by Chariklo 9 Replies latest jw friends
Increasingly, I find myself resistant to any form of religion that dictates exactly what I should believe, what I should wear, down to the last skirt to meeting, or what I eat, what I read, what I watch, and denies me my God-given right to think for myself and to use the brain he gave me.
That's what I've gained from the Watchtower.
Thank you, Watchtower! You've done a GOOD thing!
I lived very close to my old kingdom hall and every time I drove / drive by think how wonderful it is to be free to do what I want. I make me all that more grateful to live each day as I want.
Hi LouBelle,
I experience the same. I don't drive right by it, but almost; I regularly drive past the end of the lane it's in.
I wondered if others had found similar reasons to be grateful to them!
I think although most of us have had bad expieriences with the Watchtower, we need to remember the good things it gave us as well.
I know I grew in confidence by enrolling in the Ministry School and going door to door. Also I had a great social life, always having someone to go around with or to have round socially.
Having said that I gave it all up when I realized how they had been deciving me for the last 20 years or so.
I am very glad I am out of it, having the freedom now to use my own brain to work things out rather than rely on the Watchtower.
I'm thankful that their continual spouting of finding "the truth" is what eventually led me to find the truth about them.
And, I'm also thankful that they gave me a foundation of morality (no illicit drugs, no racism, maintaining marital fidelity, etc.)
When I first stopped going I realised that I had no Critical Thinking skills, which is why it took me so long to realise the WT/JW religion was totally false, so I set about learning how to think about things.
Now the old Bulls**t detector works 100% and I can spot the fallacies in an argument straight away, it is such a protection, I no longer accept anything without giving it some thought, and hence are not controlled by anyone elses thinking.
The WT kept all that ability far from me, as they do all their entrapped members.
I don't rate highly the TM School for public speaking skills, it is very basic, and you don't "progress" if you don't try hard yourself, so most MS and Elders are crap speakers, but, yes, I have no fear of public speaking which I may have had, perhaps, without the TMS.
DtoD holds no fear either of course, or cold calling by any method, but as I am not in sales those skills are never used.
Basically WT, thanks for two things, not much and sod-all.
Fair enough, Phizzy.
The astonishing thing about me is that I have always been blessed with the power of critical thinking. It's my normal approach. But it's clearly also combined with a heavy dose of credulity.
Weird!
This forum has shown me better than anything else ever could how those brought up in the WT are mentally and spiritually imprisoned. It is an evil religion.
Actually the JWs see religion as it reallly is. Not becuase they are "the truth" but rather they represent all the deception in that grand narrative.
The Watchtower considers anyone that uses the brain they were born with as a danger to themselves & rest of the congregation & guilty of self pride & independant thoughts that cause division amongst the sheeples.
Which is why you can't go to college and you can't use the internet unless you're going to jw.org/watchtower.org.
