by AmIright 32 Replies latest jw experiences
Its funny ive read some stories on here about how they have become so infuriated by what logic dictates as being true and their own denying of it because it completely screws up their belief and shows how hypocritical it is XD some look like a nuclear reactor about to blow XD
share you experiences here :)
what sort of reactions have you gotten when talking to other jw when telling them the "truth about the truth"?
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Family members: (Me)Do you know about the UN thing. (FM) No it's a lie.
Another fm: (me)you need to do some research on that matter, (fm) I don't want
to hear it and he walked out, well he really ran out.
Over the years my JW family members get anxiety attacks when in my presence. LOL
My mom could care less at her age, and to be in the "Truth" for 40+ years. I talked to her about ti, she shrugged, she knows that much of the WT is BS, but for her leaving WT would mean the end of her social life. She has friends there, she gets out to various KH and assemblies, plus much of my family is in who will shun her as aunt. Two my cousins are elder. She told me that it does not matter at this point because she dedicated a lot of money and life to it.
My siblings reject TATT, but they agree that it has some valid point, but they have not crossed the decisive point, like they are afraid of it.
My cousins are deeply in and they will run with hands over their ears if they hear it.
I began to do deep research into the WT in the fall of 2014 and started to confront my mom at the same time. First I was "subtle", as in I wanted "to understand" and I'm sure she was counting time when talking to me on the phone. She lives in my home country in Europe and I live in the states.
She used to call me up at least once a week but now she only calls perhaps every three weeks. I'm sure she's fed up by my inquiries, lol. Once she even told my sister in Europe that she feels mentally drained after talking to me, haha. Well, that's not my fault, thank your religion mom! :)
She has badgered us for over 30 years on a daily basis about this sh*t, it's not more than fair that she now gets to answer a few question about this bullshize that turns up to be a big, fat lie. Of course it makes her feel bad and so it should. I won't stop exposing this antichrist cult she got involved in and that affected my own development.
First, to understand the reactions of the people to who I have shared TTATT, you have to understand that I did not leave due to any sin or any other reasons then an actual disagreement with the teachings.<ép>
My Dad: He was shocked and tried to reason with me over many, many hours of conversations on the matter. In the end, he could not explain away anything or reason out any of the serious issues that I had raised. Still, to my disbelief, he was so “indoctrinated” that, for the following two years, he was condescending towards me for not raising my kids in the truth and not attending meetings. However, as time went by, he could see that I took care of my kids, wife, mom, friends and others in various ways. I than had a serious exchange of emails with him where he finally conceded that actions were louder than words. Hence, it is better to do good deeds and not attend any KH than to attend the KH and barely have anytime left to do any good. We keep seeing each other and do things with the kids. We still talk about the JWs, however, I try to limit what I say as I believe that at this time in his life, the JWs are actually the best thing for him, so why burst his bubble? The only thing I could not accept from him was a lack of respect and a judgemental attitude toward my life choices. Now that I have his respect, I respect him as well for his choices and we are both happy with that.
My in-law: It was not easy at all for them. I could feel some serious tension between us for many months. But as time went by, they got to see that we were not going crazy as the WT’s teachings imply. We did not divorce, we didn’t become smokers, pot heads or an alcoholics. We haven’t become degenerates, swear and talking trash. In fact, they have seen the opposite. We are actually better people. We help more, listen more, we’re more productive, and do more activities with the kids and family. So, essentially, we gained their respect. In addition, though they believe that JWs have the truth, they never believed in the disfellowshipping teaching. So, we respect each other. They don’t teach our kids about the JWs and we help them download their magazines.
My uncle: For two years, he never asked me why, so I never told him either. Until, one day, we had a long conversation. He asked me why I left. I first told him that I was talking to the uncle, not the elder, and told him everything. I was surprised by the amount of understanding that I got from him. In short, he appears to already respect me and my stand and that it’s a shame that the society could not keep me in as they need capable brothers to help others. Since then, to my surprise, nothing changed about our relationship.
Friend #1: I simply told him that I did not agree with the teachings and could not see myself passing these on to my kids. I did not tell him which teachings though as he never asked. I also made it clear to him that I did not think any less of him for staying in the JWs and that I would not stop considering him a friend. We still keep contact through Skype from time to time and never talk about the JWs. However, honestly, that relationship is far from what it used to be. I believe I did lose that friend.
Friend #2: When I told him I did not want to stay in, he came to see me and we had a two hour conversation concerning TTATT. To be honest, I think he underestimated how serious I was about this at the time. I basically told him that I believed that the JW spent more energy talking about doing good rather than actually doing it. However, it seems that I haven’t convinced him and it looks like he believed that I would probably come back to my senses within a few months since I wasn’t doing anything wrong. When he learned that I didn’t go to the memorial however, it sort of sunk in a little more. Now, we talk from time to time, but mostly about business related matters.
Other friends: They never called and never asked why I stopped going to the meetings. They were supposed to be real friends, 15+ years. Turns out they weren’t.
Local elders: I never told them why. They asked. I told them I needed time. I never wanted to risk it with them, so I kept my mouth shut.
In short, I have told only people that asked to be told and that I felt were close enough to deserve the truth. The reality is that being inactive rather than DA is a really good thing for me as it allows us to keep a normal relationship with our family.
I had a workmate, who was an inactive JW, yell at me when I started talking about ttatt. Another inactive person, with tattoos all over him and a jail history, kept on saying that it was the truth and that he was not in it because he was not ready.
Yet another one, an ex gang member, said the same thing about not being ready to return. He said that he was having too much fun to go back to the JWs at that point in his life. He also recalled with nostalgia how his father would take him out on field service when he was a child.
I've talked to quite a few over the years about different things and the reason I left. Half of them were elders and the others either knocked at my door or asked me questions.
I have found it best to limit the scope of the conversation to just one point. Some have been irritated. One, an elder had been quite friendly but that ended after we discussed the trinity.
The last person I discussed being a witness and being convinced of it. Didn't seem that they were.
In my experience JWs are almost incapable of having a rational dialogue about the TTATT. They will either refuse to talk about it by running away, turning their back on you or similar, or they become irritated, and agitated refusing to calmly debate the points.
I once debated my immediate family in one room, mother, father, sister, bro in law, by accident, after i said something questionable. I was well prepared with all of my arguments "buttoned up", as i had played that debate in my head 1000 times. They began using the typical JW logic to debate my points, but were immediately crushed by well placed logic and evidence. This is where irritation starts, when you back them into a corner and they have no reasonable answer. Agitation, louder and trembling voices, not able to sit still, and visible irritation was all across their faces. When this happens their arguments begin to spiral into nonsense, saying things that are so illogical and nonsensical, that they almost regret saying it after it comes out of their mouths.
Soon after the family version of "running away" happens - in my case it was "hey i'm hungry, let's go eat", followed by a Watchtower DVD being played on the TV as if to sanitize a bad spell that i had cast in the room.
