I didn't fully drop it untill I started studying paganisim...
I guess paganisim just seemed more real... you can feel it, taste it, touch it. Christianity just seemed like such a ,,, myth?
(besides... I like being a witch!)
after i read coc and left the dubs for a short while i considered myself christian.
the way franz explained it, all that is required is to have faith in jesus and to love your neighbor as yourself and then you will be 'saved'.
the more i started pealing away at the onion though the dumber the premise of someone dying for my 'sins' seemed, and i just lost faith in it altogether.
I didn't fully drop it untill I started studying paganisim...
I guess paganisim just seemed more real... you can feel it, taste it, touch it. Christianity just seemed like such a ,,, myth?
(besides... I like being a witch!)
seriously, just wondering.
they (dubs) say that most of us are booted 'cause of that.
i personally was but only because i was already out mentally and in every other sense.
I was DF'ed for being un-repentant... what was my sin?
the "F" word... Fornication of course! lol
Although if I was on "trial" now there would be a long list:
-Smoking prohibited plants
-Speeding Excessively
-Homosexuality
-Fornication
-Idolatry
-Excesses of Wine
-Consulting a spirit medium
-Speaking out against the "Faithful and discreet slave"
... the list goes on and on!
did you ever dream that you'd be posting here too?
I was a model witness in a model family.
I NEVER thought I would be here... not in a million years...
-Kristy
they were jws and blame everything on their jw past???
i know of people that never tried to get ahead or prosper themselves because they were witnesses.
never bought a house or a brand new car because they would rather rent and drive around in a jalopy that would break down.
As painful as it was to leave being a witness, to be honest, I think there have been some positives...
1) I use my sales skills in my job... (it really helps)
2) I find going door to door when I was young gave me alot of confidence. I am not afraid to talk to "strangers" or to meet new ppl.
3) Because my parents wanted me studying early, I have read alot of books have a good vocabulary and speak publicly with ease.
I am constantly trying to think of what I learned as a witness; like things I would want to do the same or very differently.
Bad things happen to good people: I count myself lucky it wasn't worse...
~Krystal
something i?ve wanted to ask you all for a while.
had you 100% denounced jw doctrine to yourself at the time of your leaving the org?
i know many have said that specific issues prompted them to leave i.e., wt membership in the un, silent lambs/child molestation policy, malawi political party card issues, inconsistent changes in doctrine i.e., 1975/1914 generation not passing?new light begets old light begets new light etc.
Frog,
Daniel (the "worldly" man) was the first non-witness I ever loved. The more I loved him, the more I could not bear the thought of my life without him. Would I enjoy paradise if he wasn't there? Why didn't he deserve to be there too? Could I bear to let him get "destroyed"?
As an imperfect human, I could not bear to see him hurt... so how could a perfect, loving God destroy him?
This are the questions that started my journey. From there it just all fell apart.
It definetly hasn't been easy since I am so young. I moved out of my parents house and ceased all communication with them at 17. (at which time I was pregnent!!) I could have really used a mom to talk to for the past three years...
But you know, even having lost my biological/"spiritual" parents/family, I have gained others. Witnesses like to make you think that if you leave the nest that you will not find companionship like you will within the organization. Personally, I think it is the exact opposite...
The friends I have now are my friends because they like me NOT because they have the same beliefs and it is convient...or because the elders told them they have to be nice to me.
I just feel bad I couldn't bring my three sisters with me.
Of course, I think about all my family and friends often, but despite the hardship, I really believe I am better off out of the organization. (even if that makes me an orphan)
Besides... I love sleeping in on the weekends!!!
something i?ve wanted to ask you all for a while.
had you 100% denounced jw doctrine to yourself at the time of your leaving the org?
i know many have said that specific issues prompted them to leave i.e., wt membership in the un, silent lambs/child molestation policy, malawi political party card issues, inconsistent changes in doctrine i.e., 1975/1914 generation not passing?new light begets old light begets new light etc.
For the first 17 years of my life I was a witness... and unlike many of you, I did not leave because I disagreed with their doctrines/teachings. I left because I chose to be with the person I love. (Sucks for me... apparently that is not part of god's plan)
I have found it exceedingly difficult to "de-program" myself. I often find myself thinking.... "what if they are right?"
They have an done an excellent job of planting fear in my mind. I constantly remind myself of the rational explinations of exactly why they are not right. My family are very active witnesses; extremely devout, as was I. I haven't spoken to anyone related to me in over 3 years.
To be honest Frog, I am very releaved to hear you feeling the same thing. I also think it is normal, you cannot expect 15+ years of indoctrination to disappear overnight.
I think the thing that pops into my head the most is my grandfather. He passed away a couple of years before I left. I love him very much and I miss him very much. When he died, I had the logical witness response "You will see him again, he is just sleeping, he will wake up to paradise" The most difficult part, is that I have had to "greive again"... not knowing for sure exactly where he is and if I will ever see him again. It is times like that, I almost want to believe their easy solution; it would hurt less.
In answer to your question: NO. I have not conquered the indoctrination. But I am working on it.
Brave Boy...
Good luck!
if someone put a gun to your head and you had to choose, which one would you say is the worst?
also, which religion is more doctrinally incorrect?
which religion has the most false end of the world dates?
I went to school with some fellow witnesses and some mormons... the witnesses were dressed better...
i would like to know how the study starts...... what kind of information is given to the potential new convert when he / she starts studying with j.w.
's., lesson to lesson.. what is taught in the first few "lessons".. when the brainwashing starts to be taught.
how many lessons it takes to convince the student that the w.t.
I cannot say really how many "studies" I think it takes since I was "brought up in the truth"
But I can say this, my first memory of my mother his her tucking me in at night and saying, "Thanks Jehovah for your good bed"
I couldn't talk/walk or even hold my head up own my own yet and I was already being "brainwashed"
i always loved to collect books.
if any jw came and looked at my bookshelf now they would turn probably turn white.
"The Witches Bible" - Janet and Stewart Farrar
I bet they wouldn't like the pentagram hanging around my neck either...
LOL