin Massey

Welcome. Your third post really packed a punch. Thanks for sharing and thanks for your honesty.

ziddina

Welcome to the board, UnLearn!!

Hopefully you can "unlearn" many of the bad habits and "unload" much of the baggage that you were burdened with, by the Watchtower Corporation...

Zid the She-Devil

DaCheech

Good for you................

i'm still physically in, but mentally free.

good luck

journey-on

I resisted officially joining here for so long, wondering what would happen if the org got ahold of my identity. Thw way I was being used...well, it would be scandalous and affect a lot of people. What if the owners of this site were indeed in cahoots with Watchtower...and at some point, in one fell-swoop, dimed me out?
Unlearn, I had to laugh out loud when I read this. The exact same thoughts went through my mind when I made my first post with shaking fingers. And the funny thing is: I had been totally free of the WTS for at least two decades. But, not being df'd or da'd, I still had contact with family near and dear to me, and I imagined them finding out and in one fell swoop tossing me out of their lives.
But, there was an urge to get it out, even if it was just one post. Even the title of my first post said it would be my One and Only, my First and Last....LOLOL....and over 5000 posts and 4-1/2 years later, I still worry about my sister and other family "finding me out". Yep, I, too was raised in it. They say your personality is basically set by the time you are five.

Thanks again for the continuing 'welcomes'. Makes me feel like this was the right thing to do. :)

@ ABibleStudent - getting my wife out was tricky. So many compromising details to who I am here...and I'm not quite ready to go into all of them...but I am so glad she came out.
She always knew how I felt about the 'science'. She tried not to think about the fact that I was in the 'truth' and yet believed in evolution, that much of the Bible is myth, that Jesus Christ (the divine story) is one that's been passed down in various cultures (1st century Chirstian apologists even admitted it: blamed it on 'Satan'), & that I was recklessly pro-gay, pro-choice, and basically pro-human being. Funny thing is that she was the exact same way...VERY independent woman, but she suppressed it to conform to the cult.
I remember the first 'blunder I made': I accidentally left THIS SITE on my computer when I went to a meeting: my wife didn't feel well that evening. I came home after leaving a particularly petty, back-biting elders meeting, to my wife standing in the bedroom, with a deathly look on her face and my computer open on the bed. 'What is this?' she asked. This was early on, and I was still terrified of my house of cards falling down. So, I lied. I told her I was doing research...or some other bullshit like that. Since then, I've apologized to my wife about this, and she totally understands why I did it. But, it was a big notch in my process of leaving: lying to my wife about reading something really stuck with me. Who creates that type of fear between family?
I read something on this site back then that advised being patient and slowly trying to win your family. So, what began for me was a year long act of sorts...gradually bringing things to my wifes attention. Using every incident I could to plant seeds and steal other ones. The music we listen to, the things we read...our 'heroes' in the secular world are all very revolutionary, rebellious people. So, I had a lot going for me...including other details that I won't go into now: im so sorry. Just protecting my name.
I remember showing her that the cross information in the appendix of the NWT was not accurate...and how they had taken many experts quotes out of context in that information...as well as in the defense of their bible translation. The lack of transparency struck her as odd at first. More and more, she saw it for what it was: deception.
Things like Holidays had never been a problem for me: typically they aren't for born-ins. You don't really miss what you never knew. My wife, though, was not born-in. When I began to really break down the absurdity of not celebrating holidays as well as Birthdays, this was powerful. I showed her the 'Pinata' article in the Awake, where the brothers basically state that it would be unreasonable and improper for anyone to look down on a brother who used a pinata today, since he clearly would not be using it in any way similar to the pagan ways it was used eons ago. Reason! So, why not every holiday?
Once the evidence was overwhelming, it all started to fall apart for her. Add to the fact that the WTBS really supplies you with all the ammunition you need to leave 'mentally': you're just to hynotized by your ego to really see it. Once the spell is broken, their very teachings are glaringly strange, rigid, and mean-spirited. Their pet phrases and general culture scream CULT, and my wife saw it plainly after the cracks in the armor begin to form. This gradual chipping away at her 'foundations' eventually caused her to topple over...right into my arms, where I scooped her up and ran like hell. ;)

As far as other family, well...I'll perhaps discuss this in the future.

@ MrDarkKnight - yep, I totally can relate.
I was appointed rather young by some standards...and served for a certain amount of years...not a ton, but enough to be 'trusted' by several heavies and used in more visible ways. So I had this youth...and this natural desire to DO something...to be remembered. To be great. These are natural, dare-I-say 'healthy' ambitions. JW's demonize them, of course. The group needs only one 'head', which is a select club...and you ain't in it.
It's here that I have to pull a lot of words...because I'm still in a position where I'm guarding who I am...but it was very difficult to pretend to be 'conservative' in all aspects of my life. I'll just stop there. I'm getting to a point soon where it won't matter anymore...and I'll be recklessly transparent about everything.
For now, lets just say Im glad I got out before I was an old man.
That would've sucked.

Twitch

Who are you and why have you followed me here?

;)

kimbo

Welcome

jambon1

Paranoia took over my life nearly to the point of suicide as a JW.

I look back now (6 years) and wonder what all the fuss was about.

That really is indoctrination.

ziddina

"You develop the amazing ability of self-distraction: WT supplies you with the tools.

There is always some counter-point manufactured by these cult leaders to do battle with any real 'truth' which might stumble onto your radar.

It's a very genius thing...interesting to see in action. ..."

I would really like to hear more about this aspect of your experiences...

Of course, the Watchtower's methodology isn't new; variations of their technique have been used by countless thousands of religions and cults since time began. The ascetics, the monks who practiced self-flagellation, and others who have used self-denial and fear to distract themselves - and their followers, were all using the same quirks in human psychology that the Watchtower Corporation takes advantage of.

Again, welcome to the board, and I'm looking forward to hearing more of your experiences and observations!

Zid the She-Devil

I've lurked a long time: JW's produce some of the most paranoid humans

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