Why the term "waking up?"

by Sour Grapes 25 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Sour Grapes

  Is the term "waking up" the best way to describe when a JDub starts to have doubts? To me, it is rather that a JDub realizes that what they have believed for years was a pack of lies and then they have to make a conscious decision if they want to continue to believe in lies or stop being a JDub or just go along for the ride.

  It just amazes me how many die-hard JDubs there are despite every failed prophecy about the end coming, the Borg being a part of the dreaded wild best United Nations, the put down of women in the Borg, the massive cover-up of the child abuse in the Borg, the willingness to let a child die because they need blood, and the eagerness to shun a child who at the age of 10 got dunked to make mommy and daddy happy only to not want to be a JDub later and have the parents treat them like they are dead because 8 overweight, balding, goofy looking, incoherent men in upper state New York say that are the rules for being a Christain.

  Jehovah's Witnesses are a very sad cult that attracts people with emotional, psychological, or medical issues, have very large egos, can't make simple decisions, and believe in the tooth fairy.
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  doubtfull1799

  Perhaps because the mental condition of someone who has been indoctrinated for many years is akin to a type of intellectual sleep or metal fogginess?
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  slimboyfat

  https://youtu.be/-_zYn-HHcyA
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  Sour Grapes

  Thanks Slimboy...I can see what you mean.
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  dubstepped

  I think waking up is a fantastic term for it. Most of us were lulled to sleep by the fear and indoctrination and we lived in a fantasy world, a dream world that didn't exist. We wake up, we start to see the world for what it is, we see the cult for what it is, and we can make choices and take new actions. Go to a meeting and most of the people are asleep. They're sleep walking through life at the direction of the next man that tells them what to do. They're brains are switched to auto at best, off at worst. They aren't awake to what is going on around them, to what they're a part of, etc. I personally love the term.
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  LongHairGal

  SOUR GRAPES:

  I think waking up is a good term because Witnesses in a sense are lulled into a sleeplike state and have a false sense of security.

  What is also sad is that while this is happening, the years are passing by. Time you cannot get back... If you have not prepared for your old age, you are in trouble. Where are all those older Witnesses with the cushy lives who told me and other gullible young JWs to pursue poverty because the End was supposedly “near”???.. These older JWs have passed away, that’s what...after having lived a cushy life!..They cannot help anybody.

  I’m so glad I never listened to these people or else I would have not been able to retire!
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  cha ching

  In the US, the phrase, "you better wake up and smell the coffee" is used when someone's thinking is off track or delusional.

  It works for me.
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  Anders Andersen

  

  This one says it all. Once you answer the hardest questions you'll awake, and you'll be sad because your family will shun you.
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  punkofnice

  It will be a different experience for each individual. For me personally, it DID feel like waking up.....and with a jolt too.

  It aptly describes how I went from a kind of hypnotised state to 'SNAP' the WBT$ 'truth™' was all a bad dream.

  I once described it as a rubber band ball suddenly bursting apart. All the shredded bands went flying in all directions.

  For others I am certain, the process will differ.
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  Wild_Thing

  I think "waking up" is the perfect phrase to describe leaving the Witnesses. There are different levels of sleep and of waking up. Neither is automatic. We don't just jump out of bed awake and alert, ready to take on the world right when our alarm goes off. Some of us take a while before we realize the alarm is even going off. Some of us hit the snooze button to give ourselves just a little bit more time. Some of turn the alarm off, roll over and go back to sleep.

  Likening that analogy to leaving the Witnesses is exactly the same. For some are active Witnesses, every once in a while, a doubt or internal alarm will go off in their head that told them things were not right. They ignore it over and over. Some will give it a little attention, but eventually brush off the doubts and live their JW life in automatic mode. They hit the snooze button every time it comes up. The consequences of shunning is always there to make that snooze button easier to hit.

  It takes a while to wake up completely and realize the gravity of what kind of organization many of us were raised in. Even after I faded completely, I was still only half awake. It has taken me years to completely free myself from those old ingrained JW beliefs and thoughts. Ones I didn't even realize I was still holding onto.

  Jehovah's Witnesses don't just attract people with emotional and psychological problems. They create them.