when I would see the placard waving protesters at the DC I would take a look and wondered what all the "dates" were about and didn't pay any further attention to them, I though they were a load of loons, one particular day I walked over to where they were positioned and walked over to a guy handing out their leaflets , I gave him a tirade of angry rhetoric and told him that members of the true religion would find themselves persecuted by the Evil Slave Class, I think it left him speechless as he had no answer whatsoever, so I would say the anti jw protesters had very little effect on my current standing as a jw. The real shaker for me came around the time of the WACO siege in 1993, although I had been expressing a lot of doubts about my faith the siege was huge news across the world, local radio station here in London was conducting a phone in show about cults and sects and the guest on the show was an expert in the subject, there was an appeal at the end of the show to anyone who is concerned about friends or families in cults etc to phone the show and some advice could be passed on , I phoned the show and was guided locally to some resources , that was the beginning of the end for me.
Did an EX-JW wake you up to TTATT or did you put the effort to wake up yourself?
by John Aquila 112 Replies latest jw experiences
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John Aquila
I remember going on the internet and on social media, I typed in "Jehovah's witnesses" to see if I could follow some. But I randomly found out a little information on a post from an "apostate
And here I am.
Yep, here you are!
Crazyguy
If I would have gone through your experience, I would have named my avatar CrazyJohn.
GoneAwol
We went ahead with the surgeon's recommendations, and she is with us here all fixed up!
Our daughter number 2 went through the same thing a few years later, and success again. Them surgeons are the best.
So for us, it was a fellow believer who had doubts, and the stressful situation that helped us wake up.
That’s a great story, thanks for sharing.
Preaching on a cold winter day in 2007 I walked with my lovely wife in a small village noticing that all people were watching us but didn't open the doors. I told my wife, this is my last day in field service. We never went again. The same with attending the meetings. In 2012, after attending, I told my wife, this is the last time I attend a meeting. She agreed with it
That’s great Gorby, especially that your wife stayed by your side.
Phizzy
58 years, Wow, you are Living proof that it’s never too late and never give up on family learning TTATT.
Thank you all for you insights, I'm sure your comments are going to help not only us but lurkers reading the experiences.
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Vidiot
John Aquila - "Did an EX-JW wake you up to TTATT or did you put the effort to wake up yourself?"
Never once talked to an XJW until after I'd already pretty much become one.
Didn't put a whole lot of effort to "waking up", either... it's just kind of happened inevitably as a result of a whole lot of itty bitty things that slowly added up over time.
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Vidiot
John Aquila - "If I would have gone through your experience, I would have named my avatar CrazyJohn."
Pshh.
I've been callin' you that since your first post, anyway.
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FayeDunaway
My first experience with anti cult views was probably field service. We went out in service a LOT. We lived among a very educated population. Many of those people liked to get in long discussions about philosophical/theological issues, often for their own entertainment I think, and I still remember many of the conversations. It's interesting, because of course you are SUPPOSED to go out in service and have discussions with people, but doing that exposed me to all sorts of interesting ideas :).
So, I followed along with my parents, trying to be a good kid but always, always doubting. Eventually I hear indirectly that my cousin has slowed down going to meetings because, nope, it's not his job craziness like he excuses it to be, it's actually that he doesn't really BELIEVE IT. Whoa! Shocker! Someone in the family who doesn't really believe it!! I think this made it easier for myself to admit my own doubts. Still, when I researched a particular issue I was going through, I COVERED THE COMPUTER SCREEN with my hands, to try to filter out any apostate stuff I didn't need to see, and tried to keep my eyes on just my particular issue.
When there were signs outside the DC, I would say to myself 'just look down, don't read the signs, JUST LOOK DOWN!'
For me, it was doctrinal issues that made me take the big step. Otherwise, I was going to go along. Simply reading the New Testament instead of listening to the circuit assembly one day, I finally found Christ. I couldn't stay in any longer. Just in time too, before any of my kids were baptized. The first Ttatt fact I learned was about Beth Sarim. Sounded like Bethel, and I had never heard of it, there was an article in he 30's in LIFE magazine about it, and it WASNT IN THE PROCLAIMERS BOOK?? What???
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Ucantnome
i didn't wake up i wasn't asleep. i didn't put effort in. it was more like my wife saying turn left at the lights and i knew to turn right.
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Vidiot
Vidiot - "Never once talked to an XJW until after I'd already pretty much become one."
Hmm.
Now that I think about it, some of the inactives I knew were probably TTATTers and XJWs-in-all-but-name-only...
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John Aquila
So far, not one person woke up as a result of a confrontation with someone shouting with a sign at a convention.
Makes me wonder if the YouTube videos where someone is demonizing the Governing Body or the Watchtower has helped anyone wake up.
Calm dialogue seems to be the best way to help someone wake up. And keeping it simple since JWs aren't able to process to much information at one setting. Expecialy about TTATT.
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Ucantnome
I think suggesting that i woke up is suggesting i was asleep. which suggests its my fault. it isn't. -
WingCommander
Being perpetually shit on by these delusional, End-Times Apocalyptic religious loons my entire life was enough for me!
I was never included or invited to anything JW related growing up - EVER! I was treated like an outcast. My mother actually worked for a living as an R.N. (Gasp!!!), my father was not some MS or Elder who owned a janitorial or construction business, and hence was ignored as well. Nearly 20 years of being denied my childhood, my life, and my freedom, and for WHAT? These people did exactly ZERO for me or to help me the entire time I grew up. On the contrary, they did nothing but ignore, belittle, and judge me. It was like being surrounded by vipers!! These people are totally USELESS, you cannot depend on them for anything, except to stick their noses in where it doesn't belong or offer up their opinion when you didn't ask for it, or show up looking for a free handout. Biggest bunch of lazy, uneducated (and proud of it!), freeloading, backwards, simple-minded half-wits I've ever encountered. I am so glad to be away from them all that I could do backflips down the street! I couldn't imagine living in an eternity around such judgment, Pharasitical, douchebags! Sounds more like Hell to me.