"What will I do if I leave Jehovah's Witnesses ?"

by Balaamsass2 24 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  Balaamsass2

  Whenever we visit the board we see a lot of Angst among Jehovah's Witnesses who are just learning the TATT (the truth about the truth). Hey, don't feel bad, we had it at one time ourselves.

  "Angst means fear or anxiety (anguish is its Latinate equivalent, and anxious, anxiety are of similar origin). The word angst was introduced into English from the Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word angst and the German word Angst. It is attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works ofKierkegaard and Freud.[1][2][3] It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or inner turmoil."

  After 50+ years of toiling with the heavy loads of Watchtower land let me put your minds at rest.

  It is a glorious spring SUNDAY here in California. I SLEPT in till 9:30am. (I did not rush around getting dressed checking my bookbag, shirt, or check to see my Watchtower was studied. I did not practice a talk or check notes. I did not check the car for litter, or the shine on my shoes). I shuffled into the kitchen and made a big pot of coffee and enjoyed the local paper and the NY Times. ahhh. Third Gen woke up at 10:30 AM to the smell of coffee and me LAUGHING on the phone with a JW Witness FRIEND (yes you heard that right- I still have JW friends (all secret "apostates"). I emailed other ex witness friends a joke. We then enjoyed BRUNCH and listened to the birds and our nice neighbors playing in the nearby park with their children (yes those horrible non-believers doomed to die at armageddon). Third Gen is outside now working on her rose garden with a big smile and chatting with the neighbors (those horrible worldly school teachers :) )

  Last week we had a nice lunch with Mr and Mrs Flipper. The week before, dinner with another board member.

  The friends we have now do not all share the SAME beliefs about everything. They don't have to.

  The point is "The TRUTH will set you free" the real truth... TATT. Enjoy life. LIFE...It goes on AFTER Watchtower.
• 

  truthseeker100

  What will I do if I leave Jehovah's witnesses?

  Just live and enjoy life and see good for all your hard work!!!
• 

  Village Idiot

  Thank you, Balaam, for that word of encouragement.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Well, first they have to stop assuming that former JW's get up late on Sunday morning because they injected heroine in their veins at the orgy late last night, and that they have to send their sexual partners of both genders on their way home so they can pick up all the bottles and clean up the vomit in their living room, then go buy lottery tickets and cigarettes on the way to the casino, and remember to give thanks to Satan for their high-paying life-draining jobs and miserable greedy families.

  Did I forget anything? Somehow, smurfs, blood donations, evolution and cars that are not 4 door sedans or minivans have to come in to play here.
• 

  JamesThomas

  We may find at the root of the causes of personal angst around leaving the Witnesses – other than personal family ties and social issues – is the mental dynamics of our cherished beliefs about 'God'.

  Can it be seen that all religious beliefs regarding a 'God', are nothing but that? Nothing but beliefs?

  Beliefs are only mind-generated concepts and ideas that are far removed from the reality of life and existence. So, my suggestion as to “what will I do?” is to first clearly see that every thought you have about what is “Truth”, and/or what is “God”, in nothing more than an abstract mental construct, and not genuine reality at all. Not Truth. Then, it may become obvious what you do next.

  What you do from then on is spend less time in your mind and its thoughts and conceptual notions about life, and spend more time with LIFE.
  

  You can not imagine the weight that leaves you when you let go of all the massive mental collection of “what life is all about”, and silently just be with life instead.

  Find out what it is like to really be present and attentive to the embrace of nature in and around you. Let it fill the void in you that caused you to create a make-believe “God” in the first place.

  Be still, and know...
• 

  OUTLAW

  "What will I do if I leave Jehovah's Witnesses ?"

  What Every One Does!..

  .
  

  ......................

  
• 

  JamesThomas

  OUTLAW, you said more in one word, then I did in all my mumblings.
  
• 

  mrquik

  I live in a large Mennonite community. I just pity them all along with the JW's every weekend. Someday they will all be pissed they wasted so much of life. Tried to tell you ... you just didn't want to listen.
• 

  Ignoranceisbliss

  I really appreciate the encouragement. I hope it is as glorious as u propose. Here is the other angle.

  I tell my wife that I no longer want to be a witness and I refuse to raise my kids as witnesses any longer. She feels blindsided and goes to the elders. They recommend that she separate from me as I am a spiritual endangerment. In the end I am disfellowshipped and we divorce. At court both my parents, her parents and my siblings support her. They are all witnesses and now I am an apostate. She gets custody of the kids. I get them every other weekend. I also have to pay alimony and child support as she has always been a stay at home mom. I have to get an apartment as she was also awarded the house to raise the kids in. Now I'm broke. I have no family. I rarely get to see my own kids. I have no friends. Everything that matters in my life has been torn away.

  Sure lets leave the witnesses and dance! It's all so simple and fantastic.
• 

  truthseeker100

  "I tell my wife that I no longer want to be a witness and I refuse to raise my kids as witnesses any longer. She feels blindsided and goes to the elders. They recommend that she separate from me as I am a spiritual endangerment."

  I'd cut her the hell loose!

  And no it's not "just dance". Enjoy life and everything else will fall in place,