by IWant2Leave 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The reason that I ask is, in the two years on this forum and You Tube, I've seen ex-jw's either drop off entirely or make fewer and fewer videos. I know the emotional toll can be high. Is that the sole reason, or is it cost (video) or do you think it's external pressure (legal or family)? Some were very good at what they contributed and have benefited me greatly in a short time.
P.S. I enjoy and appreciate the ones still here!
IWant2Leave
Sure it might very well be burn out, the stress anxiety depression can weigh a person down.
Now we have other problems to contend with.
Sometimes I think the embarrassment of being a JWS could be another factor.
In reality the WTS/JWS is just an endeavor by men who were seeking out their own power and personal stature and they found that they could accomplish this by using/exploiting the general public's belief in the bible and of God.
I also feel that for many the videos and forum discussions are a form of healing and that as the healing occurs their involvement goes down. That isn't true for everyone but maybe that's what you're seeing?
A decrease in ex-JW activity is probably a healthy sign for most individuals. Once one has ‘come to grips’ with their experience (however long that takes), they move on.
For me, I’ve stayed “active” longer as I have an academic interest. Some are on this board for the interpersonal interaction …. it is, to some degree, a coincidence that they are ex-JWs.
Fading from ex-JW activity is natural and healthy. Just my two cents.
Almost everyone who appears on the site is already an exJW or is PIMO and about to become an exJW.
There is a natural progression, which takes longer for some that it does others, to eventually become an ex-exJW.
Even as an exJW, you’ll likely find that JWism still plays a big role in your life (unfortunately).Even after i discovered TTATT and realized everything about the Cult was BS, I was still engrossed in every glimmer of their New Light or every JW activity. I downloaded everything from Atlantis. Now, however, I can say that I really don't give a rat's @$$ about it. None of it matters in our lives any longer.
We're not going to do them the favor of DA. We still play the "stumbled inactive" card with family. But we are no longer consumed by anything in the JW World. So, perhaps we are becoming ex-exJW's.
My wife and I left in 1988. I am working on a novel based very loosely on my time as a JW. I use this board to gather current information about JW's as ideas for my book. I no longer have some kind of burning desire to educate JW's. My information is dated and useful only as studying history, so I don't contribute as much as I used to.
I would describe my wife as an ex-XJW. She gave them fifteen years of her life and isn't going to waste any more time or energy on them.
Incidently, after we left the JW's we were members of an independent Evangelical church for about twenty years. We're over that now too.
Some may be but not many and we are getting more all the time form the cult. Also very few if any go back to the cult once out.
If your healthy there is no reason to keep taking the medicine. Only one reason to stay and that is to help other people, the walking wounded.
DITTO to what 1234 says above!
Thankfully, many ex-XJW's hang around here, no longer for their benefit, but to help the Newbies that show up here looking for support.
DESIROUS OF CHANGE:
That is mostly why I read ex-JW forums: the newbies.
There are so many newbies with interesting experiences. Even though we have heard The Truth About The Truth many times before, somebody is hearing it for the first time.
