Single Incident

Paradise Found

"which single incident do you consider to be most responsible for you leaving the the Org"

No single incident for me either. Just several occassion where, when I would ask an honest question regarding conflicting information that I found they would tell me to stop talking about it. They once councled me because I was asking other members these same questions that I was asking them but getting no answer. They told me not to talk to others about these concerns I had or I would be considered an apostate. This was one of the main things that lead to my eventual leaving.

shamus

The hypocrisy and, especially, the total lack of love. Now that I'm on the outside, I can clearly see how truly unloving they really are. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Gordy

That "Jehovah's loving organisation" answer to my depression was to declare me a "spiritual danger" to my family, and to get my wife to kick me out of the family home.

I was probably more of a danger to myself than anybody else at the time.

Up to that time I did not doubt the WT teachings. It eventually led me to look more closely at their history and teachings.

nobody told me

My ex-wife (still a good dub) stole my car and money for business taxes and the local body of elders did zero about it. That was the last straw, but my discontentment for the borg had started years before that.

Robdar

I had been having doubts for quite some time because I had been reading the Bible without using the publications to get the Brooklyn spin on interpretation. I could see that the JW beliefs were not Biblically accurate.

My stress level was reaching critical mass and I asked Jehovah for a sign indicating whether I should leave or not. That week, the PO gave a talk about trusting the society. He said that even if the WTBTS told us to jump off the local bridge into the river, we should have enough faith in them to do so without questioning. This wasn't quite a year after the Jonestown incident. The PO's remarks gave me goosebumps.

Needless to say, I felt that I had gotten the sign that I was looking for. After that, it was only a matter of time before I started fading.

Perry

It was a combination of things. The flagrant adultry among elders and ministerial servants in most every congration I attended weakened my resolve to support the society.

The falling of the generation doctrine in '95 and especially the sneaky way it was handled firmly convinced me that the WT was an arrogant and unworthy companion in my life.

acsot

Various things over the years gave rise to doubts about the WTS spin on the literal interpretation of the Bible, silly little things, really, like Jonah in the belly of a big fish (I mean, c'mon!!); pre-flood animals were all vegetarian ; the wholesale gleeful slaughter of people as described in the OT, etc.

The single incident that gave me a sufficient shove to disconnect from the collective was the Dateline NBC program on pedophiles in the organisation, then reading on SilentLambs and here victims' stories of abuse and cover-up. Then all the hypocrisy, lack of love, etc. made sense. If there was any Biblical precedent at all for the WTS, it would have been foreshadowed by the Pharisees, not Jesus' apostles.

ChimChim

No single incident here, My mom left and so did I... But all i have to say is i didnt like it, sitting there for 2 hours on my butt, im a hyper kid what can i say

~*!ChimChim-Waffle-Tush!*~

SanFranciscoJim

There were many incidents that led up to my leaving. However, the straw that broke the camel's proverbial back for me came after I was given public reproof for having gone to see an R-rated movie (The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Shortly after being administered public reproof, I moved out of state. An elder in my new congregation took me under his wing, told me that he thought the reproof was "a crock", and had my reproof lifted within a matter of months, thus restoring my zeal for being a JW. A year later, an opportunity arose for me to move to the Caribbean. After I'd arrived there, I was honest with the elders and told them I'd been on reproof but had it lifted. After the elders received my records from the congregation I'd moved from, they wrote a letter to my original congregation for reasons unknown. That body of elders fired back a "nastygram" stating that the second body of elders had no right to lift my reproof without consulting them first, and demanded that my reproof be restored. They did so, even though I'd done nothing else wrong to merit reproof.

That was over 23 years ago. I became disgusted with being played for a pawn in a power struggle between three congregations, so I deliberately went out and did something to get disfellowshipped (back in those days, writing a letter of disassociation was unheard of, or at least never talked about). I went out and got my ear pierced, and started smoking. I showed up for the Memorial sporting a gleaming new earring. The hushed whispers could be heard all over the Hall. A few days later, an elder came to where I was working, and I deliberately lit a cigarette and blew smoke in his face. Naturally, I was brought before the judicial committee that weekend. Oddly, not one word was mentioned about my earring, or my smoking during the entire judicial hearing. They only wanted to hear about my sex life, demanding lascivious details. I was disfellowshipped for being "unrepentant" and for engaging in "conduct unbecoming a Christian".