For those who joined themselves.

by pc 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  pc

  I was wondering for those unlike myself, born into the borg, what made you come. What did they show you that changed your view of religion or God. There is an elder in my dad's congregation who trys to preach to me when I visit. He says he was a atheist and did all this research and came to be a JW. He supposedly can read Greek (probably a lie) and trys to prove John 1:1 should read "a god". He seams like a bright guy, must be one the internet, I just wonder how he can still believe it.

  any input appreciated. pc
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  dorothy

  I joined because I was in a bad situation and thought it would help. Had just broken up with my boyfriend, had a 5 month old baby, not from the city but decided to stay here anyway. Along cam a Dubbie, saw sad, pathetic me and they thought "Easy Prey". Or maybe it was "Hey, there's a solid number for a service report." Regardless, the swooped in and I didn't stand a chance.
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  under74

  I'm not unlike you-I was born into it as well but my thought about the elder is that he believes what he wants to believe. Most people just believe what they want to. My statement is pretty simplistic but I'm thinking that many people that join are looking for something even if they don't know it-some might call this vulnerability. He (the elder you mention) may have said he was an atheist but I'm sure if he had been secure in that he wouldn't have become JW. Anyway, I knew JWs that said they were atheist before going into "the truth" but when I think about it now they described more of an agnosticism.
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  confusedjw

  I joined because it seemed logical.

  IF I had the power I would raise people from the dead to give them a second chance (or first chance) at a good life.

  The idea of limited people in heaven makes sense to me - a heavenly government.

  The 1914 thing combined with the dating from Daniel & WWI seemed to give them "special knowledge"

  They seemed to practice what they preached. For instance not going to war.

  I liked being around people that wanted to do the right thing.
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  Bubbamar

  Gee, Confused...when you put it that way its kind of sad that it didn't work out for you.

  I was born into it and I've often wondered the same thing....how do adults get hooked. I know for my mom they "tickled her ears" with the promise of seeing her dead baby again (alive). She still clings to that one thing and has walked away from her 2 now-living children for this hope.
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  DanTheMan

  My parents did not prepare me for adult life. Not by a longshot. Nice people, but pathetic as parents.

  So for me it was an escape from growing up and accepting life's harsh realities, a narcissistic regression if you will. I was *very* flattered by the initial attention that I received from JW's, and I became thoroughly convinced in a very short period of time that they really were at center stage of a great cosmic drama that was being played out. Becoming involved with JW's gave me a rush unlike any other I had ever experienced.

  The structure, the steady stream of literature, the black and white answers, the sense of community and having a purpose, it was all very intoxicating to somebody like me, a directionless, fearful, and socially awkward lad. I wasn't at all skeptical of anything I was reading or hearing, I soaked it all in and wondered why more people didn't become JW's. Oh yeah, because they're blinded by Satan.

  It's really embarrassing, looking back now.
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  confusedjw

  True Mr. Pug and I still wish for the days of being comforted by the thought of the new system. But...

  For all the negative I think I'm a better person for having been one. I think I do a better job with my kids and for some reason, even though I was hook line and sinker into it - I have given my kids a very normal childhood.

  So I guess it's all well that ends well.

  Of course if I get DF'd it would not be too good as many relatives on my wife's side are in and the relatives that studied with me are in as well.
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  Narkissos

  I was about 13.

  My parents had divorced when I was 9. During the next few years I was a boarder in a Catholic school, only getting back to one of my "homes" during the week-end, as the custody trials were going on. It was a very sad period of my life. I somehow believed in God, was afraid of hell at times, and couldn't bear the religion which was imposed to me while I was there (we were not churchgoers before). I refused confirmation as I didn't believe. I remember praying once in the schoolyard, something like "o God, if this is really what you want me to do, I'll do it. But it seems so faked. If there is something else, I'd like to know."

  Some time later, my father told me he was studying with JWs along with his second wife. I shared in some studies, with little interest, until my stepmother invited us kids to a meeting. I expected to see something weird, and instead of that, simple and friendly people, no ceremony, no ritual. Everything seemed to be explained from "the Bible". It was so different from the church. When I came back home I got the book Make sure of all things and read it through. This very day I chose to believe it all. What did I really know? Very little. But I badly needed something to make sense. A few months later I was baptized along with my father and stepmother.

  About one year later I had serious doubts... OK, I already told the rest of the story...
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  missy04

  Very lonely, very impressionable. And loved the attention and comfort they offered. I didn't have to go looking for people to love me anymore. I had appointments for it three times a week. It's all starting to feel staged and fake now, though, with the exception of a few people. And even if I tried, they couldn't possibly see past what they hear because it's "bad" to question.

  I just wanted to be loved and was in awe of the fact that they "WANT" to love me.

  But it's just too staged, fake, rehearsed.