I had looked up "Jehovah's Witnesses and 1975" and it directed me to JWFacts. I was nervous reading it but knew by the end of my visit on that website that I had been terribly mislead by the WTBS. I spent the next week or two researching as much as i could on JWFacts and this website. In about two short weeks, my faith and belief in the WTBS was shattered. My life has improved tremendously since that time.
What Was Your First Experience In Exposing Yourself To "Apostasy"?
by minimus 48 Replies latest jw friends
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DATA-DOG
My experience was weird. An employee for the company I work for was also a "brother." Well, not for long. He was DF'd for some reason. I took over his position and inherited his company phone.
While in field-serve-us I get a text, " Hey BLANK, how are you?" Being a self-righteous douche, I immediately put 2+2 together and knew that they were texting Brother DF'd. So to be "cool" and spiritual, I texted back, " I am great. I am in the ministry...." They replied back and asked who I was.
That started a string of conversations about Bible topics. I was researching like never before to "witness" to this unknown soul who desperately needed " The Truth." Every answer that I regurgitated from the publications was met with another question. Finally, I received an invitation to meet in public to discuss the scriptures. I refused of course. To acccept would have been insane. How could I sit with an opposer in public? This person was obviously trying to undermine my faith. We spoke off and on for some time, and I performed mental gymnastics that would make Recovery or SFPW look like 3rd rate JW apologists hacks.
In the end, one phrase penetrated the indoctrination and the years of programming. The final text simply said, " YOUR FUTURE IS NOT SECURE WITH THE WATCHTOWER." After more searching and observation, I KNEW that " the truth" wasn't true. Then I came to JWN under another name, distraught, depressed, suicidal. The encouragement that I received was incredible. I learned of JWstruggle.com, and met Raypublisher and Tornapart, and Stuckinamovement, and others. That was over 2 years ago. Since then I have had 5 Elders meetings, lost all my assignments, been accused of apostasy, all for saying that the WT contains errors and that I do not serve men. I also mentioned the non-scriptural practices occuring in my KH, and child molestation issues. I basically became zealous for TTATT and wrote some checks that my a** is now paying for.
It's all good. It was a real eye-opener. I could have avoided many confrontations and lived a complete lie, but I WANTED to see if what I was told was true. Would the Elders really persecute me for disagreeing with theocratic protocol, and saying that my loyalty to any man, including the GB is conditional upon their behavior? Would I really be marked for speaking the truth about Watchtower dogma? Would I really get in trouble if I handed them proof of the WTBTS's mistakes and flip-flops in the form of their own literature? Was it really a crime just saying that the information in the WT is often wrong and subject to change, and therefore not "truth?" You know the answer.
That's how it happened, and it ain't over yet. The red pill isn't for everyone, but it has it's advantages. Intellectual freedom is the most important, IMO. Now I can be in any situation and have the comfort of knowing that my mind is my own. Thanks, unknown texter!!
DD
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tornapart
For me it was 2 years ago. I was reading something on Wikipedia about JWs and the GB. At the end it said about critisisms and referenced Ray Franz and his book 'Crisis of Conscience'. My curiosity was piqued... what harm would it do to peek behind closed doors? I'd always wondered what was so mysterious about the GB. I read the book, then I read his next one 'In Search of Christian Freedom'. The veil was lifted, my eyes were opened and I saw the man behind the curtain! There was no going back.
My next foray was on Jwstruggle, a brilliant website for newly awakened JWs. Then of course Jwfacts and here. The rest is history.
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Londo111
For me, it was the October 1, 2011 Watchtower article, "When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed", that got me started.
Of course, I knew something was seriously wrong with the Organization and concluded that disfellowshipping and shunning were not what Christ taught. But until that article, I couldn't see a thread to pull in Watchtower Theology. This one thread made the whole garment unravel. Before that, all thoughts kept bending back upon themselves and I could see no way out.
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minimus
....loving this thread!
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rmt1
I don't use their word that plays their game for them and that reinforces or insinuates a degeneracy.
People who stand up against a wall of lies are truthseekers. JWs are lie followers and those who stand up against those lies are truthseekers.
Very simple.
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SAHS
Actually, it was this very Board that did it for me. There was a reference in one of the threads to “Spiritual Food At the Proper Time,” as featured at “http://www.freeminds.org” – it’s a chronological listing and comparison of all the Watchtower doctrines right from the start. That historical synopsis was very informative and eye-opening for me. I could see the development of that mess of contrived dogma and discrepancies – the insanity – as it played out over the years.
I came on-board to this Board around the turn of this millennium because my dad used to scare me about sinning against the holy spirit (thus my user name), and so I figured: If I’ve already been condemned by unforgivable sin by “going too far” in the obsession of certain bizarre fantasies in my teens (it’s in my very first post), then I might was well be here – at JWDB. And the rest, as they say, “is history!”
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d
I had typed Jw's onto youtube and was first scared.Then I looked u Jehovah witness on yahoo and got this site as the first result I first lurked in 2009 into 2010 and finally got an account in November 2010. As I read people's stories I felt angry and ashamed and I also looked at Jw facts. Then in November of 2010 I created an account.Since than I have been reading all of your great stories.
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Ucantnome
I left without reading any other than Watchtower literature and i certainly would not have looked at sites like this one.
After I left I read Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom (i really enjoyed that one) The Gentile Times Revisited and Blood Transfusions. I have a some other books on Christianity and the Bible and have read others that i've borrowed, mostly about the Apostle Paul. Recently I was given The Spirit of Early Christian Thought. There is another one i wish to read on justification.
I only looked at this site because a Witness mentioned it. I was reading a book on baptism and commented.
I haven't been able to leave yet. I have found that it has helped me understand some things better about myself as a Witness because I've reread some of the literature and looked up other things that I don't own on other sites.
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Separation of Powers
It would be interesting to see what type of information is available in the old Gilead library or the library of the Writing Committee. I would imagine that anything that I have read might pale in comparison to some of what may exist there.
SOP