i grew up in the cult--never thought twice about it--till i was married and about to become a dad. i quickly faced the fact i had no belief in a god--hence everything else fell apart and i didnt want to waste any more of my life as a religious freak.
How Much of the WT Teaching Did You Believe?
by Ding 52 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Pete Zahut
Most JW's see the flaws in the doctrine but they have been conditioned to believe that if they have doubts, THEY are the problem.
Deep down, I realize that I didn't believe all of the teachings but deep down, I was 100% convinced that I should and acted accordingly.
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millie210
I believed zero of what we were taught in the revelation book.
I did believe most of the Hebrew scriptures... the snake in the garden, the flood, Abraham becoming a mighty nation, etc.
I would have just not allowed myself to think about it mentally except for the harsh treatment of elders towards others along with seeing first hand their own large indiscretions.
Thats when I knew if I was a person of moral principle, I had to walk away.
Only after walking away did I begin to learn what a jumbled mess the teachings are.
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cofty
99% up until the 1995 'Generation' bullshit - then I went down to 0% within a year.
The one thing I never believed was that animals would live in peace in paradise. Only somebody who knows nothing about the natural world could swallow that.
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LongHairGal
DING:
Maybe the only thing I believed was that there would at some point be divine intervention on earth.
All the other JW beliefs I took with a grain of salt..I never entirely bought their paradise earth teaching..but it was a nice mental exercise..
Other things there I didn’t accept at all: their railing against college and careers.. I’m very glad I ignored this..Anybody there who bought this hook-line-and-sinker is having terrible rude awakenings if they are at or near retirement age!
I’m sure if anybody goes crying to the elders now they would be told something cruel like:.. ‘well nobody forced you, etc.’
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DomineIvimus-DI
I started at 100% and worked my way down. Starting I think when I read the chapter in the Harp of God where it says the prophet Nahum foretold the invention of the train. Hmmmm
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lriddle80
I wouldn't say I believed much of it. I could parrot back all the beliefs. I think I hid that unbelief from myself in order to survive (in a way). I played a role. But didn't really know that's what I was doing. I believed God existed, that's about it. Other than that, just tried not to get in trouble with the elders who always seemed suspicious of me. I hated giving talks, though I could whip one up in about 10 minutes, hated field service and went as little as possible, school was a nightmare with having to say I can't celebrate holidays and then all eyes are on me and people calling me weird because of the religion. I just felt alone.
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sickandtired
Started as a true believer since I was raised in it. Over the years, questions would pop in my mind that I couldn’t answer and I’d shelve them. The shelf broke eventually.
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Still Totally ADD
Being a born-in I knew nothing else. But as a child I always wonder how they knew all this stuff but no one else did. Then in the 80's my wife and I was listening to a talk about the governing body and how for the most part were God's mouth piece and how we should listen only to what they have to say and obey them. My wife and I looked at each other and I said when they eliminate Jesus we are out of here. The problem was we stayed in another 25 years. What a dope I was. Still Totally ADD
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HappyGal
It was all I knew for the first part of my life. I was an impressionable kid. I believed it. Yet some stuff rubbed me the wrong way. Like saying my Dad would die at Armaggedon because he wasn't a JW. He is such a great and humble man. It didn't make sense to me that God would kill him off like that.