I Ended my Bible Study

by Maria Nieves 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Maria Nieves
    Maria Nieves

    Thank-you to everyone who took the time to respond especially those who responded to my initial post. I do feel better. The comments that have been provided throughout my time on this site resulted in my gaining a better understanding of the Jehovah Witness religion and what was occurring with me.

    @WTWizard, As you are aware, there is a lot of judgement within the Jehovah Witness religion and I did not want to be a part of that. However, I felt that I was being taught to judge. Therefore, I am glad that I put an end to the study because the person that I was being built to be was not the person that I wanted to be.

    @ShirleyW, Not associating with others who are not Jehovah's Witnesses was one of the first things that I questioned within myself. It didn't seem God like to me. There was a time where I believed that the Jehovah Witness religion was the one true religion. However, when I began to have doubts, what occurred was a slow unlearning of what I had been taught.

    @john.prestor, Thank-you. Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to have friends that are not Jehovah's Witnesses. I did not want my bible study conductor out of my life. However, I did not want to continue in the study. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the study had to stop. With that reasoning, I also came to the conclusion that my relationship with my bible study conductor might come to end. Event though I did not want her out of my life, I eventually accepted the fact that might be a possibility and I made peace with it.

    @nicolaou, Thank-you for sharing your story. So many individuals have been impacted by the Jehovah Witness religion. Some of these individuals were not even Jehovah's Witnesses.

    @Wasanelder Once, Eventually, that was what it became. I didn't want to disappoint anyone and I buckled. It did feel that I was being pressured into being baptized because the topic of baptism kept coming up. I did fail in believing that the Jehovah Witness religion was the one true religion. However, I never said anything out of fear of being labeled an apostate. Seems like whenever someone questions something or is not accepting or in agreement with what is presented within the Jehovah Witness religion, the person is automatically labeled an apostate. I felt that it was not safe for me to belong to a religion where I was not free to express my opinions.

    @smiddy3, it could be that those who are vulnerable are easy targets to become a study. That was how I became a study. I was vulnerable. Sadly, there is no asking confrontational questions in a study. Those that do, are labeled an apostate. A witness would not entertain such questions. They would automatically end the conversation.

    @The Fall Guy, several individuals on this site have commented that prior to being baptized, they did not believe the truth to be the truth. However, they went on to get baptized because they did not have the courage to say no.

    @jookbeard, Thank-you. Many agree with you.

    @Vanderhoven7, Yesterday's study was difficult. It might have been the most difficult study that I have had. I am glad that it is over and I feel a sense of relief. Yesterday's study was not even a study. It was more me being questioned as to why I had not established a relationship with Jehovah and what I needed to do in order to establish a relationship with Jehovah. How the Jehovah's Witnesses viewed establishing a relationship with Jehovah was not how I wanted to establish a relationship with him.

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    Maria Nieves ,you did well in answering individual reply`s for the reasons you stopped your study.

    You may have been in a vulnerable state when they first contacted you ,however you soon woke up to the fact that they are not the "truth"

    It took me 33 years to come to that conclusion .My excuse is we didn`t have the internet then.

    If i may just one other observation about being witnesses of Jehovah .

    In the New Testament there is not one scripture that tells a follower of Jesus to be a witness of /for /or to Jehovah ,not one.

    On the other hand there are about twenty scriptures in the New Testament that explicitly state that followers of Jesus Christ are to bear witness to / for / and about him ,not Jehovah.

    And to top it up in the New Testament God himself has said in Philipians 2: 5-12 , especially Vs.9,10 which indicates that in the Christian era Jesus Christ should be worshiped by Christians to be accepted by God whom he has chosen.

    It stands to reason when you think about .

    God first dealt with Adam

    Then the patriarchs

    Then the levite priests

    Then the Judges

    then the Kings

    Prophets

    and finally Jesus .

    And some that overlapped

    Different time s different arrangements .

    Take care .

  • Maria Nieves
    Maria Nieves

    @Pete Zahut, She was kind and I would say that she was a good teacher. She placed a lot of effort into what she was teaching and seemed to really believe what she was teaching.

    She was also controlling. I think that it was obvious that I reached a point where I no longer wanted to continue to study but she never ended the study. I stopped attending the week day meetings. I also never brought up the topic of studying but she would always tell me the time that the study was going to occur. The study would occur weekly for several hours. From me, she easily got at least 13 hours of study per month.

    Prior to the study, I had to prepare. Preparing for a study would take approximately two hours. And, she would always have questions about what I had study. Therefore, she was able to know whether I had studied.

    I am sure that she believes that I need to be saved from the wrath of God. However, I think that it was more that she was being pressured. Maybe she was being pressured into bringing someone into the truth. Jehovah Witnesses are always admired when they have their study go from being a study to being baptized.

    I do feel somewhat bad because during my time in the Kingdom Hall, I saw bible study conductors progress their study to baptism. Obviously, these Jehovah Witnesses were commended when their study resulted in baptism.

  • UnshackleTheChains
    UnshackleTheChains
    Wise move šŸ‘. I tried to end my study 25 years ago, was coerced into baptism and here I am all this time later still trying to figure out how to leave officially without losing a number of relatives. They are a high control corporation that encourages it's members to shun anyone who decides to leave/disassociate (relatives or not)
  • Maria Nieves
    Maria Nieves

    @UnshackleTheChains, there was a video shown in regards to ending unproductive bible studies. I wonder how many bible study conductors are ending unproductive bible studies? My bible study conductor should have ended my bible study months ago because it was months ago that I stopped showing interest.

    I was not strong or brave enough to end the study. I am sure that there are others like me who no longer want to continue to study but are not brave enough to end the study. Many of them will move on to baptism.

    I tried to fade but that did not work. Whenever I would miss a meeting, I would automatically be contacted and asked why I had missed a meeting. I tried saying that I was not feeling well when it came to bible study but I could only say that I was not feeling well so often.

    I know how controlling the Jehovah Witness religion is. I hope that you are able to break away without any repercussions.

  • BourneIdentity
    BourneIdentity

    Iā€™m sure your Bible study conductor cares about you and is disappointed you quit, but her ultimate disappointment is now she canā€™t count those 13 hours per month. She will have to accumulate the same time by doing cold calls on other people or driving all around to consume time. That is her main disappointment, I can assure you of that.

    As you said, the study should have stopped quite awhile back. Some see that and decide to do it to put forth effort on other promising studies. Iā€™m sure in her case, she didnā€™t have any others, so she viewed you as ā€œeasy timeā€.

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    Maria N, I want to say very well done! As others have pointed out you have saved yourself much heartache by dropping out out of JW indoctrination before committing to baptism.

    First of all enjoy the fact that you have made a good decision which is you determining your path in life. My take on religious belief is that it deprives an individual of her or his personal expression and personal achievement.

    Instead of studying ancient sacred literature, do learn how to be yourself and take pride in your own accomplishments.

  • LongHairGal
    LongHairGal

    MARIA NIEVES:

    I seem to remember being pressured to get baptized. I had to stop smoking first so that took a while...But, I can honestly say that they really do push baptism with heavy guilt trips.

    I finally did it even though I was not 100% convinced. If my memory serves me well, the love-bombing pretty much stopped soon after I got baptized. In time, I had several rude awakenings which hit me with the force of a blow. I wondered what the hell I had gotten into? I even perceived intense dislike from some - possibly because of my full time job which I would not quit to appease these people. They wanted me to ā€˜pioneerā€™ and I guess money was supposed to fall from heaven. (This was a sore spot during my whole association with this group- but years later when I retired I was grateful that I followed my gut.)

    By you backing out now, you will be spared what I went through. There are those who will say it is ā€˜truthā€™ but they can keep it. Even though Iā€™m not religious anymore, Jesusā€™s gospel would be more appealing to me.

    Good luck in whatever you do.

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