I also have these nagging voices telling me that I am turning my back on God
Greetings RNG...welcome to the forum. It is always nice to have another voice and facet of what my mother would term JW heritage. I had a discussion about this recently where it was important to my mom for my kids to know about JWland as it was somehow to her an important piece of their past. Well to some degree I agreed with her, in the way that they need to know why there is no family cohesion between a large contingent of blood relatives here in Texas. That in itself should speak volumes, because even asshole relatives in Texas have the nerve to all get together and associate with one another...(even if they do get drunk and fight..then talk about each other afterwards..*LOL*). Sorry for the interlude...I've had a bad week...look, you can't turn your back on something you truly believe in...Let me ask you this eternal JW stumper...If you had never heard of Jehovah's Witnesses, but read your bible (AND not Watchtowers, Awakes, or other publications), prayed, and acted in a Christlike manner to your fellow man, turning the other cheek and showing compassion whenever needed, do you think that a just god would make you pay for not being part of an organization? Once again, welcome to the forum and please do share your story and perspective with us.
Welcome redneckgurl! I think many here have experienced feelings and thoughts similar to yours. It's very common for those of us who are/were involved in the jw religion to doubt whether any good can be expeirnced outside that religion; wondering if it's decpetion by Satan instead.
My daughter was constanly mistreated by jw youths, while her school frineds treat her with kindness and respect. A tool of Satan to mislead us? I'd prefer to take things at face value - the non-jw kids are better-adjusted, more kind, and by their actions, more Christian. That's just one example.
Greetings RNG and welcome to the forum! I'm sure you will find all the people here to be quite supportive and will offer some great information to you. Enjoy your stay!
I was in a similer position to you for many years, half in half out, still never DF or DA, but knew something was wrong with the JW mindset.
Doubts are a healthy thing, it's nature's way of telling you something doesn't add up - so you need to check stuff out.
This is a good place to resolve your doubts, but even before I came here I knew beyond any shadow of doubt that the WBTS wasn't the 'Truth' (I worked it out for myself!). Now I no longer go to any meetings and no longer consider myself a JW, but my wife is still a victim.
Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I knew most of you would relate to my feelings, and it feels good to hear them. I have some specific questions/comments that I need to ask, but they are about specific doctrines. I suppose I will go to another Topic for that, so look for me elsewhere! My son wanted to pray before dinner last night, so my husband looked at me and told me to do it. Well, my daughter got up, took her napkin, unfolded it and stuck it on top of my head. I felt rediculous, but I said a prayer that to me seemed more heartfelt than most I have said. My son said "well, we aren't Jehovah's Witnesses anymore, but we can still pray" I didn't deny what he said but I told him that we are still Christians, we still believe in God, and that we need to do good and pray. What a smart kid, but he is resentful right now.
