From 1 to 10, how do you rate the value of the Internet in your awakening? (page 6)

Suraj Khan

Zero, like some of the other pre-Internet people out there.

My BS meter pinged every single time I was with a brother or sister. Mostly the brothers, though. Plastic smiles and forced happiness. Bible studies where nothing was questioned and nothing made sense. Being chastized for even thinking about going to college. My turning point was the blood doctrine. Reading celebratory accounts of Brother and Sister X losing a child because they withheld a blood transfusion utterly disgusted me. I realized that if I had a child, and that child needed blood to survive, I'd be in the next room rolling up my sleeve before you could say "Armageddon".

The Internet has been invaluable as my wife and children have no idea what I went through as a Witness. I've enjoyed (virtually) meeting several of you as you 'get' a part of me no one else in my current life does. I'm glad my family doesn't know even half of what I was like back then.

Simon

It's strange, I got involved with web developmet fairly eary one (Mosaic + Compuserve days) but never thought to Google erm, I mean, AltaVista or Lycos the WTS. I don't know if they even had a website back then.

The first things that made me question weren't online but once I did start questioning things I found FreeMinds and WatchTowerObserver and bought some print books to read more about the WTS - Franz's books and some others.

I can't imagine how anyone can remain blind to the WTS reality now the internet is available. I know they hammered the "internet is evil" message pretty hard but heck, it's the internet - you can look things up from your own home and no one will ever know.

So for me it was probably a 7 or 8, not the initial trigger but definitely valuable and it's been 9 or 10 in how it's helped us to come to terms with leaving and realize we weren't alone.

Max Divergent

I started down the road out through disatisfaction with the JW life and the actions of elders about 1994 or 1995: that was nothng to do with the internet which I hadn't used then.

When I gathered up enough unhappiness, I wanted to find out about 'that book' written by 'Fred Franz relative'. That was around 1996 or 1997 just as the internet was becoming popular and accessible and useful. I found Crisis in a libary after getting the title etc via the internet (as I recall). After a few pages I knew I couldn't stay a JW. Then I found H2O, and I was really going out of the JWs fast. I remember my heart racing doing all that for the first time!

So, the internet didn't start the slide, but it heped push me along the slope to getting out.

5 for getting out.

10 for being the right tool at the right time for everything JW related since then.

Island Man

10

done4good

Awakening is a process. It usually begins long before we are consciously aware of it, and ends quite some time after. I probably began to wake up unwittingly about 10 or 11 years before I left, however, as most experiencing cognitive dissonance, would have never had the self-honesty to admit it.

I left before I did any research on the internet. My own experiences by then made staying in mentally impossible. I was comfortable with that decision at the time, but soon discovered I needed answers, as the questions began to surface and the need to make sense of it all became the next important step. I had no idea just how misguided I was. The internet was very significant, (a big shout out to the late Timothy Campbell !), in allowing me to both develop the proper premises to base questions on, and getting those questions answered.

December 25, 2005 was my last meeting. I have been not been to a KH since. 9 years later, there are still things from time to time that are necessary to sort out that sites such as this are helpful with, although more in a cathartic way than actually assisting in "awakening", (such as writing this). I would like to think I am beyond that by now.

Overall, the significance of the internet is about an 8. I would have left anyway, (and did), however the internet allowed myself to be exposed to a far richer life experience since leaving than I would have had otherwise. It convinced me to pursue things I always wanted, (like do a lot of reading about all kinds of subjects, go back to school for my Master's, etc.).

d4g

Magnum

8? There were always things that didn't make sense, but as time progressed, I saw more and more that didn't feel right. I think the 1995 "generation" change was the beginning of the end for me, and I think I would have left without the internet, but the internet made it far easier for me to leave and really sped up my leaving. It confirmed suspicions I already had and is and has been an invaluable resource.

Things I already knew/suspected without the internet: (1) Teachings are wrong or don't make sense. (2) Org loves money. (3) Org hides/re-writes its history. (4) JWs idolize Bethel, the org, various org personnel. (5) Org has history of false prophecy. (6) Ministry is ineffective. (7) Writing in literature is poor (bad grammar, faulty logic, bad substance, etc.). (8) Meetings are boring, low-quality, waste of time. (9) Org is deceptive and hypocritical. (10) many (most?) individual JWs are ignorant and lacking in intelligence. (11) Individual JWs and the org are smug and over-confident and self-righteous. (12) NWT is deceptive, un-scholarly, and poorly translated; has grammatical errors. (13) 1995 "generation" change was a guess that was forced by circumstances and the org really has no clue. (14) Disaster relief is a huge money-maker for the org and has nothing to do with helping others. (15) Hours & lit placements reported by the org every year are full of fluff. (16) There are no open, honest conversations or discussions with JWs; they want to control the talk. They want to show others where they are wrong, but don't want to consider the possibility that they could be wrong. They're closed-minded and unreasonable. (17) JWs are clueless and ignorant as to their own history, yet they want to point out to others the bad in the histories of their religions. (18) etc.

looter

10 to get out about 6 after

Terry

Zero.

There WAS NO INTERNET when I was clawing my way out!

What took me 40 years now only takes a few months!

Little by little I shed indoctrination. Pixel by pixel.

Did you know there is nothing more insane than being PARTLY indoctrinated and partly free?

The level of cognitive dissonance is ridiculous!

Transitioning all at once is much healthier than dragging it out over many years. Trust me.

NotNew

The Internet let me confirm everything so a 10 would be in order...however I was at an 8 before I could. I would say they were wrong but they were still gods chosen religion...but reading captives by don Cameron paved the way.

SW

From 1 to 10, how do you rate the value of the Internet in your awakening?

LogCon