First post (page 2)

thedog1

I must say that it is mainly doctrinal issues that are pushing me to question my dedication to the truth. I love the brothers and sisters and in the part of the world I live in they are genuinely warm and loving. Of course, I have also met and continue to meet individuals in my line of work that are not Witnesses who are good people, loving , friendly and full of life. Mostly, my wife and I associate with the local bros and sis but we sometimes have opportunities to meet others, and we have many relatives who are non Witnesses who we enjoy spending time with. So we recognise that people outside the cong are not 'evil.'

KateWild

thedog1,

Welcome and thank you so much for finally posting. You bring tears to my eyes with such a lovely post. It's obvious you are a genuine caring elder, do you have a close friend you can speak to in your hall or circuit that you know you can trust.

You say you are in a conservative area, I visited a congregation in London, full of bethelites, and bethelites on the BOE. But the CoBE, is so layed back and loveable. He is a truly wonderful man. Is your cong more conservative that that? Or is that you on your BOE?

You need to have a plan and take control. You need to think about whether or not you can stay in and keep your mouth shut or you need to have an exit plan. I don't think you need to worry about how to take the WT study. It's clearly convoluted, and everyone will answer as they do. Sister pioneer, blah blah blah, reference here and there, that no one in the cong even listens to. Then you have all the kids. Then you have Bro Show off who always get a laugh.

Thank you for joining us here. Welcome Love Kate xx

Open mind

Welcome to JWN thedog1!

You said: "I don't know how I could explain it to others, and when I have to conduct he upcoming study clarifying the 'this generation' teaching, again, what will I do?"

Here's a couple of options for conducting the WT study:

1. Call in sick. If the content of what is in the upcoming WT is so repulsive to you that you can't bear to conduct it, don't. You can only use this card selectively in the months ahead though.

2. If you can stomach going through with the conducting, just conduct the WT study in a fairly lackluster manner. If you're following the Branch guidelines for WT conductors, you're not supposed to be saying very much anyway. Just let your local fellow elders do the unpleasant task of parroting the latest "new light".

As far as explaining it to fellow JWs in a one-on-one setting, how does this sound?

Over the last several decades the maximum length of "this generation" has gradually increased. "Generation", as defined by the F&D Slave was at one time a little less than a human life span. (At least some Armageddon survivors had to be alive and old enough in 1914 to understand the import of world events.) Then it grew a bit longer to an entire human life span. (Some Armageddon survivors just had to be ALIVE in 1914. ) With this latest understanding from the F&D Slave (make sure to throw in lots of F&DS references) "generation" now has grown to longer than a single, very-long, human lifespan. It's one of those deeper Bible truths so I don't think I would recommend trying to explain it to a brand new Return Visit unless they brought it up.

Best of luck on the road ahead.

om

clarity

thedog1... Lovely 1st post ...I just missed you while

updateing the Newbie List! You'll see it ...

>

So many new people leaving the cults now ...

waking up. Most feeling very apprehensive or

just plain freakin scared! lol We do understand.

>

I was impressed with accuracy of Leaving_Quietly's

sequence of emotions & thoughts etc. Well said.

>

This journey, as so many have said, is like being on a

rollercoaster .... including the nausea.

>

One small step ...and then another ....slowly,

there is no hurry now.

clarity

thedog1

None of my family are in. My sister was but faded many years ago. She always told me she was a 'crap' Jehovahs Witness and what did not make it easy for her was that her hubby never had an interest. He was 'gone fishin'. All my siblings never listened. My better half's family are a mixed bunch. Her sister is in the truth but had a very bad experence ten years ago when her husband was df unjustly for something he never did. He was reinstated a year later and told he 'should never have been df' but the scars remain. They have somehow managed to stay in their cong. My wife's bro was df also and never came back. Her other bro never took to the truth. See, I am calling it 'the truth.' Why wouldn't I, I've been in there very deep for a long time. When I doubt, I get very anxious, when I push the doubts to the back of my mind, I calm down again. I suppose this is the cognitive dissonance going on.

leaving_quietly

I must say that it is mainly doctrinal issues that are pushing me to question my dedication to the truth

I assume you mean the JW version of the truth. Which is not THE truth. Read John 14:6. The truth is not a what, it's a who. Also, John 8:31, 36.

So we recognise that people outside the cong are not 'evil.'

That's a good thing. After all, 2 Pet 3:10.

cofty

Hi TheDog1. Welcome to JWN, it must have taken a lot of courage to make your first post.

It's difficult to offer advice since everybody's situation is different.

Be very careful. Even your closest friends and family will imagine they are doing you a favour by reporting you for any negative thing you say.

I know an elder who was allowed to resign simply by explaining that he was struggling with a few doubts and didn't feel he could teach others in good conscience. He later was allowed to fade as long as he kept his doubts to himself. Having said that, it was 18 years ago - different times.

Personally I decided I could not stay in the Watchtower and having 2 young children and a wife who had lost interest in the WT it was easy to go out in a blaze of glory.

I wish you well. It's exhilarating and and terrifying in equal measure.

Once you take the red pill there is no way back.

Bill

jgnat

How about using words like, "complicated", "deep".

I'm a non-JW married to a Witness. You are right not to frighten your wife. When you are ready, you may want to undertake a project to encourage your wife to think more independently. I recommend Steve Hassan's books to distinguish the cult personality from the authentic one...before you ever get started.

braincleaned

I am wholeheartidly with you thedog1. I know the courage it takes to post here for the first time.
I had so many questions... so many. I just wanted to encourage you to face these questions, and find answers that will ease your want for truth.
For my sake, I am now an atheist — so I will let others help you, as they will be more fit to give you good advice.

Hang in there. You have just scratched the surface of the incredible amount of lies and control we have all been victim to.

thedog1

Just curious, Kate Wilde, are you still attending meetings? It seems like you are from your comments.

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