Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself. (page 5)

TheListener

Conan, you've gotten a lot of good advice from the forum. It's always nice to be able to share with others. I hope things work out well for you. I was also thinking that if you want to learn about Jesus you may be able to locate a nice non-denominational church near where you live. They often have weekly bible study lessons which aren't nearly as pushy or take-it-or-leave-it as the witnesses are. Plus you can come and go and use any available outside study materials you want - usually. Anyway, I wish you the best on your journey.

Conanthebeliever

Hi the listener, I hope you are OK.

I have got a lot of good advice from here indeed, people here are very helpful.

You mention an Non-denominational church, sorry to be naive but what exactly is that? I do have lots of local churches I can choose from, I will likely go to the one my Nans funeral was at-I know the pastor/vicar, and he is a nice man, and I have spoken to him in the past and he seems very level headed.

That sounds good, using any information available, I think that will be the most helpful for myself, to learn.

Thank you, and all the best, Conan.

Conanthebeliever

Well, I went to my friends house with my Mum, as at the study it is always my friend and his mum-I bought up the subject of things I have found on JW.org, and was told that it was not from the real JW.ORG and is apostate material-it was the real JW.org. It was real watchtowers I was using.

He got quite aggressive, at one point he screwed up my paper and threw it at me-this shocked me a bit, my mum was glad she was there as she was worried it would of escalated if she was not there.

I explained about the 1000 child abuse cases in Australia, and was told "How do you know that-the JW's must of reported it"-I said no, the victims did. They told me it was apostate propaganda, and then a story of a friend who got sentenced for child sex crimes, they said he was Naive, and used to have children sit on his lap, and stroke them-innocently.

At this point, lots had been said and me and my mum had hardly said anything, we was a bit baffled as they was talking about things that had absolutely no relevance to my questions.

At the end, I said I still want to be your friend, and I hope I have not hurt you. By then he had calmed down, and said of course I do, and gave me a hug, I told him and his Mum I will always be there if they need me, and they said the same for me.

My Mum gave his mother a necklace, and I gave her a card wishing her to get better soon as she is undergoing chemotherapy.

A slightly different outcome to what I expected, the are far more brainwashed than I even realised.

They also lied to me about shunning, as I had read the watchtower about it, even family members not saying a "hello" too-they said that is lies, I am not looking at the real jw.org.

I know I was, but he would not even read the link, my Mum asked him is that because you are scared of what you will see? He said no, it is because he knows it is not real-even though it was on JW.ORG-the real one. He said it was fake as I had wrote down the links, he said the real JW.Org does not have this-I explained to him the slashes and how links work.

Still, I was told it was apostate material.

Not the best outcome, but I saw what they was like to me, unbaptized and telling them it is not for me-I feel deeply for people on here who are trapped in the organization, and I really, really hope if you want out there is a way you can.

They did exactly what I was told they would do, tell me it is apostate, not be so nice, and even at the end he asked me "Do you mind if I keep you on my list to drop books too?"-I understand this is for his report, so I said I don't mind.

Thanks to everyone that helped me during this time. I hope you are all OK, Conan.

FayeDunaway

Conan you were so courageous!! I hope you are OK too. It must have hurt a little to bring these truths to your friends and have this confrontation with them. It sounds like it ended much better than it could have, with you offering support to them if they need it and hugs all around. I am very glad your mother went with you, and it would have gotten much uglier. Witnesses are very reticent for outsiders to see any of the ugliness, so she was a very good protection.

In your religious search be very careful to avoid high control groups, this has been a good education for you.

LisaRose

That took a lot of courage, so good for you. To those who are not familiar with cults it's quite shocking to see somebody be so brainwashed as to insist that back is white and white is black, but that is how it works, so sad.

Maybe someday some of what you have said to him will come back to his mind and he will be able to get free, but for now he is happy in his delusions and there isn't anything you can do. Sometimes it takes a crisis, being mistreated by the elders or something like that for someone to wake up, you never know.

Conanthebeliever

Hi Fayedunnaway and LisaRose.

It did hurt a little if I am honest, but they did not seem to care too much for my feelings, at the end though it was OK.

I was shocked that even the real JW website, with the evidence I showed them, to be told "That is not real, it never happened, or that is a fake website".

Someone said to me that a member of a congregation said to them "This book is red, but if the governing body told me it was blue I would believe them".

I thought this was a show of how brainwashed they are, and more metaphorical, but I now understand they meant it exactly like they said-and Lisa, I could not believe how brainwashed they are, it was quite scary.

Me and My Mum feel happy that they have their faith, but also a sorrow for them that they are that brainwashed.

You never know, maybe they will come round, but I doubt it. My friend was pointing his finger when he was quite angry saying " I can't make you believe, but if you want to believe the apostate lies I can't stop you".

I also stated about blood transfusions, that it applied to animals under old law, and eating blood is different to having it injected-as they used would injecting an alcoholic with alcohol be any different to him drinking it?

A lot of things were said that were not even relevant to what I was saying, and I was told that "I will soon see the truth when it ends"-I said but JW's have said the end has been coming since 1914. Their reply? "That just means the end is closer, it will happen in our lifetime, I 100% believe that".

I explained I respect your beliefs, but feel my relationship with god should be more personal, and less controlled by the watchtower, which they was OK with.

I really did not realise it would be like that when I went there, it was the first time my Mum had gone with me, but I am glad she did.

At the end, I was told I was always welcome to come back to them if I change my mind, and that they are still my friends, I am not so sure after the way it went, but I think it might of just been in the heat of the moment. I stayed calm throughout, as I did not want to put any stress on my friends mother, due to the chemotherapy.

It is actually quite scary, I know now it is 100% a cult, and I feel something-I feel free.

Also, I asked if they could prove what I said wrong, they said yes, and Elder can talk to me and prove me wrong. At this point, I knew how deep into it they were, as I know that the Elders would of just repeated what I was being told, it is lies, don't believe it, and offer no real proof at all.

After this-I still believe in a god, I still believe a Man called Jesus Christ died for our sins. I am not sure it went exactly as the bible states it does, so I do not know what that makes me. As if I think it may of went slightly differently to the bible, I guess I am not Christian-maybe I am classed as agnostic?

I only ask this, as after 7 months of classing myself as a JW, I don't know what to class myself as now.

Thank you all, and I wish you all the best, Conan.

disposable hero of hypocrisy

You can class yourself as a human free thinker with a little bit more experience and empathy for others thrown in.
Well done for seeing through the mind control. It took me decades of my life to do this, and I'm still in , but it certainly feels good to be free in the mind at least!
Thank you for posting the update, and well done again. Good luck with your search for truth matey.

FayeDunaway

If you believe Christ died for your sins you are definitely a Christian, if don't think the bible should completely be taken literally, you are not a fundamentalist Christian. And that's OK!!

Giordano

I don't think I'd do a Jesus study with this 'friend'. He is not equipped emotionally or intellectually to be of any use. He'd use his bible and say 'see Jesus calls on Jehovah'. And you'd say well there is no record of Jesus referring to Jehovah in any other ancient translation. Then he gets hot under the collar again.

During your meeting with him instead of listening to your proof about the Australian Royal Commission and checking on where you found out about it........... a quick Google search would have taken 5 seconds on the JW pedophile issue he blows it off as apostate lies.

So he not only got really angry with you but he also got really stupid in a hurry.

If he was a born-in or dragged in at a very young age I can understand the lack of control and intelligence.

Conan you did very well handling this situation.

Slidin Fast

Conan, you have done so well to make such a rational decision based on facts. You came close to letting someone else do all your thinking for you and you gave it the swerve. You will be a better and wiser man for it.

I congratulate you.

Hello, fairly new, studying for around 7 months, just thought I would introduce myself.

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