Happyout sums it up well. We thought we were doing what was right. There was the fear of bucking the tide of the borg and loosing a well nourished support system. It is better to stop being victims of the borg and slip away or run away or whatever. Just get out if its not right for you. Start the process. Put your house in order. Make a plan. Follow through. I was a teenage recruit and spent 20 years serving the borg's agenda. My wife was raised in it. We are done with the whole thing now except for the dreaded round up coming the first of the year. So far our Christmas decorations and flag waving has kept the cube at bay. We are active in a nice little church, registered voters, celebrating the holidays and birthdays. Yes, life goes on no matter what the borg says. We are more relaxed and productive. We are concentrating on more important things than trying to save the world for a publishing corporation on a donation basis! Yes, its hard to leave, but get started on your exit plan if that is what you want.
Why JWs have a hard time leaving the organization
by Elsewhere 17 Replies latest jw friends
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onacruse
Man is cold, but happy
He builds house, now warm, and very happy
House has some problems, man fixes house, still warm and happy
And fixes house some more, man still warm but not so happy
And fixes house some more, man sorta warm but really unhappy
Man spends all his time fixing house, totally unhappy, but not wanting to be cold
One day, man steps out of house, burns it down
Man is cold, but happy
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Elsewhere
Burn baby buuuuuuuurn!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA <------- ( Insane laugh )
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joannadandy
Elsewhere I agree with you 100%
My parents feel honored if they hear "Jehovahs Witnesses" mentioned in the news in a favorable light. As if it were their name in the story. And they get all riled up if they hear a joke on Letterman mocking Jehovahs Witnesses, to which they generally reply "That's not funny!" As if their best friend had been slammed.
I don't think this exclusive to JW's. It's like if your small town gets mentioned on the prime time news. You get excited if it's covering the Lutafisk festival, and angry if show your tiny town in an unfavorable light. (At least that was my experince growing up in a small town)
I find it encourgaing what you said about making it "Ok to have problems with the religion". However I wish it were that simple.
I have had conversations with my Dad, and I think if there were any hope of getting my parents out it would start with him, and little questions he has in the back of his mind. However, their story is a bit unique. I had another sister. Between me and my older sister. She was 6 and died of a brainstem tumor. I never knew here she passed away years before I was born. They were brand new to the witnesses when she became very ill. My parents often talk about the love shown them during their time of crisis by the witnesses. And I honestly believe the resurrection has become such a large part of their dealing with the grief in the loss of my sister, that will never leave because of this one doctrine of hope.
Only in recent years have I come to feel like resurrection is a load of hooey, but then I look at my parents, thirty years later they actively mourn my sister. Who can blame them. Their young daughter was taken from them by a wasting and ravaging disease. It doesn't make sense, and it's not fair. My personal feeling is, who the hell am I, to take that hope that they will see her again, away from them? What if that one doctrine is what kept their marriage together during the dark years after her death, what if that's the one thing that keeps my mom from killing herself, what if that's the one thing that keeps them both moderately sane, because they believe. How can I take that from them? And even if I attempted to break them of this doctrine, and speak my mind, I think the rift it would cause in our relationship would be un-repairable, because I honestly think they will NEVER let it go.
And I dunno what to do. And technically I feel all religion is a load of crap, and I don't actively try to discourage my other family members from attending mass, so how are JW's any different from Catholics? Why is it ok for those family members to practice their faith, a faith they hold less ardantly, than for my parents to practice theirs?
And so I sit on my hands and say nothing.
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justhuman
Most of it is the fear that loosing your family and friends. This is what keeps many JW's inside the Org dispite if what they beleive regarding the Org.
Better to stay in a system that is Cultish rather tahn seeking out the truth and live a normal life
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RandomTask
Lutafisk festival
What the hell?
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Debz
justhuman Most of it is the fear that loosing your family and friends. THATS IT.......NO doubt in my mind!!!
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LyinEyes
Very good point Eleswhere. I agree, in my case my religion was who I was also. It was my stronghold , or so I thought , that I could always count on being there for me when everything eles fell apart. Even thou I never felt good enough for it, it was my life. That in turn fed my insecurities about myself, I depended on my religion more than myself.
Plus, after all the years I put in being a JW, I fought hard to not make those sacrifies in vain.
I stood up for the blood issue with my mother, went thru Doctors calling me at night begging to give her blood, and no one would have to know. It was hard to tell them no and knowing that my mom could die because of me, I was only 16 yrs old at that time. Talk about guilt , they even told us to say our goodbyes 3 times. We moved her to Houston, Tx, and she made a long slow recovery from that.
Then I faced it again with all 3 of my kids. I was willing to sacrifice my childrens life, mine was no big deal to me, but to say in your heart you will let your kids die for your beliefs was the same as murder in my mind. But darn it I was faithful.
All the things in life I gave up to be a witness would have been all in vain. I thought many times how much I wanted to be like normal people but I never thought I could be anything without my religion. It was what I was willing to die for.