THE DOG- Very nice to have you here my friend. As others mentioned it took a lot of courage to come here so a big commendation to you for doing so ! You are among similar folks here who had to exit the JW organization due to injustices, doubts, or various crisis of conscience issues. You are not alone. As you see here some still attend to maintain civil family relations in their immediate home in hopes that in time their mates or children may see the light about the WT organization as well. As one poster stated we will be here for you 24/7 as a support. Myself included.
I was born and raised in the JW organization from birth and I stopped attending 10 years ago at age 44. My father still is a long time elder since the 1950's and my older brother an ex-Bethel elder for 40 years. Most of my family is still inside the organization. I had doubts for years but finally I reached my breaking point as many here do in no longer being able to make excuses for the WT Society inconsistencies in teachings or practices. I'm here to say that freedom of mind is not as scary as it's been portrayed by the WT Society. Being controlled and not allowed to research with a clear, open mind is a much scarier option. To be told what you have to think is truly fear inspiring.
You mentioned that it's , " mainly doctrinal issues that are pushing me to question MY DEDICATION TO THE TRUTH. " I capitalized those words to suggest to you that quite possibly it IS your dedication to the truth ( the real truth ) that is propelling you into further research to see if what you have been taught is really the " truth " or not. So give yourself credit in a real way ! You are STILL dedicated to the truth - it's just that the version of " truth " you have been believing may be in question right now. But YOU as a person are O.K. - you are good in that you are still dedicated to finding truth- and that's a good thing, no matter where that journey takes you.
As you mentioned the definition of " generation " has changed so many times in the WT Society's history it's mind boggling. When I tried to share the dictionary definition of " generation " with an elder friend of mine several years back which showed a typical length of generation is about 25 - 30 years from birth to when we have our children at age 30 or so- my friend told me " Flipper that's the WORLDLY definition of generation you are giving me. It's a WORLDLY dictionary. " So I just moved on to a different subject with him.
Bottom line is the WT Society at times has been known to change definitions of words in order to fit their agendas at times. The American Heritage Dictionary of 2012 defines " generation " as : " 1. The people born and living about the same time , considered as a group. 2. The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring 3. All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor . " Just wanted to share this info with you as you mentioned the " generation " subject had been troubling you.
As some have stated, please be careful with how much you open up to fellow elders, your wife, or other JW's as they are trained to rat each other out if any doubts surface regarding the governing body or WT teachings. Just watch your back, be careful who you trust. We are here for you as unconditional friends no matter what stage you are at or no matter what you decide. It's nice to have you here, hang in there and take care. If you ever want to chat on the phone please PM me and I'd be glad to give you my phone number as well, O.K.? I know how lonely it can be when you are first doubting what you've been told. Peace out friend, Mr. Flipper
