This site really helped me to understand:
1. I am not crazy. What I was feeling while I was “in”: disenchanted, tired, depressed, confused, conflicted, frustrated….was typical of so many people.
2. I am not alone. OH WOW! I cannot tell you all how many tears I cried when I finally found a community to which I could relate. It led me to read many things that helped to open my eyes and confirm some of the things that I suspected about the way the org operated.
3. That I was in a cult! I had spent my whole life telling others the exact opposite. Realizing that fact helped me understand why I always felt “rebellious”! I was NOT rebellious, I am just not easily controlled.
If not for this site, I would have never heard of Ray Franz and his book Crisis of Conscience. I think I understand more NOW about the doctrine and I was a born in and I never could understand it, just by reading things posted here. (Leolia totally fries my brain with the stuff she writes!)
I think the org contributed to a my naivety, because I honestly did not know that the questions and thoughts I had I could not express them; that doing so was actually considered “apostasy”. I gained the courage to walk away (fade). I read postings on what to expect from my JW friends and family when I pulled away. I gained the strength from reading others stories that even though it is painful to experience the distance my family is showing me, that I will be ok.
But the most thing I appreciate is that thru your stories I KNOW I can have a great life and I don’t ever want to go back to the madness.
So has JWN helped me? HELL YA!
THANK YOU Simon and Anghard!!!!