whats your take? When someone asks my wife what religion she is, she seems embarrassed to say she is a JW.

by goingthruthemotions 26 Replies latest jw experiences

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  goingthruthemotions

  So thinking back about the times when someone has asked my wife what religion she is. She sheepishly and seems almost embarrassed to say she is a Jehovah witness. when someone asks me, i just say i am a christian.

  here is another example, during Christmas season this year...we saw one of her friends at a store. and we were talking about the holidays and what things were going to do. all of us participating like real people. then her friends says, oh i forgot you don't celebrate. my wife didn't say anything. it was strange....yet she acts like she is super JW.

  She must suffer from Cognitive Dissonance more than what i believe she does.

  Anyways, do you all ever see this, an active JW... who acts embarrassed to be affiliated with the cult.

  if so, why do they do this ?...in there authentic hearts do they know it's all a bunch of bunk?
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  Divergent

  I was embarrased too, never really proud to be a JW. Especially during field service. I detested knocking on peoples doors, tried to talk to as few people as possible, & just couldn't wait until it was over! I would even look away when cars passed by, hoping that no one would recognize me. That was how embarrased I was!
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  goingthruthemotions

  thanks Divergent, my question to you then is....what woke you up?
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  Divergent

  Curiosity killed the cat. It was a culmination of dissatisfaction, frustration, & other pent-up feelings that led me to scrutinize this religion more closely. It was then that I realized that things just didn't add up! For a while, I still tried to justify to myself that it was still "the truth", but that evaporated quickly. I can say that I woke up pretty fast (within months)

  I quit service altogether quite abruptly. One day while out in service, my partner left me halfway to attend to something. I found myself standing dumbly in front of a door, and I just couldn't bring myself to knock on it without someone standing there besides me! That was when I realized that I couldn't do it any more! I am currently inactive for more than a year, with family still stuck in

  P.S. - I am a born-in... never would have joined this stupid cult if I wasn't!
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  OUTLAW

  my wife didn't say anything. it was strange....yet she acts like she is super JW.

  JW`s lose their "Watchtower Super Powers" Outside of the Kingdom Hall..

  .

  ................

  .......................INSIDE.........................................OUTSIDE..

  ..............The Kingdom Hall.........................The Kingdom Hall..

  ...........
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  Beth Sarim

  Divergent;

  I had a very similar wakening-up. It was gradual over lets say years, even decades. People who learn the real Truth are in somewhat of an overwhelming shock.

  Not with me. It was a build-up over time. Just added and added-up. And when I was convinced, I was not surprised, not surprised at all. A very long process years and years of pent-up frustrations without promises not coming through.

  Also the coolness of the congregations was a large factor. The politics, hypocrisy and judgemental people. Its almost like class distinctions. I remember asking myself during the meetings, What the Hell am I doing here!!!

  Waking-up for me was much, much gradually slower than most. I guess that is why it really didn't hit me too hard. I wasn't actually surprised at all.
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  Wasanelder Once

  When I was half-assed I was embarrassed. Once I went full throttle drone I was a pain in the ass as I "boldly proclaimed my association with God's organization" though the sound of it always came across as corporate to me.
  
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  Beth Sarim

  LOL,

  when I was hard core JW, regular auxiliary pioneering etc, even then I was embarrassed to admit in the workplace or wherever I was JW.

  Maybe it was just my subconscious side telling me something that I was in a wrong religion.
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  Magwitch

  Even when I was a hard core JW, I was ALWAYS embarrassed to belong to an organization that society in general saw as stupid and insignificant.
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  MrMonroe

  When I joined (as an adult) I was very happy to tell people I was a JW. A few years later I moved cities and this time made sure no one knew. I stressed about finding out where my workmates lived because I dreaded the thought of calling on their homes. I spent five years in that city and finally in the last year told the others in my office that I was a JW. They were curious, but wary.

  I moved again for work, and this time told no one: my wife and I would try our best to avoid telling neighbours or (after we had kids) other parents; I certainly kept it a secret at work -- and again obsessed over inadvertently calling at the home of my workmates. I would try to worm out of them (or look up in office diaries) their addresses to make sure I'd never bump into them while I was out witnessing.

  I was always embarrassed about being a JW and dreaded being spotted out witnessing or on my way to or from district conventions. I knew people would regard me as a fruitloop and I desperately wanted to be regarded as normal. It was always my guilty secret and added to the mental turmoil and stress of everyday life. In a way having "the truth" was a burden I felt I was unable to relieve: I "knew the truth" about God, and Armageddon, and the paradise, but it left me with an obligation I didn't really want. I was so relieved when I quit.