Hello, all you damn dirty apostates! Please, allow me to join this community of diseased minds.
I have been lurking here for over 2 years and tonight I decided it's time to come out of the shadows.
I am in the process of fading and do not wish to ruin it by giving too many personal details at this time so as to not identify myself. If elders do monitor these sites I know exactly which one from my former hall would and he knows most of my history.
That being said, I wish to express to everyone on this forum how grateful I am to you! My exit from the Watchtower actually began 12 years ago. At that time I didn't know about TTATT, Cognitive Dissonance, FOG, BITE, Etc. I had simply been embarrassed and angered my my local congregation and so began over a decade of inactivity and restarting, coupled with doubts and fighting those doubts, which caused depression generally wasting my entire 20's. Thise doubts eventually caused me to look at evil apostate websites including this one. However, the first year of lurking I was still fighting the things I was reading and learning. Until last summer when it all finally broke thru and I woke up. I also didn't understand what happen to me next. A crushing depression hit me that almost ended my marriage, that did cause me to loose my job, and caused me to have no sense of direction in life.
It was this forum and you members that I learned about Steven Hassan's book on cult mind control, and Marlene Winell's work on religious trauma syndrome that made it all make sense again. I came to understand what I was going thru and how to combat it. You all were my therapist. Your collective experiences and wisdom you've shared here not only lead me down the rabbit hole but helped be back up onto my feet on the other side.
With a grateful heart I say again Thank you! If you ever wonder if your efforts are making a difference know that they are. Whether they ever post here or not you are helping people wake up and take back their lives.
Silent knight