Why did you choose Jehovahs Witnesses?
by vinman 35 Replies latest jw experiences
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vinman
I'm wondering why ones on this forum initially became JW's. If you were born in, why did you make it "your own"? If you became one later, what was your draw and driving force? I'm not really looking for comments from ones who were born in and never believed it, or ones who were never baptized. It simply is a question of curiosity and may have a common thread. -
ShirleyW
I was a born in but I didn't make it "my own". Never bought into it. If you're one of the kids that the others in the KH don't want to be bothered with, and your mother says "why can't you be more like . . . " one of the kids that doesn't want to be bothered with you because they always answer during the meeting and all that fake jazz, how the Hell are you supposed to be drawn to that fake BS?
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Question_Mans_interpretation
I was born into it, 4th generation. My whole family is jw with the exception of 2 of my moms sisters. I was Baptized at 16 not because I "made it my own" but because that's what my family expected and what I thought was pleasing god. I went along with the religion until a little while ago because I thought they were "gods people", and it didn't feel right to question god or go against his "organization ". Finally was able to separate god from men who self proclaim gods backing. -
Village Idiot
None of my family was in. I was 14 and naïve when I found a pamphlet at my door. That was all that it took to get me studying and joining. I thought I was learning the secrets of the Universe. Fortunately, I got df'd for apostasy when I was 21. -
James Mixon
It wasn't me, it was my wife idea. I was curious why or who she was seeing at those
damn meetings. What the hell three nights a week, what's going on..
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Dissonant15
I was 3rd generation born-in and baptized at 10 years old because I believed it and I was scared of Armageddon and an over achiever. I wanted the other kids to admire me for achieving this status so young.
I was a confused child
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Half banana
Village, my early experience was just like yours. I had a bible study with a school friend and indeed thought it was a cherishable sacred secret. I thought I was privileged to learn about things other didn't know. Unlike you I didn't have the pleasure of being booted out but stuck religiously with it, wasting my life on other people's mad dreams for a quarter of a century. -
steve2
I was a third-generation born-in. I entered my teens as the excitement over 1975 mounted and was swept along by the sheer momentum. The air among JWs was electric. There was absolute certainty the end was so very close. The anti-JW literature at that time was embarrassingly lame and ill-informed, written by religious nutters who had no firsthand knowledge or experience of the organization. If this was all opponents could come up with, little wonder the organization was flourishing and kingdom halls bulging. The Witnesses were superbly versed in their beliefs and could marshall sound defenses of their claims.The old timer JWs were awesome defenders of their faith who I truly admired and loved.
I willingly and zealously submitted for baptism in 1973.
I genuinely and deeply believed it.
The 1975 fiasco shook me to my core but it was the disruption at Headquarters in the spring of 1981 that finally broke the dogmatic stranglehold of my willing JW organization delusion.
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tiki
Born in third generation but only one overlap....crazy granpa was alive until I was 40. Anyhow...I stuck because it was all I knew and I bought into the idea that we alone are blessed and have the "truth"...but I saw so much hatefulness and hypocrisy...and in retrospect I know I had tons of cognitive dissonance. But it was a matter of survival...I had no way to support myself thanks to the no school beyond hs....and all there was was to marry some idiot...but none of the guys wanted me...probably smelled that the whole female inferiority under your male thumb was not something I was going to tolerate. Eventually Mr right came along and in time we disappeared. -
KateWild
I chose JWs because of the love bombing. I was 20 yrs old at University in a new city and wanted a circle of friends. It was more an emotional decision rather than a logical one. The JWs I met were very loving and thoughtful as they are trained to be. They showed me they were the disciples as they had love. (John 13.34,35)
I left because of the lack of love too. The elders were not kind or loving. If you want to hear a recording of my JC let me know and I will add it to the thread.
Kate xx