Welcome Sarah.... My advice is to read "Combatting Mind Control " After reading Crises of Conscience . It is NOT the truth. Although I made 10 people Jehovahs Witnesses I truly believe now. I did tnem a great injustice.. Children brought up in this religion -are abusing them. I can freely say that. I brought my kids up in it. I now realize that stopping kids from beings kids is not loving, no school sports, no Christmas, no birthdays, no friends out side the organization, women are subjet to men I could go on & on. My advice to you is Examine all the past prophecy the Old men at the head of this cult said was coming ..... Run dont walk away from the Kingdom Hell. I was there for over 20+ years.
Any thoughts or suggestions........
by sarahj 23 Replies latest jw friends
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Satans little helper
My god a Londoner! We don't see many of them round here.
Don't do it, really, being serious, please don't do it. It will only end in tears, and pain, tears and pain. Honestly.
It's not the truth, I'm sorry but it's a load of bare faced lies. We know, we've been there. Some of us have been there for a long long time, I was and I hated it. You'd hate it, people think you're a wierdo as a JW and let's face it they are right. The beliefs are oppressive and as a young lady you will be expected to marry some spotty little wanker who is in 'good spiritual standing' and probably has bad breath and a suppressed bondage fetish. People will pity you, do you want to go through your life being pitied? and what about Xmas? I only really discovered Xmas 13 years ago and it's fun, do you want to give that up and deny your future children the joys of rabid consumerism?
It's a big pile of pants, you know those smelly white Y fronts your favourite uncle wears, with the skid marks and the none too subtle staining?
What more can I say?
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Thirdson
Hi Sarah,
I spent the first 37 years of my life with JWs. I grew up hearing how bad the world was and how I should not plan for my future outside of school. I was told not to go college, not to have a career and not to save for retirement. Every few years I was told that some event was proof positive that the world's end was very soon. After all the failed expectations I decided I should get on living my life now and not waste it waiting for the impossible dream. I like others here I used the Internet and read several books including Crisis of Conscience to find out the truth about "the Truth".
By all means research the JWs. As for the world, some of it is getting worse and much of it is getting better. Do you want to make your own world bad by dwelling on the negative, or improve it for yourself by seeing and striving for the good?
Please stick around and join in here.
Best wishes,
Thirdson
(ex-JW elder, ex-pat Brit)
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Carmel
welconme sarah if you want a different perspective on the world, go to www.bahai.org and click on the Vision for the Future section and see if you don/t come away with a fresh perspective. Not pushing the Bahai Faith, just think that list of documents are the best set of positive statements on the meaning of the 20th century and beyond that I have seen.
carmel
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seeitallclearlynow
Welcome Sarah!!
I think I speak for most here when I say, feel free to express all those complications that you think might make you seem neurotic or self-obsessed! We're here to listen and support you.
The organization/religion that you're considering going back to is something all of us here are very familiar with, and we mean well when we warn you to research it before you take even one step - because the dangers are not all that obvious at first!
Make sure you understand right from the start, that once you join them, if you ever decide to leave, you will be shunned and vilified for life by friends and Witness family alike.
Remember, "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
Seeit
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seeitallclearlynow
Oh, also, Sarah, if you're looking for a Christian perspective, you might enjoy the audio experiences of many different people who left the JW's over on these websites: JWINFOLINE and TOWER TO TRUTH. I loved listening to them while I surfed. Very personal experiences.
Enjoy!
Seeit
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dh
hi sarah,
welcome to the board... glad you found it, i've found it pretty useful to throw thoughts and ideas into since i joined a month ago, it's like an encyclopaedia of people who really do have their own views on things.
regarding the false, i wouldn't refer to it as 'the truth' for a second, you know, because it isn't the truth.
if you've already left the organisation you've done the hard part (in my opinion) if you haven't and are thinking about it, i guess you have to ask yourself whether your family will still love you if you leave or will the other jw's still love you, if they did at all? you know jw love is a word, and actions speak louder, there are many things about jw's that are totally out of order, just as shunning is in no way shape or form an act of love. i'm lucky in that though i was baptized, when i left, the relationship i had with my family never changed.
as everyone has already said, the world isn't helpless (however imagine where the society would be if it had no printing press, or if it was banned as it is here, they wouldn't even exist), in my mind our world has a certain nature, the planet has a nature, the same as people have a nature that won't ever change, though there are plenty of advancements that have been made over the centuries, fundamentally the nature of people and the planet remains, it was there long before the jw's and i dare say it will be there long after.
it just gets me thinking about the JW way of life
here's the thing... the jw way of life, if you want a way of life, then why not have the jw one... if you're comfortable with it. many religions and individuals live by their own way of life, some people live by a certain way of life because they want to or choose to, some because it is their belief, some were indoctrinated and know no better... choosing to live a way of life that you are comfortable with is one thing, but it is a fundamentally different thing to believing that your one way is the only way, and that all others who do not live by it will be slaughtered. i think it's a serious thing to consider, do you want a way of life based on a lie, whether it's comfortable & secure or not?I may come across as neurotic and self obsessed!!
join the club! best wishes, dh' -
smurfette
Welcome Sarah,
I wish you the best in whatever you decide. I hope if you do decide to be a JW you do so because you believe it is right, not because it would please people in your life who would like to see you back in the truth.
I strongly suggest you research your options as the previous posters have suggested. I know things may seem bad to you now but that is exactly the mindset the JW's (and other organizations for that matter) rely on to get more members. They offer some pretty simple answers to some big problems and that can seem appealing when things look grim.
I also hope you stick around awhile and get to know some of us and hear our reasons for not being "in the truth" anymore. For most of us it goes far beyond the JW's "cramping our style". It is the basic tenets of their belief system, the constant "new light", and controlling mindset that sent many of us packing.
- Margy
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DanTheMan
Greetings from across the pond Sarah!
You sound like an idealistic person. I consider myself to be the same way, and I too despair over the state of the world. Contrary to what others have posted, I do think things are getting worse in the world, and I often wonder if our species is going to make it to the end of this century. Humans are a clever and violent animal.
This is pretty much the same way I felt in 1992 when I came into contact with JW's. At first the message is so appealing - an end to suffering and troubles! Perfect peace! On a perfect earth!
After 10 years of association with "God's true organization" I could no longer take it. For several reasons:
1. The blood transfusion doctrine made no sense to me, I thought it was silly. Little did I know how silly it actually was until I started doing some investigating.
2. Many JW's I knew, especially females, were chronically depressed and totally dependent on medication to function.
3. The repetitive, boring meetings and assemblies, with the non-stop "suggestions" and "counsel" - all designed to goad us into more service, more service, more service. I felt like no matter what I did, it was never enough.
4. The promises of paradise always being so close, yet it never comes. It is almost comical to go back and read JW publications from the 1920's on up until today. The end has always been sooooo close.
5. I hated the idea that we were the only ones going to be saved, and that everybody else was going to get wacked at Armageddon, including my fleshly family who had no interest in JW's. Now if a newly interested person brings up this matter, of course JW's will say, "Oh no, we don't judge, only Jehovah knows their hearts" but once you've been around a while you know what the real story is. JW's and ONLY JW's have any hope of surviving the Armageddon bloodbath.
6. The collective paranoia, and constant rantings about apostates. I got so sick of hearing about how Satan Satan Satan is out to mislead us and rob us of our eternal life by sowing doubts, etc.
These were some of the things that were really bothering me a couple of years ago when I quit going to meetings. But eventually I moved beyond those things to questioning the Bible itself - are its writings truly inspired? Were Adam and Eve literal persons? Did the flood really happen? Is there a great invisible deity in the sky watching over us?
I don't have all the answers, but I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.