Why did you "choose" to become a Witness?

JH

This question is for those who weren't born in the Org, or whose parents didn't drag them into the Org.

Why did you chose to become a JW?

Vivamus

Chose? I think lured is a better term ..... and its cuz i was stupid and young, looking for myself and young.

jeanniebeanz

Had to; dad was an elder and it was expected.

Jean

I "chose" to become a witness because nobody forced me. I was 27 when I joined and 28 when I got baptized. No one in my family is a JW and they never understood why I became one. My parents at the time said, "that isn't you, you are so different from them".

I guess I joined because they convinced me that the end was very close and my life depended on it.

lonelysheep

I never became a jw because I backed out of deciding that I wanted to get baptized...and all the deeper studying that comes with it.

I chose to start studying with them because I felt like I needed their guidance. At the most vulnerable point in my life, my ~~heart condition~~ mentality was set up to listen to anything anyone had to tell me with no questions asked.

FairMind

Initially what attracted me to Jehovah’s Witnesses was the soundness of their core doctrines. I did not automatically accept or reject the basic teachings (soul, hell, paradise earth, no trinity) but spent a considerable amount of time consulting various Bible translations and thinking deeply on these doctrines. I became and still am convinced that the core doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are what the Bible supports. I never had a problem with not celebrating holidays or birthdays although I don’t accept the reasoning the WTS has for not celebrating birthdays. Of course there are many things that the WTS teaches that fall into the realm of “going beyond what is written” and “adding to and taking away”.

Also, I was at a fairly early age convinced that the churches were full of hypocrites and MONEY was the primary force driving the religious clergy. What I thought I saw in Jehovah’s Witnesses (and it is true of many) was a more sincerely spiritual mindset.

While the foregoing is what attracted me to become one of to Jehovah’s Witnesses , being one and seeing up-close how things really are is what is leading me away. FM

JeffT

I was coming out of a mental breakdown and it seemed like a good place to settle in with friends. The JW's do a very good job of hiding the real nature of the organization from new recruits. You don't know what you're getting pulled into until it's too late.

Narkissos

I was about 12 when my father and stepmother started studying with JWs, and we children were quickly imposed a "family study" with the Paradise book. For months I resisted a lot with the little I knew (especially very vague notions on evolution). One Sunday I decided to go to a JW meeting with my stepmother, out of sheer curiosity, and I was quite surprised because it was not at all what I expected (neither like the caricatured "cult" ritual I imagined nor like the Catholic liturgy I knew). From this moment I was strangely willing to think "in the box," almost instantly dropping all critical thinking. When we came back from the meeting I asked for a more "serious" book and was given Make Sure of all things. I read it all in a few days. A few months later I was baptised. Another few months later I started having serious doubts, but now the question was different: it was either "God" or "the world". And as I didn't think I could live "against God", I swallowed my doubts down and started running the faster I could to escape my own shadow -- in other words, I became overzealous. A nearly 15-year silly trip had begun.

stillajwexelder

Very simply - I did not want to die at Armageddon

Khazar

Greetings everyone,

I guess by now you all are aware that I am new here. I was 17 with two small children when I chose to become a Witness. It was a difficult decision to make. I had read extensively on evolution and psychology and the doubts about living forever, etc. were overwhelming. However, I thought about how wonderful it would be for my children so I pushed my doubts down as far as I could and became a Witness. Later in life my doubts would do me in with mental breakdowns. Anyhow, I am OK now since I found this site months ago. I thank everyone here for their input. It is informative AND funny. God, how I laugh at the sense of humor you all have. It makes my day. I never knew any Witnesses who had a sense of humor when I was in the Org. I wonder how it comes about that most ex's develop such a wit when they get out. Any ideas on that?

Why did you "choose" to become a Witness?

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