I'd always had my doubts about the JW history and how it supposedly fulfilled prophesies in the bible even as a young teen. The final straw for me was trying to explain to a coworker my beliefs on the 144,000 and how we were the only "true" religion (and everyone else was wrong) I had been so isolated in my JW bubble for so long(raising small kids and little interaction with non jw's) that once I tried to defend my faith to a rational person it made absolutely no sense. None of it. I couldn't shake the feeling that it all sounded like bullshit. Months later I would leave a meeting in the middle of a needs talk and never go back.
What Made You Decide To Finally Leave The Organization?
by minimus 52 Replies latest jw friends
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mentalclarity
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LongHairGal
MY NAME IS OF NO CONSEQUENCE:
I am sorry that learning TTATT caused such an upheaval in your life that you wonder if it was worth it. Maybe you aren’t the only ex-JW who feels that way. Maybe alot of born-ins do.
Some would go back if the religion changed. That’s their choice. Aside from the long list of reasons I’m out (and not having been a born-in) I have changed over the years and am NOT interested in religion in general. The idea of belonging to something and having to be somewhere, attend meetings is something I have no desire to do again. To each his own, I guess.
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charonsdog
Lots and lots of cumulative stuff. The "generation" change of '95 really pissed me off, although it took me a while to realize how much. I remember having a sit-down with the C.O. several months after I had stepped down as an elder. I flat out told him that I doubted that the "slave" could be trusted as leaders of our faith, because they waited until it was painfully obvious to anyone who was paying attention that the generation was passing away before they suddenly got "new light". That's not leadership. I remember saying something about the emperor's new clothes, and that everyone could see the man was naked. The only person who was willing to speak up about it was a kid, and in the real story, they probably just killed the kid for saying the truth.
I answered the door to a couple of Mormons and decided to witness to them a bit. They were the first to tell me that 607 was NOT the year of Babylon's fall and Jewish release. I just knew they were wrong, but my uncle, who was a highly-respected elder told me that the secular date didn't agree with the JW date. That shook me pretty hard.
Honestly, I was a terrible student. I barely read the literature unless I had to conduct a meeting. I think if I had been paying attention and actually reading the crap, I would have seen them for what they were earlier. It took a couple of years of seeing a psychologist to deal with my depression before I could actually hear myself saying that I didn't believe any of it, and that I needed to get out of my awful marriage. I separated, moved to the city, attempted a fade (before I even knew that term), but ultimately decided that I was tired of lying about who I was. I asked my wife for a divorce and told her she had grounds to remarry. I never answered any calls from the elders, and was eventually read out at the meeting (at my old congregation, no less) as no longer being a JW.
I no longer have my parents or my children in my life. It hurts, but it was worth it.