Thoughts?
What does freedom from The Watchtower look like in the life of a former JW?
by JustMeNonJDub 27 Replies latest jw friends
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Over%forme
It feels Great!
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flipper
Freedom from the WT Society is a beautiful thing. You gain freedom of mind. You are able to think, feel, and reason for yourself with your own mind- you are NOT allowed to do that inside the Jehovah's Witness organization controlled by the WT Society. Your views HAVE to be the WT Society's views- no other views are allowed. Having been born in the JW cult and exiting 10 years ago at age 44 finally- I can attest to the fullness of happiness I've experienced in being able to pursue hobbies, dreams, and pursuits that we had no time for while we were JW's because the WT Society kept every JW so busy- you barely had time to eat, drink, or use the toilet. Because you either worked at your job, went to meetings, or slept- that was my life inside the cult anyway. Now I enjoy life and take time to smell the roses along the way. So kinda my take on it
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NVR2L8
Have you ever had a friend who knows everything, who's always right, who will never accept advice, who'll have things his way or it's the highway, who accepts your generosity but never returns the favor, who robs you of time you should spend with your family, who gives you bad advice on education, career and planning for the future? One day you reach the breaking point and you tell him to f@$k off. That's how I feel about leaving the JWs. Unfortunately my buddy has poisoned the mind of many of my other friends and family and I am the one who is in the wrong! Still getting rid of him is such a relief.
Edit; just read Mr. Flipper's comment and I feel exactly the same way.
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Junebuggie
It is freedom to read the Bible, any Bible you want. It is freedom to do research on the internet . It is freedom to use your "free will". It is freedom in
Jesus ' (if you still believe) Freedom to pursue a college degree, get married, have children , on & on... without feeling "guilty" about such
priviliges of life.(sp) The freedom to just live and enjoy life outside the prison.
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sspo
You can finally stop beleiving things that don't make any sense such as most of the doctrines of the watchtower.
As long as you are in and have doubts you have to keep your mouth shut for fear of DF, cannot talk to your mate or your best friend, they will turn you in...what kind of life is that?
Life outside is sweet and finally free.
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cha ching
NVR2L8: Great illustration, i think we all can relate to....
You 2 Flipper: ... except we DID have time for RBC work, now, didn't we? :-)
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NVR2L8
Cha Ching the time and expertise I devoted to the RBC is used at home now. I was always concerned that any money invested in improving my home would be perceived as "materialism" especially when all may be taken away during the persecutions...so why make our houses look overly nice.
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flipper
This is a great thread which needs to be bumped up and thoughts added to so people can see how life gets better outside the JW cult. Any comments I'm sure this poster will welcome ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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smiddy
When I became a jehovahs witness in 1960 , I didnt realise I was giving my life over to a few men in brooklyn who would control my life for the next 33 years. I thought I was dedicating my life to serve a God whom I came to beleive was named jehovah. I never knew the control they had over you.
At that time their were 5 meetings a week The Watcchtower Study , The Public Talk ,The Mid Week Book Study , The Service meeting and The Kingdom Ministry School.Fair enough a couple of those meetings were back to back.Each of those meetings then, were about an hour long.And you were required to prepare for each of those meetings which could take another few hours especially if you had an assignment to do.
And lets not forget the questions and answers are already provided for you to mark , no thinking ability needed there.
Then their was field service which the average publisher was required to get 10 hours per month , for working people it was mainly done on week-ends ,and in my case was recomended alternate saturdays and sundays 2.5 hours each. This was a minimum requirement mind you .
Of course you couldnt go door to door without being prepared, so you had to spend more time in preperation for the field service.
Oh, and lets not us forget family study nights , where you spent another couple of hours preparing and conducting the study.
Where in the world did we have time to live the life that we were supposed to live .
We were brainwashed without our ever realising it , and sadly many of us did the same to our children and our relatives.
I am one of the lucky ones , for one reason or another most of my family are no longer JW`s out of about 8 only 1 niece is still active and she shuns the rest of us . But who knows whats down the track.
So finally answering the question ? Freedom, to live the life that you want , not being manipulated by people with an agenda to control you.
If you honestly beleive in a" God ,"why do you think you need to be told by an imperfect human of what God wants of you.
If you honestly beleive in a GOD who gave you a brain then why dont you use it to think critically of what you are being told .
smiddy