---"No one in a cult believes they are in a cult."---
So true. I remember seeing a survivor of the Waco fire being asked if she still thought Koresh was Christ (or whatever it was he claimed to be). Her answer was, "I'm not sure".
When I was a JW I thought how lucky I was to have been born into it. How I was one of the few that would survive Armageddon, how if I wasn't exposed to it as a child, I would never have taken to it. It's exactly that idea that started me thinking that no, I never would take to it and neither would 99% of the rest of humanity. It was then I realized that my faith was just based on the common thinking we all have of "that won't happen to me", that somehow we're different than everyone else. I realized that I was just like everyone else, took for granted what I was told as a child and never bothered to think that maybe it was wrong.
Posts by thom
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54JWs are not a cult................
by vitty in...............or so i thought.
when you were an active jw, how did you feel when ppl accused you of being a cult !!!!!!!!!
and do you think its a cult now your out ?
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thom
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22
how much money did you give the borg???
by kid-A injust curious....because i left before being baptized, my parents handled all the donations and i never gave them a penny.
how many posters on this board actually gave large or not so large sums of money to the jws, either directly, or as 'gifts' to pioneers, cos, etc??
?
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thom
I gave a car to a pioneer. Used to put in $50 at each CA/DC.
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11
Today on my birthday.
by ColdRedRain ini karate kicked a friend's car window, then i met up with the guy that introduced me to independent thought and out of the org at a rock concert.
anyways, i'm drunk.
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thom
The car probably deserved it.
Happy Birthday! -
47
Born In, the Difference
by wanderlustguy inborn in, what difference does it make?
i was thinking about this one a lot over the last few weeks.
what difference does it make whether you were born into a cult or were brought in as a teen or adult?
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thom
While a JW, I heard it both ways. Those raised in "the truth" would comment how people who came in later could be so strong, how they "know" the world is so bad and how they made such a decision. How being a JW must be easier for them.
Those who came in later in life saying how much easier it is for someone raised that way. How they never had to deal with all the horrible things of "the world". How "from infancy" they were taught these things, and how lucky those ones are.
I don't know the answers, but I would guess (as someone raised as a JW) that those raised this way may find it easier to be a JW. But also find it harder to leave. What else do we know? We're going out into the unknown. So many of us leave full force. Try everything, cause ourselves some problems maybe, but what do we know? We have no experience. We're children in the real world, no matter what our age. We may have 95% of our family that are JW's (I do). They all look at us like we've failed. We should know better. What fools we are to them. That in itself has a hard impact on us. Personally, the disappointment of my family hurts me, but am I supposed to live my entire life according to their wishes? For them? Isn't it my life? Then comes realizing their selfishness and how disappointed you are in them for treating you that way.
So I think there could be quite a difference. Both in if people are able to stay in, and if they are able to leave. From my own experience, I would say it's harder for one born in to leave. -
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thom
May 1984. I didn't pay attention to the day even then. Didn't mean much to me, I was getting baptized because I was 19 and "it was about time".
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thom
I think I've been tempting it. Posting my picture here, talking about stuff in my life that people that know me would easily recognize. Sometimes it seems like something to just get over and done with.
---"Don't worry, when you're inactive, they make up stuff."---
Exactly!
The only JW's I associate with at all are my father, grandmother and business partner. They would all still talk to me, but they would get pressure to stop and I feel bad for them. Any other JW's that recognize me in stores already shun me and make faces. I know the rumors going around, they get back to me. I also know where they start, my dad's wife, who hates me to no end.
I think the main reason that I just don't out myself is because that's what she wants to see, she'd love to see me get df'd, it would make her day. -
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thom
Ministerial Servant and Regular Auxillary Pioneer. Married to a Regular Pioneer.
Literature Servant, Territory Servant, money counting at conventions. The guy who everybody thought they could dump their problems on because of course I didn't have any of my own. "You're so lucky you were raised in the truth". Uh huh. -
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I'm Off to the Hospital
by Undecided ini have to be there in 38 minutes.
i'll get back to y'all when i'm able after my prostate operation.
wish me luck!.
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thom
Good luck, Undecided.
Hope you're home soon and feeling well. -
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Which meetings did you hate the most?
by JH inout of the 5 weekly meetings, here are the ones i hated the most.. in order.
1. theocratic ministry school ( i hated speaking in public) got me so nervous.. 2. service meeting ( too much crap and statistics and presentations).
3. the book study ( just a waist of time ).
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thom
I hated the book study at someone's house. For some reason my daughter wouldn't act like a 45 year old who was interested in what was going on when she was 5. Of course we always got the seats right in the middle of the room.
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Serial Killing More Common Among White Boys
by Valis inyep that's right if you are a white boy you are most probably a serial killer, because richard ramirez and wayne williams were only flukes.
never you mind anyone on the planet could be a potential serial killer, all we know at this point is most of the ones we have caught are whiteys...see?
i told you so!.
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thom
Oh, I haven't killed that many people!