out for a long time (page 3)

Sledracer

No one who hasn't experienced it can really relate to the unsteady feeling of leaving a cult. Most people are so comfortable in the world, it is nice to talk to ones who have left. That has been very rare for me. I thought the religion was what kept the family apart. Now I feel more isolated from most of them, they are nasty, selfish people. I am more distant now. Who knew? I am very close with my son and family that left, though. We talk about it, he got us out, and is very understanding, and has helped us to stay out.

Sledracer

The elders from the Bethel told me do whatever it takes to take care of my son, even though he was disfellowshipped and have that recorded. lol

We fooled them into having the committee meeting in the hall with me there by saying we had our lawyer with us. We didn't of course, he was just a local apostate. lol

Sledracer

I have found that people in the world will cut you off for a lot less, and lot's of times you will not have a clue what you did. My whole family did this, they wouldn't even tell me what I did wrong, they wouldn't let me know when or how my Dad died or invite me to the funeral. At least with the witnesses you knew what you did wrong, in the world, if they don't like something, you are out, and for a lot less. That's just my experience. I have found good friends of good moral's far and few between.

C0ntr013r

Is the recording online or are you planing on putting it up? It sound quite interesting and I would love to listen to it (I am probably not the only one). You can pm me if you want help setting it up or editing it, if it contains personal information and such :)

talesin

ahem ...

Pete Zahut

I have felt the way you do. I used to think to myself, I'll move and just go back to a new Hall on my own terms just so I'll have a network of friends again. I'll ignore all the non-sense and never let them have a hold on me....just play along.

Then I come to my senses and realize that:

We often look at the past with rose colored glasses and remember things better than what they were.
When we try to re-create the past, we are often suddenly reminded why it was we left it behind in the first place.
We made friends much easier when we were young, the problem often isn't that there isn't an abundance of people to be friends with now, the problem is that as we get older we don't have the energy to invest in making friends, aren't as patient when having to adjust to new peoples idiosyncrasies and want things to be like they used to be without having to invest any more time in getting there.
You can't go home again...once you've seen behind the Wizards curtain, once you've grown in your understanding and overall view of things and once you know better, it's never going to be the same as it was.

Perhaps you could sneak in to a meeting somewhere and duck out early just to see if you are remembering things clearly. For me, I just couldn't stomach the repetitive nature of the meetings, the doctrines full of holes, the JW lingo I'd be expected to parrot, explaining why I missed a meeting or a day in service, being expected to give talks and go from door to door. There's also the real life experience with the blood issue that opened my eyes in the first place and the fact that there'd be endless questions, files that would be transferred from my old Hall and the years of suspiciousness one would have to endure before one was truly accepted (if ever).

JWdaughter

People in general are kind of. . .human. we need to recognise that just being a long term JW renders us a lot more judgemental towards "worldlings" and more tolerant and able to justify JW stuff and we do-years later we will find ourselves parroting JW verbiage that we don't even think through- out of ingrained habit. Crap we don't really believe!

Don't romanticize JW life. You left for a reason. Don't lose sight of it.

Good luck with all that. lol

out for a long time

Sledracer

Sledracer

Sledracer

C0ntr013r

talesin

Pete Zahut

JWdaughter

nonjwspouse

freddo

WingCommander

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