Thanks for the experiences guys!!!!
How did your family react when you made it known that you did not want to be a JW anymore?
by Yondaime 53 Replies latest jw experiences
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troubled mind
I never made any huge announcement ,just stopped attending . It took awhile ,but uber sister in law,and Elder Brother in law completely shun us in .We have never been asked by them why we stopped attending . I imagine they have heard juicy gossip,and have made their decisions based on that .
Mother in law asked me early on if we had stopped attending (they live far away from us) She was upset when I told her we had stopped ...she wanted details such as ' had someone stumbled us' ....at that time I just told her I wanted to be happy and I wasn't going to allow the opinons of some group of men to dictate how I lived my life any longer.I then told her the rest was personal and not up to discussion . She and Elder step Father see us once a year ,and will answer my phone calls ,but they no longer initiate any contact on their own .
My Witness sister doesn't shun me because she depends on me for care occasionaly,and just asks that I don't talk to her about her beliefs .That is all she has to hold on to, and doesn't want the illusion to end .I can respect that even though I don't agree.
My Witness brother and his family cut us off once they noticed we were no longer attending .I had a phone call this spring from him after 4 yrs of complete silence . He said he wanted to touch base ,then talked 10 minutes about himself (yay he is sober now)....he ended the call by reminding me he could not have a personal relationship with me or my disassociated older Brother . I will be using caller ID next time .
Neices and Nephews are a mixed bag sometimes they will wave and say Hi in public other times they shun .Who knows ,but we always smile and acknowledge them .
It did surprise me how no one realy wants to know why we left all they know is that we did. For the first couple of yrs they all thought I was evil and had tricked my husband to leave too . Once he started decorating for holidays they have had to accept he can think on his own .
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cultBgone
Seems to be a common thread that NO ONE really cares why anyone leaves. The leaving is just proof that you have come under satan's spell or that you are weak and have been Stumbled™.
Sad that we acted this way ourselves, once upon a time....
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sowhatnow
Im still in the slow fade process,
to be contiued.
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StarTrekAngel
Funny.. with all due respect to your family, if my sister said something like that and asked me to refrain from talking down her illusion, I would ask her why she does not extend the same benefit to people on the field.
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JeffT
Since none of my family is JW, they were ecsatatic when I left.
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Giordano
To be honest there were times over the next 35 years or so that I wished they had shunned me. It was just about impossible to have a normal visit where we could talk freely about the few things we did have in common.......... so invasive was the JW dogma. It was like an infection. On the day we left for our trip home it would take hours to talk through the toxins we had absorbed.
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bigmac
so--after a few years ( and 2 more kids ) i managed to provide my wife with " scriptural grounds "-{ barf }---and she divorced me as fast as she could.
over the next few years --she poisoned my kids against me--as many fathers reading this will identify with. i use that word poison as a direct quote from a jw lady who knew my family well.
i married again and had 24 years together.
in recent years--my older son got d/f--i found him through facebook--and we now have a good relationship. in fact--for the first time---i'm spending christmas with him and his lovely new wife--who is now expecting. as you can imagine--i'm thrilled with the idea i will be able to develope a relationship with a grand hild---a first experience for me--ive been denied contact with the first 7.
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Phizzy
have a great Christmas BigMac !
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bigmac
thanx Phizz--xmas starts next sat--at the portsmouth xmas lunch. i just wish you would join us.