What was the "final straw" that made you leave the JW's ?????? (page 2)

shamus

Complete lack of love.

Hypocrosy.

Congregational idiots.

In that order.

When they changed the "generation" understanding.....then, I had a run in with a sister in our congregation who totally twisted something I said to her, and called me into a little meeting with the bros. She had stacked the deck in her favor...two were very close personal friends of hers, leaving one fairly unbiased guy. That was the day I saw the Borg in action, behind closed doors, and the fact that I had been a faithful sister and elder's wife for twenty five years meant nothing to them. Then, I got fired from a job and went to work at a temp job, where I became involved, emotionally, with a guy. All of this made me realize, at 42, that something was seriously wrong with my life, and I needed to make major changes......after the run in with the sister, I slacked off from going to meetings, then when I got involved with this guy, I felt even more like a fish out of the congregational pool....and it took me another year and a half to end my marriage and start a new life on my own. But, to be truthful, even before the generation change of understanding, I had met a young woman from door to door that blew my doors in with her understanding of scripture...it was she who first put the seed in my mind that the WT's understanding of scripture may be based on false understanding....it then took another ten years after that to send me packing.....

Terri

cruzanheart

I saw the lack of love for 15 years as Big Tex struggled with his abuse problems and then left. I saw the lack of love applied to me as a woman at the meetings without a man to give her status. I saw my father abused because in a lifetime of service he made ONE mistake. I saw the programs on child abuse in the organization and personally knew a convicted sex offender in Dad's congregation who was being treated like a prince.

I saw an entire congregation, save for three, ignore my 6-year-old son who came to the meeting in a wheelchair. THAT was my final straw. My last meeting was one year ago. I will never go back.

Everything I have seen and heard since then further convinces me that this was the right decision.

Nina

Bibbitybobbityboo

Here is a bit of a breakdown of the events:

1. During the 3rd study of the Revelation book at the book study the point was made that the 'locusts' stings' were somehow books & magazines placed by JW's. I remember thinking 'This is pure bullshit'. I almost said it out loud! I was shocked at my own feelings and quickly buried my doubt.

2. The whole new light on the generation thing. Suddenly I was struck with a conscience guilt that I had participated in preaching a lie about God. I started listening to my gut feelings at the meetings instead of taking everything at face value.

3. Another book study meeting - point was brought out the Jesus Christ is not my mediator but only the mediator for the anointed. My mediator was the anointed WTBS. That was a slap in the face! I just knew, in my gut that this could not be true. No way. We had someone in our congregation that professed to be of the anointed and he was practically worshipped by all. He was a real slick and took advantage of people financially. Me included.

4. Got involved with a worldly man at work. Unbeknownst to me, he was married. I found out, was devastated & repentant, went to the elders to confess and during my JC I was told that Jehovah might not forgive me for interfering with a marriage and I would just have to 'wait & see if I survive Armageddon. I was crushed.

5. Went into a depression fog, got sick and started missing meetings. Woke up one day and declared to myself that I would never go out in service again. But still went to meetings off & on. Felt crushed and dejected. Speaker at the circuit assembly said that 'Jehovah didn't want servants that were wishy-washy or moping or sad - that He would reject them, spit them out.' I felt that he was talking to me.

6. Took a vacation that lead me to visit my Aunt & Uncle who are genuine Christians (the non-denominational kind). My Aunt started talking to me about the 'real Jesus'. Felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and a happiness I hadn't felt in years. Couldn't ignore that the elders had spiritually abused me and this person who so-called belonged to 'Babylon the Great' had nourished me spiritually and restored my joy.

7. Came home from vacation and bought a computer. Started to read up on the organization. Felt another weight lifted off of me. Knowing that it couldn't be 'the truth'.

8. Confessed to my JW family that I lost faith in the WTBS, that I thought they were Pharisees. Didn't go over well. My cousin immediately started gossiping to any who would listen that I was an apostate.

9. Decided right there and then that I would never attend another meeting. I said good-bye to close friends but kept the door open for them if they ever wanted to talk to me again. (two of them did, by the way and left the org as well)

10. Got on with my life, never looked back, put faith in Jesus and have enjoyed more blessings since then that I could have ever imagined.

The end - rather, the beginning....

Mulan

We were in the process of fading away, when I finally read Crisis of Conscience. When I finished it, I told my husband I would never go back to the KH. I never did and neither did he.

Jessica Rabbit

I actually made my decision about 4 years after I was DF'd. I got this brain storm that I should get reinstated since I was now married and living a moral life. I felt that even if I never was "active" again that I should publicly clear my name and make it known that there would be no scriptural reasons not to be re-associated. The first meeting I went to was so uncomfortable. Everybody and thier dog was gawking at me. (Isn't this little icon the exact face they make when you see them out in public and they recognize you?) Anyway, long story short, after three consecutive Sundays of complete boredom from the worst speakers they could have ever lined up, a little voice said "this is BS, if these people who have known you all your life can't even smile and say "hi", this ought to tell you something is not right." There I was supposedly in JEHOVAH'S house, not theirs, and they have the nerve to look at me like I am pond scum. The fact that I made an effort after four years to even show up and not one elder even acknowleged me. It was definitely an AWAKENING. I feel so free and happy now. When I pick up my bible to read now, it's because I want to and that feels wonderful.

caligirl

I had a gut feeling since my early teens that something wasn't right - I knew that scriptures were twisted out of context because I got myself through the long, boring meetings by reading the surrounding texts and lost track of how many times I could clearly see that it did NOT say what they were telling us it said. But I kept going, because we had it regularly drummed into our heads that it was our problem if we weren't "humble" enough to accept the teachings, .

What caused me to actually leave was actually quite personal in nature. When I found out I was pregnant with my son, I started thinking about how I wanted to raise him. I knew in my heart that I did not want him to go through what I had gone through. We kept going to meetings here and there, but knew that the time was coming that we would have to make the final decision, but were battling with the guilt feelings. When I finally held my newborn son in my arms for the first time, the decision was made, the guilt was gone. We (my ex husband and I) took him to a couple of meetings to show him off, and haven't been back since.

asleif_dufansdottir

After pushing me for years to have little or no contact with "unbelieving" family members, during a particularly frightening and financially devastating crisis, we were told by the elders that if we needed help, we should ask our non-believing family, not the congregation. After all we'd done for everybody else - giving people food, giving congregation members jobs, helping them move, fix their houses and cars when ours needed work, shoveling walks for older ones, ...not to mention that congregation members had actually lived with us for months at a time before!

The family that was "dangerous" for us to associate with, even to visit, suddenly was who we were advised to go live with, because it was too much trouble for anyone else to lend a hand.

It made me heartsick and physically ill at the time, but now I've actually never been so grateful to anyone as I am to those elders, for showing me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who really loved and cared about me!

They were right about one thing...associating with my unbelieving family did negatively impact my meeting attendance! (of course, depression made me not want to get out of bed to go to the meetings, too) They were also right that not constantly going to meetings could cause you to lose faith in the "truth" (tm)...because it sure did for us! We got off the hamster wheel and started thinking for ourselves again, and realized it was a crock!!

edited to say:

...giving people food, giving congregation members jobs, helping them move, fix their houses and cars when ours needed work, shoveling walks for older ones, ...not to mention that congregation members had actually lived with us for months at a time before

please don't mistake me...we were more than happy to do all this, we did it with joy and not complaining (well, sometimes a tiny complaint, but we really did enjoy almost all of it!), we loved doing things for those we thought of as our spiritual family...but when it was us that needed help then we were supposed to ask my family, who were never JWs.

NAPPY ROOTS

I just got tired. I had to have a couple of beers just to sit through the Bull I was hearing every week. Finally I decided to stay home and drink. Why waste my gas.

ikhandi

I was mentally and physically tired. I needed a break

What was the "final straw" that made you leave the JW's ??????