Londo111 - "Of course, the dishonesty was a more serious issue and a deeper rabbit hole than merely a mistaken theology."
Like I keep sayin'...
...if you have to cheat to defend your beliefs, your beliefs don't deserve to be defended.
What was your eye opening moment?
by WasOnceBlind 75 Replies latest jw experiences
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Vidiot
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rrb2016
Raised in the "Truth" I moved out of the home at 18. Moved 1000 miles from Oregon to Los Angeles. My parents helped me move, and got me settled in an apartment, got me all set up, and of course found a Kingdumb Hall for me. As an 18-year old 1000 miles away, the last thing I wanted to do was go to the Hall. Although, I probably still believed it was the "Truth."
I had some neighbors that were moving out of my apartment building, and since I didn't have much stuff, they told me to look around and I could take any furniture, stuff they were not taking. Well, I found an old book, Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin. I flipped through it and found a section on JW's. Interestingly, it was the only section in the book that had been underlined. I starting reading it and couldn't believe what I had found.
That was it, I read about all the false prophecies, failed dates, 1874, 1914, 1925 - and I was 10 in 1975, so remember thinking the "end" was going to come before I could drive. LOL. Anyway, the failed dates, false prophecies and the scripture in Deuteronomy that describes a false prophet "if what they say does not come to pass...do not be afraid of them." That was the moment - and luckily I escaped baptism :-)
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Twitch
If you had to pinpoint the time or experience that finally made you open your eyes, what would it be?
I moved away from home at age 18 and was well on my way out the door mentally by then. My teens were a struggle to reconcile what I was taught/believed and what seemed rational to me and a more reasonable worldview. The problem of evil (and other more specific JW doctrines) caused considerable cognitive dissonance in me fledgling mind. One experience that blew the doors wide open was that I began dating a 24 yr old single mother who had a completely different but challenging life to that point. Despite hardships, she was a beautiful and caring person who never hurt a fly and although not religious, was searching for meaning. The kicker was that as good a person as she was, she and her infant son were essentially doomed at the soon to be released carnage of the Big A. This was a major confirmation that something wasn't right with the JW belief. Though her and I only lasted a few short but intense years, I'll never forget that experience and how it (and she) opened my eyes to many a wonderful and thoughtful thing. -
StrongHaiku
Twitch, your story absolutely resonated with me. I think part of the reason I "woke up" is because I started living, associating, and loving some wonderful people the JWs would have categorized as "bird food". I would rather throw in my lot with many of the people I have had the privilege to know and love in the "world".
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Twitch
I would rather throw in my lot with many of the people I have had the privilege to know and love in the "world".
StrongHaiku,
Yes, I came to that crossroads at the time and made the same decision. I regret nothing
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Elgiard
In the late 90s/early 2000s we had a special meeting to vote on building a new Hall, because the PO came from a richer congregation and was apparently embarrassed by our humble Hall. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just plain and simple. No one voted to build a new Hall. I mean literally no one, it was unanimous. So the next week we had another special meeting to vote to build a new Hall wherein the PO informed us that Jehovah wanted us to build a new Hall and if we voted no this time we were working against Him. I was like WTF, seriously? So all but about five or six voted to build a new hall.
We few who were still against arranged a meeting with the elders to discuss what BS this whole thing was. The meeting was cut short by a bit of theatrics when the PO's toadie burst into literal tears to shut us up. After that I did some poking around, realized that the United Nations thing was irredeemably hypocritical, and I've been out ever since,