What urged YOU to join the cult?

by gydja 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  gydja

  Hi all!

  I am just curious now...I was wondering, if you are not born into the JW organization, why did you join in? What was it that interested you most? Why did you accept to study the bible? Was it out of curiosity, were you lonely...what? Did you not see the hiprocracy in it right away, or did you think the witnesses were just a bunch of happy, faithful people?

  And if you are out now, why is that?

  Please give me some answers...! The reason I am asking so much, is because that I don´t quite see what urges or triggers people to join in. I, myself, was born into the JW´s and left when I was 14. I consider myself to be faithless now. Are you?

  Sincerely,

  Gydja from Iceland
• 

  OUTLAW

  What urged me to join the cult??..My parents and a big fuckin belt,LOL!...OUTLAW
• 

  TresHappy

  Being vulnerable and gullible and looking for the "truth".
• 

  lulu

  Please don't be sad at this reply.When I was given the 'proof'that I would see my two children (lost in death) I was told all I had to do was obey Jehovah through the FDS class. We thought we would and could do anything, if that was so. My husband and I left when we discovered to our dismay and horror that the WTBTS was a cult who uses brainwashing, lies, deceit and anything else that would unable them to use their power, including using fair or foul means to get your money, in our case many thousands of dollars, but apart from that the mental distress was enormous. It has been a year now that we have been 'set free' and our lives are very much better.
• 

  thetruthaboutjws

  I personaly was born in it. raised in it for 17 years and i am now 18 i have left for a year. My mother did come into it right before i was born. The reason is is because my dad was raised in it but left and right when i was about to be born My mom was talking about taking me to church. My father said the onley church he would step foot in would be a JW kingdom hall. My mother said he was crazy. My father proceded to witness to her and when one day witnesses came to their door she accepted a bible study just to prove it wrong. As you know the way they brain wash goes like this. They first call and tell you they are bible students etc.. when they have a study they ofcourse don't study the bible. They study a book. Now most books used for study are very cautious at the begining. they say little small stuff(beliefes) then they support them with some facts. After they have proved a couple of points to you unintentionaly your mind doesn't have as much of a wall so you believe more and more because subcauntiously(I know thats not how you spell it) you think since they where right on the other stuff they must be right on this. Eventualy you get to the point where you just believe what ever the society says. That is basicly what happend to my mother she couldn't prove them wrong. So after a while she was more apt to believe what they say.

  the happy part of the story is she brought the whole family in and she also is the reason my family is not part of the borg anymore. You may know her she is (LV4FER).
• 

  pr_capone

  I'm with Outlaw on this one.

  Kansas District Overbeer
• 

  happysunshine

  hahahah outlaw! I thought exactly the same thing! When I got too big for the belt/spoon, the threat of getting kicked out of the house at 13.

  I also wondered about you're original question. I heard others comment that they were kind of down (depressed, broke, overweight, unloved) at the time they were contacted, and the Witnesses were a kind of helping hand. They turned a blind eye toward the bad points, and the Witnesses were glad to cover up the rest. I still have a hard time accepting that answer.

  Mabey I just have a hard time moraly accepting it when people chose personal comfort for an idealogy that is based on the massacre of 5 billion people. -J
• 

  Skeptic

  I was a born again Christian who was known to be very anti-JW and I was looking for the one true religion. I had some unusual experiences and figured the Witnesses could help, so I sought out a bible study.

  Richard
• 

  DanTheMan

  What was it that interested you most?

  Armageddon, prophecy, doomsday. Also, all the anti-Catholic stuff, I was sour about my Catholic upbringing and my neurotic, controlling Catholic mother.

  Why did you accept to study the bible?

  I thought that it had the answers I was looking for.

  Was it out of curiosity, were you lonely...what?

  I was a very lonely and socially inept person when I came into contact with the Joho's. I had never read any religious literature in my life except the corny books we studied in CCD (Catholic Sunday School). Between the literature and the love-bombing I experienced an emotional high that I had never experienced before.

  Did you not see the hiprocracy in it right away, or did you think the witnesses were just a bunch of happy, faithful people?

  I thought JW's were happy. I really did. The first congregation I had experience with was very spirited. But when I started attending meetings at the congregation whose territory I lived in, a red flag went up that I ignored. They were very cold.

  And if you are out now, why is that?

  The reasons are too numerous to mention. More than anything, I just burnt out and started wondering if this really was "the truth". I lost my fear of them, and I started looking at websites such as this one. Reading Crisis of Conscience was a watershed of course.
• 

  Xena

  Well I was 13 when they came to our door....overweight and socially ackward...my mom accepted a bible study. She had "issues" with hell fire and their doctrine on that relieved her mind that her parents (her mother had commited suicide and father had become very anti-religious later in life) were not being tormented in hell. Then my middle sister accepted a bible study...I used to sit on the steps and listen...then they invited me to join...I liked it better than the emotional "Christian" people my mom had over to the house before to discuss religion...it seemed to make sense at the time...my dad had just left the military and retired in Austin...I had no friends...there were instant friends at the kingdom hall....just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

  I left for a bit after my mom was d/fed for smoking when I was about 18....took a walk on the wild side...then when she was re-instated I caved to family pressure and started going back...met my husband...got married and tried to be a good dub...never felt like I was, but I did try...then we learned the truth about some of their doctrine..primarily the 607 BCE thing...and the rest is history

  lol sorry now you asked????