What are the feelings/thoughts within 24-48 hours of exposure to an undeniably true (for you) TATT?

by NeverKnew 39 Replies latest watchtower medical

• 

  Angus Beef

  Now, I wish I had done as much research going into this BS. I'm doing more research now as I'm trying to get out!!!! I was on overload when I had my moment of realizing this was not the truth. I knew I was among idiots but didn't realize how deep or how far up the ladder it went. I feel so stupid for dragging my children through this, and turning my back on non Jw family and true friends. Did I ever have a close friend in the hall, no. Just a handful that would only call if they needed something. Now after waking up, I've realize how many really really used us. My first husband of 21 years left because he couldnt handle the pressure from his family. I ruined xmas and all the holidays for them. He had an affair with someone who let him cry on her shoulder. I remarried to a Jw, but he's my soul mate. And is on his way out too. He is getting his ah ha moments now.

  When asked what I'm reading online, by hubby or daughter, I reply "my daily dose of apostate" and smile.
• 

  joe134cd

  I must admit it took me about 40 years to realise that things wernt as they appeared. During my dubbie years I had personally encounted two acts of outright apostasy, but just dismissed it as bitter people. I have heard it said that out right apostasy is never effective. It usually a series of evnets that draws one into it, and I think this was the case with me. My first recollection of when I turned this way, was with a conversation I had with a guy at work. He was a born again Christian, and he was lamenting the fact that so many in his church were divorcing. I proudly said the witness do not have this problem. He replied by "I think you will be surprised".

  So later that night I went home googled Christianity and divorce, with the idea of just trying to confirm what he said was correct. Sure enough he was right. Then I started reading things like " conservative Christian sects tend to have the highest divorce rate of all". I thought OMG I wounder if the dubbies fit into this group.

  so over the next couple of weeks I researched more - but at this point not going to apostate sites. Looking at religion as a whole. Looked at the society publications and got no concert answers. So then I thought well there is only knew way I'm going to find out so I googled " divorce jehovahs witnesses". Up came JW facts discussing it. Although I was relived to find and answer, I was somewhat unsurprised by it. From there things just exploded.
• 

  cha ching

  607 burst the bubble, but when I read the reasoning in the Finished mystery book (Page 230)

  The Finished Mystery, page 230 (While explaining the meaning/ interpretation/ “expectation” re: what the “winepress” in Rev 14:20 meant) “By the space of a thousand and {six} TWO hundred furlongs – This can not be interpreted to refer to the 2100 mile battle line of the world war. A furlong, or stadium, is not a mile and this is without the city whereas the battle line is within the city. See Rotherham’s translation. A stadium is 606 ¾ English ft.; 1200 stadii are …….. mi., 137.9 The mileage from the Scranton to Hoboken Terminal is shown in time tables as 143.8 and this is the mileage charged to passengers, but in 1911, at an expense of $12,000,000 the Lackawanna Railroad completed it’s famous cut-off, saving 11 miles of the distance. From the day the cut-off was completed, the trainmen have been allowed 11 miles less than the time table shows, or a net distance of ….. 132.8 Hoboken Ferry to Barclay StreetFerry, New York is ………..….2.0 Barclay Street Ferry to Fulton Ferry, NY is 4,800 feet or…... 0.9 Fulton Ferry, NY to Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, is 2,000 feet …..0.4 Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn to Bethel is 1,485 feet or, ……………....0.3 Shortest distance where the winepress was trodden by the Feet Members of the Lord, Whose guidance and help alone made this volume possible (John 6:60, 61; Matt 20:11) … . Miles…. 137.9”

  I just started crying and crying and crying.

  I saw how "they"... those honest, upright, trustworthy, examples of Christian uprightness so easily, without conscience had been twisting, convolutingly using numbers to any end that they might need.... over and over throughout history..

  I just cried.
• 

  NeverKnew

  Neverknew: What question did you ask your friend?

  After months of my presenting historical WTS inconsistencies (that probably felt more like "gotcha's"), I'm now noticing very measured responses that are, most likely, heavily researched. I've been presenting very innocuous information that has nothing to do with WT doctrine just to re-start communication.

  Broadly, I have been talking about the necessity of understanding, not only the scriptural Mitzvot found in the Old Testament, but the significance of learning about the Judaic lifestyle under Mosaic Law. I believe you can more fully appreciate the New Testament with this foundational knowlege. The evening prior, I had sent an e-mail about Mosaic law with respect to how the primary accusor of an offense where the punishment was stoning was required to throw the first stone. In John 8, the Pharisees dragged a woman into the temple and made an accusation of adultery. In verse 7, Christ challenged the one without sin to throw the first stone. I was attempting to demonstrate the opportunity for a deeper connection to the message with a broader understanding of Jewish culture in that era.

  After his "research" (which wasn't necessary - it was just supposed to be observational) he concluded that he was unable to make a comment on my observations of that scriptural passage because the Watchtower had deemed the passage "spurious." I wanted to ask if the WT was suggesting that the Bible was fallible but given his disoriented behavior, I felt it'd be too much.
• 

  Fernando

  Shocked, and more...
• 

  abbagail

  First, it wasn't the erroneous WT theology that bothered me or that cracked open a space for the TTATT to get in. It was finally getting up the nerve to click on a Silentlambs Ad I had seen online about a year before (didn't click on it then, was too chicken). But this time I did (November 2001). It had a big bad wolf face in the ad & little girl's pink shoes. It didn't even say "Silentlambs" I don't think, only something like "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing." Of course I "wolfed down" tons of the WT-pedophile info right away & proceeded to cry for two months straight ABOUT THAT > > pedophiles! (About 9 years earlier I had seen the Daily Jail Docket in the local newspaper & a couple who had been JW friends when I was still "In" [I was DF'd], the hubbie had been arrested for molesting a minor! I had cried about that, too... but a decade later would print out from the Sex Offender Registry his MUG SHOT & took it to the first ever Silentlambs March on the WT on Sept. 27, 2002, & plastered it on the chain-link-fence across from WT-HQ along with all the stuffed lambs that we stuck in that fence, lol! What a great day that was!)

  So now (Nov. 2001 forward) learning about the massive 23,000+ "Pedophile Paradise" at Silentlambs & here at f/k/a-JWD where Bill Bowen used to post a lot made it easy to go on to read all the errors of WT theology in the months thereafter. So it didn't bother me one bit about THAT part as I KNEW God was real, KNEW Jesus was real, & I KNEW the Bible was real, so I just said to myself, "Well, if WT was wrong about this or that, then JUST KEEP SEARCHING." It was fascinating actually to finally SEE all the errors!

  Another great timing/discovery circa November 2001 was stumbling upon a long essay at Channel-C by, I think his name was McCracken. The title was simply, "THE WATCHTOWER & THE ILLUMINATI"! I was like, OH DEAR GOD! There's THAT WORD! THAT WORD that I had heard back in the early 1980's from a JW chiropractor but never could remember HOW to pronounce it for two decades! All I remembered was that it had a lot of I's & a lot of L's in it. And now here was THAT WORD in my face, ILLUMINATI, & it was CONNECTED *TO* the WT!, LOL! Absolutely fascinating & it was all unfolding at the SAME time.

  Lastly, the WT-UN exposure was going on at the very same timeframe as the Silentlambs revelations. It was a GREAT TIME to "wake up" to TTATT! It was all Perfect Timing for me personally. Thank you Jesus! Didn't miss a beat where He was concerned, & have learned so many beautiful Scriptural things since -- all Totally FREE from any "WT Bondage Requirements" (mental or physical)! :D

  So JUMP IN people, have no fear! It's all good -- especially if you were REALLY SAVED & not just a "Watchtower Religion Pew Sitter" by habit or force (parents, etc.). There IS a difference. The Lord Jesus Christ will guide you right through it & clear out the other side of WT-ism. Don't dump on Him just because WT is a screwball religion!

  ~~~

  As a somewhat related side note to "Waking Up to TTATT": I saw this summary yesterday, beautiful! Christians will love it & can relate to actually knowing Jesus for the first time & how He DOES act in your life if you invite Him to do so. A former heavy-duty Mormon lady gives her testimony of "waking up" to Mormonism after her son, one of those Mormon missionaries, read the Bible, saw that it was NOT what Mormonism taught, started preaching to his fellow Mormon missionaries so they kicked him out of the missionary work. This was humiliating news for the parents who were big wig stalwart Mormons. But the mother finally started reading the Bible for herself, at the insistence of her son, & got totally saved! Beautiful story. If you love Christian testimonies, you will love it: http://atrueott.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/great-ex-mormon-testimony-and-witness/
• 

  tiki

  it dawned on me very slowly - but my first inkling, i remember driving to work, going down the road past a cemetery....and thinking, pondering...and thinking how very meaningless it all is. i was thinking about the part in the bible where the roman says to leave them be - either they're right and you'll be fighting against something impossible to conquer or else they'll fizzle....then paul who at one point said something to the effect of how if wrong, how utterly ridiculous. my cognitive dissonance was in full bloom, but i didn't realize what it was at that point.

  when we finally let go - i felt such an amazing sense of relief and freedom - like the hugest weight had been lifted from me.
• 

  dog is god

  My shake up started years before the Internet was available. The sister I studied with as a kid and later became best friends with was family friends with the most respected knowledgable brother. I was in my twenties when I noticed undeniable signs they were having an affair. I lived by her and he would stop over after h kids left for school and he would go in and she would type up the school schedule. Sometimes the curtains would be closed and he would leave 15 minutes b4 the kids would come home. That was just the tip of the iceberg. Many other things happened. This went on for years and I really didn't want to believe it because I really respected and loved them both. Finally it was broken up and she was really pissed and heartbroken and began to hate him as much as she did his wife. then herndaughte was screwing a boy my husband was studying with and the shit hit the fan and she hated me as much as she hated that brother. There was a lot of screwing around and "practices unbefitting a Christian" swarming around and I thought "am i the only one believing this crap around here" Honestly they we way worse than the worldly people I worked with. Then my husband got caught in some homosexual activity and the elders tried to turn it on me so I said adios. I was stuck in anger and still believing the hocus pocus for years knowing I was going to be destroyed. those roots run deep. finally, the Internet was at hme and I could research at ease and I was FURIOUS at my stupidity for following those self serving pricks. all the time my mom was always at me to come back. It was difficult and heartbreaking at times. Was I damaged? Oh yeah but life gets better. Now I have no interest in what no sence they spew. My mom passed....I think she was very dissapointed in h congregation. Apparently they missed the part about widows and orphans. She still believed in God. I hate that that bunko org stole her joy of life and our families as well but it's all done now. I feel sorry for those still in. I miss having a frame of refaced of those I grew up with. Id rather be me than them. I feel indiferencentowards the sham of a religion just like any other patriarchal crap. I drop in here every once in a while to reaffirm how great it is on the outside a and I feel deep affection for all of you here and your comments.
• 

  kaik

  TATT have not affected me. I have walked away without reading any publications or to be influenced by apostate web sites or individuals. I think the real issue for me 20 years ago was either the Book of Revelation or the changed overlapping generations. I could not belive how spriritually active, dedicated people would accept this sh!t without hesistation. When we studied in Revelation about various assemblies in 1920's somewhere overseas in Ohio that represents the trumphets and bowls of Relevation; I thought, really? Are you serious? And I looked around and everyone ate that sh!t. It was eye opener as I could not get mentally into accepting all these nonesense. At that moment I knew that there [WT] was no truth.Additionally, my grandparents where the generation born at turn of the 20th century, and lived through much entire 20th century. While they were not in JW, my elder who new my family told me that these are witness of the 1914. My grandmother pased in the 1990's at age 94 years, and she told me that she never had better life at the end of her years with family, stable pension, and relative good living standard. All my grandparents passed away between age 88 to 94; and armageddon did not happened. So, I am no more preocupied with my death in armageddon.

  TATT, this sites, and CoC did nothing for me, not suprised me. I knew that Borg is man made organization with goal to distibute literature and recruit members for their truth.
• 

  villagegirl

  Very interesting comments. I had the floating experience described here.

  I was praying and I said " excuse me Jehovah, but if won't offend you, I would

  like to speak directly to Jesus the Christ " It may sound corny to some of you,

  but I was praying very seriously and for a long time. I had cancer at the time,

  and I was told I only had a 20% chance of survival, so I had been trying to really

  look over my life and what I believed and if it was true. When I made this prayer

  I was overwhelmed, and felt lifted up and the veil in my mind fell away and it all

  came crashing down and I realized I had been wrong all those years. I just started

  to think of my daughter and what I had put her through, and I kept saying "Oh no."

  "Oh,no" It all fell away. I realized I had been kept separate from Christ and that

  there was one body of Christ and it was simple and clear and it was like the in the

  hym Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.... I once was lost, but now am found,

  was blind,but now I see..... How precious did that Grace appear the moment I first

  believed. I did continue to do research, read Crisis of Conscience, and go to a theological

  library and obtain and read Russells works of madness and pyramids.