I was raised in 'the truth ' from the age of 9, when my parents came 'into the truth'. I was the perfect little witness girl, went out in field service - without complaint, gave talks (well the way you do in two's when you are female!), I was even on the list of people they called on when someone did not turn up to give their talk and would get up with only 30 min prep time! As well as this I did not associate with those who were not deemed spiritual enough!!! When I think of that part I really cringe because at the age of 13/14 I was told to stay away from one sister who was seen as a bad associate ? what was her crime you may ask ? well she was being abused by her father and she was told that it was her fault as she was wearing to much make up and her clothing was too worldly! That ?brother? went on to abuse another girl in the hall and still no charges were brought and it was all handled inside the KH. I am lucky to have made contact with the girl I was told to stay away from and now keep in regular contact (she too has left the JW?s)
My mum had always questioned things and was seen by the elders at times to be hard work, but they always seamed to be able to convince her it was ?the truth?. Although they saw her as hard work they did think she was pretty spiritual and they did respect her. I got baptised at the age of 15 and was determined to leave school to pioneer. At this point my mum was determined that I go to university as I had got really good grades at school. I had a chat with the elders about it and they told me that I was doing really well to endure persecution from my parents and not to give in. They encouraged me all the way to give up education and pioneer. I became a pioneer at 16 and went through pioneer school very young.
At 20 I began having doubts about my choices in life. As I struggled to support myself in part time work and pioneering full time, I began to notice that the very elders who had encouraged me to endure my persecution had sent their children to University and they now had good jobs with prospects. As I began to open my eyes I saw that there was a rule for the rich and a rule for the poor. The class system is very much alive and well in ?the truth?!
My best friend at the time ? a fellow pioneer (who actually defied this theory as she came from a wealthy family) and I began sharing confidences about our doubts and we began to go out to pubs and nightclubs at the weekends. The elders found out that we had each been dating a worldly boy and we were brought up in front of them. They asked me if I was sorry for my actions and I answered honestly that I did not know if I was sorry or not. I explained that it had only just hit me that night what I had done and I asked for another day to think about it and I would give them an honest answer the next day. They said no - that I had to give them an answer there and then. I told them that my conscience would not allow me to say I was sorry when I didn?t know if I was or not. They said that they would just have to disfellowship me then.
My friend also up in front of the elders that night just after me, was asked if she was sorry (her father was an elder and rich) - she said no. They asked her again are you sure you are not sorry, again she said no. They then asked her to go outside for 10 mins to think about her answer. She came back and still said no, she was not sorry. They then had a chat amongst themselves and must have decided that they did not have any other option but to disfellowship her too.
So just before my 21 st birthday I was disfellowshiped. My parents, friends and family were told that they were no longer allowed to speak to me. I did not talk with or see any of them for about 3 years. During this time I began to rebuild my life. Eventually, my parents did begin to talk with me again as did other members of my family as ?new light? came out about families and disfellowshiping!
I have had various other issues and upsets with them including issues over family funerals in the hall. I have to admit that although it was horrendously hard to deal with at times I just kind of got on with it until I met up with old friends from the KH who are now ex JW?s themselves. As we got chatting we began to doubt so much of what we were taught and I think began to realise the enormity of the lies we were taught. We each began to research sites like this one as well as other sources of information and just uncovered lie after lie.
I am happy to say that my husband has been a steady rock through all of this. I met him very shortly after leaving the JW?s. When I told him about my ?religious? past he sent me the best card in the world it said simply ?
?Welcome to the world!?
We are raising two lovely children and live in hope that my family who are still JW?s leave and those who have fallen away a bit but still believe never go back!