Did anyone ever notice just how many 30-40 year escapees there are? (page 3)

LongHairGal

JillBeford:

Good analogy! I wasn't around for 1975 but I was around for 1995.

Funny, when 1995 happened I wasn't surprised because I knew they were figuratively running out of time with their lynchpin teaching about 1914 generation. When the article came out there was a lot of talk afterwards, of course. But people didn't actually start leaving right away. No, there was somewhat of a delayed reaction over several years.

Now, what you see is a hall with less than half the people there. And they didn't all die or move away either.

HadEnuf

I think hubbie and I just HADENUF of the cruelty and abuse from the elders and it had been building up over the years. When you reach a certain age you just say..."TO HELL WITH IT" and decide to LIVE during whatever years you have left that weren't ruined by the JWs.

Sure wish we had been smarter years ago! Such a waste of years .

Cathy L.

NewYork44M

I began my escape in my mid thirties. For me that time was significant. While raised in the org, I was facing mid-life totally burned out on the faith with numerous doubts about what I believed. This was compounded by the "generation" change in 1994. I was at a life "crossroad."

The issue was: if I was going to get out I needed to get out soon eoungh so that I could recoup some of my life. While I did an extensive fade, I also went to grad school part time and very agressively persued a career that I could not obtain while being a part of a publishing and real estate development religion.

Ten years later here I am. While I have accomplished a lot, I still have a lot of anger and feel that I am years behind where I should be in my life and career.

For what it is worth, that is my story.

jeanniebeanz

For me, it was the fact that when I was disfellowshipped and found out what it would take to go back, I decided that if I was going to put myself through that I better be damn well certain it was the 'truth'.

I began to do my own research, got online, and the rest is history. Once I realized how their beliefs and control system were not even Christain let alone scripturally accurate, I decided to do whatever I could to get my kids out and never go back.

Once the GB lost control of the information available on their history and doctrines, it was just a matter of time before they started losing people like me. If I had been disfellowshipped in the mid 80's or earlier, I may have gone back. The info was just not available to do research into the history, and there was not a way to contact others who had doubts. With the Internet, the information became readily available along with the ability to meet others in the same boat. The Internet was invaluable in my ability to escape this abusive cult and free my children from the same.

J

candidlynuts

i think the 30 -40s sat thru a more concentrated amount of talks at assemblies and the hall spouting " YOU"LL NEVER GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL! THE END WILL BE HERE BEFORE THEN! YOUR OF THE GENERATION THAT WILL LIVE THRU ARMAGEDDON AND WITNESS THE END!"

remember when the youth book was released? all the kids were called to the front of the stage and talked to about how the end will be here before they are adults, the end will be here before you have to consider marriage! you'll have your children in paradise! etc etc

aaaaaaaaaaargh

Honesty

I have always been a bit slow with my thinking ability due to years of being 'inculcated' and 'mentally regulated' by an apocalyptic cult.

garybuss

When the fear of leaving was less than the aggravation of staying I left. The Witness people I was exposed to were mean, dishonest, and bigoted. My biggest problem with the Witnesses wasn't Witnessism, it was theism. I made a pretty decisive break from Witnessism. It took over 20 more years to challenge theism. Nothing really made sense till I did that.

I was raised as a Witness by Witness parents and baptized when I was 12 according to the family merit doctrine. I accepted Witness doctrine as fact and truth and I used those teachings to run my life. The Witness beliefs I accepted as my core beliefs were badly flawed.

I came to appreciate the difference between evidence and proof, between subjective and objective, and between fact and opinion.

Swan

The farther and farther we got from 1975, the more and more I began to realize the big A wasn't coming. Their mishandling of 1975 by blaming the rank and file, disfellowshipping Ray Franz, hidden pictures in Watchtower articles, the increasing totalitarian feel to the organization, the dumbing down rules implemented under the banner of "simplification", and how my little voice kept humming the theme to "Weird Science" every time I picked up the Creation book lead me to believe this wasn't the true religion back in July 1986. I stayed in another 7.5 years until 1994 because I wasn't ready to let go of my whole family. I was born and raised a JW. It was the only life I had been prepared for. Eventually, at the age of 35, I summoned the courage to make needed changes in my life, since it wasn't getting any shorter.

Tammy

Mr. Kim

Why are people leaving the WTB&TS?

Answer:

1. Because people are learning "the real truth."

2. They have experienced the hypocrisy of the WTB&TS and from the flock

3. The lack of love within the various congregations

4. The Elder lordship, dictatorship and associated problems

5. The lack of change for the better and for TRUTH

6. The lies

7. The lack of trust

8. The willingness to hurt and discard

9. The mind control

10. The lack of freedom from social abuse and other abuse......................

and on and on and on!

mcsemike

I just finished my BA in Psychology and learned many things about this issue. I don't know if it's always just learning that the WT has lied or obtaining information about their history on the Internet that we didn't know when we got baptized. ( I am also a network engineer and have spent thousands of hours researching the WT and child abuse for my college work and also because my daughter was raped by a JW and the typical nonsense occurred such as is described on Silent Lambs.) I have found that many leave because they evolve emotionally, but more importantly, psychologically, beyond the need they once had to "belong" or to "find the meaning of life". I have worked with people of high IQ's and great education, yet they became JW's and remained so for decades. It is obvious to most people that this religion cannot be the truth. The analogy might be silly to some, but if an impartial alien landed on Earth, read the Bible and studied human history, that alien would never choose the WT as the truth. If "religion was taken to court", so to speak, it would lose, especially this one. I have discovered from my research that most people leave because some straw breaks the camel's back (in my case, the ill treatment of my daughter, her being called a liar and a whore by servants and pioneers and the elders' refusal to discipline these "exemplary people" <vomit, vomit>) and my being punished for criticizing the policy of the WT instead of the elders fixing it. They also leave becaue they outgrow the need to be "love-bombed" and realize that in reality, the WT violates the Bible teaches that they so piously claim to be the only ones on earth obeying. When people grow older, they tend not to tolerate hypocrisy so easily. And one excellent point is that if someone has nothing to lose, the WT cannot punish him anymore. I no longer believe in God, I don't fear God or the devil, and don't care if I live or die. Much of this is due to the depression that struck me when my family left me after I quit the JW's. I have undergone treatment and am basically cured, but realize that we all die eventually and I don't want to serve a god who would use such a perverted cult to do his work. The WT cannot hurt me any longer. I now plan to write a book about my experience and have already arranged for media coverage of the book and future appearances on TV, radio, and newspapers. Being familiar with the Internet, I know how to "get the word out". I just hope I can save the dozens if not hundreds of potential abuse victims before it is too late. If the public is warned about this cult and how it operates, then maybe our children will be safer. PS I appreciate all the comments here and especially all of Randy's hard work to keep freeminds running. It's nice to be able to talk with people who think for themselves and use their brains. It's also nice to be able to have an opinion without worrying about being reported to the Brooklyn Gestapo.

Did anyone ever notice just how many 30-40 year escapees there are?

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