I read and replied to a post today about weather there were any benefits in been a JW. As much as I now dislike the religion, I had to agree that there was an up side, due to their strong stance on alcohol, gambling, smoking, and sexual practice. We would all agree that these can be terrible vices that can get out of control.
i was at one point a true believer, who believed in these rules, and to a point have benefited from abstaining from these practices.
When I left the religion I was nearing 40, and I faded purely because I didn’t believe in the edits of 8 men in Brooklyn. I was past all the nonsense of younger years. So my view on the above hasnt changed, although I hold a completly different view of the organisation that in forced it.
I would say that the majority of those who leave in their younger years would do so not so much for intellectual reasons but because they are allured by the attractions of secular society. Of course not having developed worldly wisdom, and caution they very soon find themselves in very sorry circumstances. I know of one example where the young individual ended up a prostitute, with a drug habit.
So my question is? Do the reasons for leaving and the age at which an individual leaves affect the out come in their lives. I can site a few cases where they would of been better off still JWs.