Your earliest doubt?

by Apognophos 92 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Leolaia

  World wide flood in 2370. Then some time later, after Tower of Babylon incident, history as we know it began. All of Egyptian and Sumerian history compressed into about 180 years. Really?

  Yeah, that was precisely the problem that my young mind was busily engaged with when I was 14 and 15 years old. I wanted to find a way to make it all work out, shortening reign lengths, dismissing certain kings as "mythical", trying to squeeze everything within several hundred years. I knew the whole while it wasn't really working, but I wanted it to work. It bothered me how after the Tower of Babel the Egyptians would zoom super fast to Egypt and then instantly begin the first dynasty (I didn't even give room to Predynastic Egypt). But the whole scheme collapsed when I read about Woolley's excavations of Ur and found the mass graves of all the attendants to the Sumerian lord who were killed and buried with him. I forgot how many but it was something like 30-40 people. And that made no sense to me. I had that early king live just some 20 or 30 years after the Flood. At a time when people were trying to repopulate the earth and have enough people to work on the Tower of Babel a hundred years later, they were really cavalierly slaughtering a king's attendants when world population was only at a few hundred? It was then I realized that it was hopeless and I abandoned the project.
• 

  Anony Mous

  My earliest doubt was when I was about 10 years old. I was given a punishment to write why going to the meetings and behaving is important because apparently I was being bad. I wrote a letter to my parents why I don't want to be a JW, how my dad working getting "paid under the table" is against the religion, why so many elders are hypocrites because they all have high paying and demanding jobs, why all the JW's we know are poor and how it attracts the poor, how so much things in the bible don't make sense etc. etc.

  Off course this was beaten out of me and I was a dubbie for almost 2 more decades but I always had doubts.

  In other news: BU2B you have a message!
• 

  Apognophos

  Wow, I'm impressed by the stories of those who had such concrete doubts at an early age, and even spoke up to their parents about them! You were smart kids!

  It took me until adulthood to form any real doubts, although one of the first was questioning the new understanding on the blood teaching ("Huh? If blood is symbolically wrong to take into our bodies, then how could certain components of the blood be a matter of conscience?!"), and even when I had doubts I didn't have the courage to tell anyone about them.
• 

  JWOP

  I was a born-in. I began having doubts in my teen years, when I'd notice "new light" didn't match the old light in any way, shape, or form. Of course, it was explained to me that, since we are imperfect people, Jehovah can't give us ALL of the information all at once, He has to give it to us only as we're able to understand it.

  BUT I still couldn't understand why Jehovah would teach us a lie just because we weren't ready for the true information yet.....
• 

  fresh prince of ohio

  I can't remember the exact specifics or even if it was my first doubt, but I do vaguely remember an article in the Watchtower, came out probably mid-late 90s. Basically the article took a scolding tone towards JWs who had gone to prison back in the day rather than accepting alternative service in lieu of the military draft. This was after they got new light on the issue of alternative service, and the scolding concerned the brothers "grumbling" about the new light. The most galling thing about the article was how it obfuscated the organization's role in the brothers refusal of alternative service, making it seem like it was strictly an individual choice. By that time I had been around long enough that I knew how the org worked, and it was perfectly clear to me that the brothers had refused alternative service because it was POUNDED into their heads that this was the ONLY acceptable choice in Jeehoober's eyes, and they would have been DF'd in a New York minute second had they performed alternative service. Again it was the way the article was worded that I just found unbelievable.
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  Aurelius

  Also form a young age remember the brothers being advised not to watch 'Witnesses of Jehovah' (Jerimiah Films) which was broadcast on UK national TV (only had 3 channels back then). Of course we still watched it. That was a major eye opener!
• 

  jam

  1975 did it for me, soon after I found out they had made

  other fail predictions.
• 

  mercedes_29

  I had been associated with the JWs for a few years due to my mother studying and getting baptized. I just went along with her for something to do. When I got out of college I moved to Denmark and started watching documentaries about the JWs and child molestation cases in Sweden and Denmark. For so long I heard how evil the Catholic priests were for abusing kids and sweeping it under the rug and meanwhile it was happening within the Jws.

  Some scriptural things I didn't quite understand as a JW were mentioned earlier - the concubine being raped to death, Bathsheba's baby dying to punish Kings David, and Eve believing a talking snake.

  I wish I had figured it out for good before getting baptized.
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  perfect1

  The fact that my classmates, 13 years old, some of whom believed strongly in God, would be killed, just cause they werent witnesses.

  Then I said Ididnt believe in a God that would do that, but if he did exist I wanted nothing to do withsuch a creep.

  Go 13 year old me!
• 

  LongHairGal

  APOGNOPHOS:

  My first doubt(s) occurred about the same time. I was criticized over a small slit in a below the knee skirt and I was also criticized because I work full-time.

  I never felt there was anything "wrong" with me before these criticisms and my eyes were opened by these rude awakenings and I came to see JWs as having serious issues about women. Sorry, NOT my problem.

  I also saw the unhealthy mentality about college/careers and knew some never REALLY wanted to be part of the workforce (and they admitted as much). Well, they can GO ask the religion for money!