this psychiatrist makes sense to me.. https://youtu.be/l5wcqc6m-gi.
BETH SARIM:
I remember those forced smiles at the conventions. But, I wasn’t impressed by any of the heavies there.
As far as mental health goes, if I wasn’t looking after myself financially and planning for my Retirement back then (because I was on my own with nobody supporting me).. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night.
Today, I am ever grateful.
i've never been a witness so i never left.
graeme hammond writes:.
for some years i’d had a growing irritation and disillusionment with the religion: i was getting tired of the pompousness, the arrogance and the control, i felt increasingly choked by their restrictions and i was drained by their demands on my time.
TITCH:
While I may not have left the JW religion for those reasons, in the years following I came to the same conclusions you did.
I may have expressed a curiosity about the bible, but that would never move me to ever get involved with a religion again! That’s over.
While I would never knock anybody else who wants to join a church for social reasons, there would be ‘issues’ because I’m single. Like the Witnesses, they are looking for money and women to do favors!! I knew a very kind, gullible woman who got involved with one of those newer Christian religions. She was befriended by someone who ended up being a squatter in her house. She’s lucky she got rid of her.
The country has very many needy locals plus many immigrants.. Many join churches and not just because they are ‘spiritual’.. They are seeking help and assistance - not only from the institutions themselves.. but they latch on to other parishioners!
Even though I am not gullible like my friend, I have no desire to be around any individuals ‘looking for something’. So, in addition to ‘having no spiritual cravings’, I don’t need a repeat performance of negative things I observed in the JW religion! Nope. 👎
this psychiatrist makes sense to me.. https://youtu.be/l5wcqc6m-gi.
LEE MARSH:
I also agree that many JWs are unhappy or depressed for the reasons you mention.
Of course, some (especially men) would be in denial about this because it is stigmatizing. ‘Who me? Nothing wrong with my brain!’ It is also interesting as you mentioned that many when leaving the religion need therapy.
I think even the most seemingly well-adjusted people there have some issues rolling around inside their heads that they hide.
have you seen this video about the covid vaccines?
have you got any views on the information?
i find it worrying at least.
CHEVELLE:
Yes, a good comparison between the two.
Not to derail the topic but I know what you mean with the about-face attitude:.. first they not-so-gently ‘suggest’ that rank & file JWs do something (whatever that is); then when that something later turns out to be a disastrous failure..they say things along the lines of ‘nobody forced anybody to do anything’, etc.
Probably congregations today still have a few people around who never quite recovered from following advice in the KM you cited before the 1975 end-of-the-world failure.
acts chapter 2 clearly shows (in jw minds) that door-door preaching was a must for all converts.
(acts 2:37, 38, 41, 42) “now when they heard this, they were stabbed to the heart, and they said to peter and the rest of the apostles: “men, brothers, what should we do?” peter said to them: “repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of jesus christ for forgiveness of your sins, but also, preach to others by knocking on their doors.
...and on that day about 3,000 people were added.
PHIZZY:
I agree. They did not do a blanket door knocking, but stayed at certain people’s homes! People offered hospitality back then.
They preached in the synagogues and/or out in the open.
jehovah has to kill 9 billion humans in the big a. does anyone remember any talks on the actual logistics of "day 2"?
with no infrastructure it sounds like gb style madmax..
GMAN2001:
If there is to be little infrastructure left after the ‘great tribulation’/‘Armageddon’, I wonder why they are building these massive studios now?
Oh yeah, these buildings will magically be ‘protected’ from the lightning bolts and heavenly missile strikes!
i've never been a witness so i never left.
graeme hammond writes:.
for some years i’d had a growing irritation and disillusionment with the religion: i was getting tired of the pompousness, the arrogance and the control, i felt increasingly choked by their restrictions and i was drained by their demands on my time.
VANDERHOVEN7:
You were never a Witness? You could have fooled me. Just because people reply to a post doesn’t mean they read all the posts that person ever made.
I agree with most of the points of the person you quoted. In my case, I hated the intrusiveness and lack of boundaries people had. If you were single they imagined they could say anything or ask any question. I hated the snitch culture. I hated the exploitive nature of it (although they got nowhere with me since I was criticized over my job). There’s more..
Over time the negatives got to be too much and even though I considered leaving, I figured I would put things on the back burner in hopes things would improve. (Ha ha).
Then came the 1995 Generation teaching and I knew it was Over. I planned my ‘Fade’. Because I was already in the workforce and not a born-in, it was pretty easy.. I was already in ‘reality’ my whole life.. I had friends and connections outside. Aside from a few kind JWs, the rest were no loss to me. To them, I was probably a hologram on the wall they just didn’t see anymore.
I’m just glad the whole thing was finally over. No loss that I wasn’t popular. I am grateful I followed my instincts.👍🏻
here’s a couple good ones: a. jesus said, “come to me and i will give you rest”.. why did jesus command us to go to him and not jehovah?.
why does the bible say that the name of jesus is above every name?
.
The scripture in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 which says: “He that does not work shall not eat.”
I never heard this scripture stressed at all when I was in the JW religion. I wondered if it was because the religion was against careers and gainful employment. Truthfully, they were against anything which took somebody away from full-time ministry. They imagined people were just going to half-heartedly do part time work and maybe get handouts and charity.. Meanwhile, those who did this their whole life have a problem when they hit retirement age!
I know some JWs might feel their ministry is ‘work’, but it is not really.
i was 12 years old in 1975. how old were you then?
all jw's were counting the years till armageddon.
towing the line was the only thing that would get you through it.
SEA BREEZE:
I just watched this YouTube. I’m a little older than you and wasn’t yet in the Witness religion in 1975.. I was in blissful ignorance about everything.
In watching the video and hearing former JWs give their eye-witness account of what happened, I’m not surprised they left the religion. When I came in the late ‘70s nobody talked about this.. I might have had second thoughts about getting involved with the religion if I knew about this and earlier failed prophecies.
The sad part is this failure was kept hidden from newer JWs in the following years! This explains why a lot of newbies don’t know this history.
Problem is history repeated itself to some degree in the last two decades with some JWs making similar mistakes of selling homes, leaving the workforce before their actual retirement age to go ‘where the need is great’, etc. They were sure Armageddon was coming soon!.. Then the money runs out and rumor has it they are contacting JW friends to send them money!
This adds yet more needy people to Witness congregations - which is why I’m Glad to be nowhere near this mess! As another poster says: ‘The chickens have come home to roost’.
is this the "great tribulation" which jesus warned he would bring upon the corrupt christian congregations worldwide, (revelation 2:22; 7:14) or is it the same 1st century g.t.
which he said would never occur again?
(matthew 24:21).
LEE MARSH:
Your story is interesting and thank God you never listened to anybody and had your baby - and grandchildren, etc. Thankfully, you had your college education and the career you wanted.
I agree that you cannot state enough that nobody should listen to them! By them, we mean both the religion and the busybody enforcer people in the congregation. Unfortunately, the desire to be liked and accepted is strong and too many fall for it! Thankfully we didn’t.
I am eternally grateful I never listened or paid any heed to what anybody said there.. If I had, I would not be Retired today. Very sobering. The religion and those busybody people would certainly not be supporting me now!! Believe me, this was a life lesson learned!
