I was born into it. I left when I educated myself on the history of the WTS. When I opened my eyes and realized it was a cult, I disassociated myself.
Thank God for the internet!!!!!!!!
why did you leave?
by showme 31 Replies latest jw experiences
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gold_morning
Hi,
I am no longer involved because they worship the wrong Jesus. They claim salvation comes only from their organization. Without being a Jehovah's Witness you lose out on eternal life. That is the furtherst thing from the truth.
I came to learn that salvation only comes thru Jesus. I also learned that Jesus deserves deity. Something they do not give him. He is hardly ever mentioned. Yet colossians 2;9 says that in Christ all the fullness of Diety lives in bodily form.
Hebrews 1:6-8 Jehovah himself calls Jesus God and even tells angels to worship him.
Mostly true christians imitate Christ to the best of their ability. The theme of what Jesus taught is love. Without that we have nothing. Jesus love is unconditional. The love amongst a cult......any cult is VERY CONDITIONAL. You are only loved, accepted and saved by God only if you BELONG. Belong to whom........them!!!!!!!!!!!! Yet .......
Romans 14:8 says who we belong to..........."If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die we die to the Lord...So whether we live or die, we BELONG to the Lord.
Agape love, Gold morning
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Brymichmom
I wrote on my website, "Why I Left the Watchtower Organization".
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pincushion
I studied into the organization and couldn't beleive how wonderful and loving these people were. After I was baptized..I began to see the real truth, the backstabbing, the shunning and the handcuffs they had on their 'people'. I am not one who likes rules shoved down my throat..and everytime I tried being myself another rule was shoved at me. When I was sick and needed friendships the most, they had nothing to do with me. With friends like this who needed enemies. I too began to study a proper bible in depth and found a lot of contradictions..so it was so long cult..hello world.
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Ephanyminitas
Me? I was raised in the organization by two good, Witness parents. About a year and a half ago, I started having doubts. My rationale was, "If I don't examine what apostates have to say, then how can I truly say that I know the situation? How do I know that good, solid evidence against the Society or the Bible or God does not exist?"
So I research online. And that was that. While I didn't accept everything I read right away, it opened my mind and helped me to be able to process different viewpoints. This was also the same time that I started taking anti-depressant medication, so my mind was getting clearer too.
Now I'm a freethinker-cum-agnostic/atheist. ("Zuh?!") Well, I know I'm a freethinker. Everything else is questionable. There is no place among JWs for a freethinker. Not at all.
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Ephanyminitas
Thank God for the internet!!!!!!!!
As Rev. Timothy Lovejoy might say: "Ayuh-mennnuh to-uh thah-tuh."
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showme
Why is the destruction of Jeruselem date so important? and what was the Korah Drama from the 2001 conventions?
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Prisca
Showme,
The date is crucial to some of their doctrines, namely the significance of 1914 and the doctrine of the Governing Body being chosen by God.
The JWs say that 607BCE is the correct date - secular sources point to 587BCE.
The JWs count from 607BCE to 1914AD as being the period of "the Times of the Gentiles". They claim that around October 1914 came the end of these Gentile Times, and this marked the beginning of Jesus ascending to the throne as King of God's Kingdom.
They also claim that around this time God chose a group of men in Brooklyn to be "the Governing Body", in order to look after the world-wide witnessing and preaching that the JWs do. They claim that God is working through this "Governing Body" as his SOLE representatives on earth. When you consider the depth of what this means, you will understand why the 607 date is so crucial to the JWs.
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DanTheMan
what was the Korah Drama from the 2001 conventions?
The Watchtower is a narcissistic authority cult that tolerates no dissent or questioning by its followers. They have an elaborate system of using scriptures to "prove" that they are God's chosen channel of communication. In WT publications, they continually draw parallels between themselves and the ancient Bible prophets (Moses, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc.). They claim to be the modern-day equivalent of these persons (though if you check their list of predictions, this claim becomes laughable).
One of the WT's favorite ways to instill fear and guilt into its followers is to prattle on about the outcome of those who Rebelled Against Jerhover's Arrangement (tm). If you are familiar with the Old Testament, then you know about Korah, Nadab, and Abiram, the three rebels who turned against Moses, (Jerhover's "Annointed") and suffered dire consequences. This bible account is frequently referenced in WT publications, as a warning to those who would Rebel Against Jehovah's Modern Day Organization (tm).
At the 2001 district convention (the last one I attended), the drama performed was, you guessed it, the Korah Nadab and Abiram story. It was sooo heavy-handed, and sooo obviously designed to instill fear, it felt like cold water being splashed in my face. I took it as a veiled threat, and for some reason it made me angry instead of scaring me like it would have done in the past. It was, in many ways, the beginning of the end for me. I stopped attending meetings regularly after that DC, my last meeting was in January 2002. I cried as I drove home from that meeting, because I knew it was over.