Posts by coffee

44

1st post here, on a journey of discovery...

by kerc in

jw
friends

so after a very, very slow process, thinking over things that were stored in a little box in a corner of my mind, i've decided to finally confirm or deny all the doubts i've had about the society.

i'm a 34 year-old married man, work as an it consultant, with two kids, ages 9 and 2. i was "born" in the organization.

so i took everything as true, never questioned anything, and did all that was asked from me.

MY DAD HAS LEFT THE ORGANIZATION!!

by freedomlover in

jw
friends

hold on everybody....ready for this.... .

if you've been reading my posts over the past few months you'd see the research and progress my dad (a former elder) has been making.

he and my stepmom were visiting us this weekend and he told us he's done with the jw's.

coffee_black

Yeah!!! I'm soooooo happy for you!

Coffee

71

GREAT news from Ian -- this one needs its own thread!

by Alleymom in

jw
friends

dear all,

thank you so much for the continued vigils.

and thank you, marjorie, for the continuing reminders!

coffee_black

That is absolutely wonderful!!!! Time to celebrate!!!!!!!!!!!

Coffee

54

From Lurker to Newbie

by Warlock in

this is my first post and it is extremely difficult, but where else can i go?

i'm sure not going to join another religion and most of you have been where i have.

just for the record, i was a drunk, drug addict and dabbler in spiritism when i began studying, which also makes it difficult, because the j.w.

coffee_black

Welcome Warlock! Glad you finally decided to join in!

Coffee

21

This is it; I'm done!!

by WingCommander in

yes, you heard me correctly.

i was born in jw land.

i didnt do the fade i didnt have to.

That video did it for my son too. He was 11 at the time. He was still attending meetings with my jw x .. I was watching the video with a friend when he walked into the room. Something must have caught his attention because he asked..."you mean it's not true?" I said why not watch and see what you think. He sat down and watched the video. When it was through he said. "I'm not going any more. They lied to me." My x made him go for a while...but he had seen through it and didn't buy into it for a minute from that point on.

Coffee

19

Things JW's say: "If I wasn't raised in, I would never have come in."

by under_believer in

jw
friends

every once in a while i hear a jw say "if i hadn't been raised in the truth, i never would have come into the truth.

" have you ever heard that?

wishful thinking?

coffee_black

I actually had this conversation when I was a teenager with one of my jw friends. I said I didn't know how I would have reacted if I was a non jw and a jw came to my door. How would I know...I might have turned them away. She said not to think like that....I'd drive myself crazy.

Coffee

37

What to do - my heart is broken - I feel like a hollow shell ....

by muslima in

nothing in side.. i will give you all the short storyl i was married to an elder - had 3 beautiful chilren -- after 17 years of mariiage -- i couldn't take it all any more.

i bailed when my youngest was 11, 13 and 16.. it was my intention to be no religion at all.

i abhor organized religion.

coffee_black

I truly feel for you. Like you, I ended my marriage after 19 years. Luckily, my children came with me and left the cult. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if they had not.

Regarding your current marriage...you say your husband is pressuring you. Your loving him does not give him the right to dictate your relationship with God. I think you have substituted one cult for another...

In the end, only you can decide what to do from this point. Sounds like you have some tough decisions to make. Maybe you should do what is best for you....and not listen to the emotional blackmail you are receiving from both sides.

Coffee

39

Inquiry mind wants to know

by jw in

jw
friends

what years were you an active jw?.

when was the last year you attended a meeting?.

were you a true christian or did you live a double life?.

coffee_black

Ok...what keeps happening? I'm still missing the last question....last try....

Do you consider yourself a christian , agnostic or an athiest now and why? Christian... I lost faith in a fraudulant organization, but I did not lose my faith in God.

Coffee

39

Inquiry mind wants to know

by jw in

jw
friends

what years were you an active jw?.

when was the last year you attended a meeting?.

were you a true christian or did you live a double life?.

coffee_black

Here's the rest of my post...must have been too big to print in one go.

How different from the simple truths that Jesus taught! Sometime if you get the chance, read just Jesus’ words in the Gospels. It is well worth the effort. You will find a message of love and trust and hope. It is where I now put my faith and trust.

39

Inquiry mind wants to know

by jw in

jw
friends

what years were you an active jw?.

when was the last year you attended a meeting?.

were you a true christian or did you live a double life?.

coffee_black

What years were you an active Jw? 1952 born into it. Baptized in 1960 (age 8) DAed 1993

When was the last year you attended a meeting? 1992

Were you a true christian or did you live a double life? I didn't know what a "true Christian" was as a jw. I thought I did, but I was wrong. I did not lead a double life.

What turn you away from the WTS?

I understand how hard it is for you to see why someone would leave the organization… unless it is for the reasons that you’ve been told by the society. I used to think the same way. Here are some of the assumptions:

1: Must have done something terrible, probably immorality

2: Must not love Jehovah

3: Couldn’t live up to Jehovah’s standards

4: Wanted to pursue worldly things

5: Didn’t like the preaching work

6: Had a bad heart

7: Must have been leading a secret life

8: Someone stumbled him/her

9: Had a bad attitude

10: lost his/her faith

There are more, but I’ll stop there. Sound familiar?

I didn’t leave for any of the reasons on that list. I know you think that I am mistaken about my own mind/heart, so I’ll start at the beginning. It was a very long process for me. I did not wake up one day and think… Ok, today I leave “Jehovah’s organization”.

For a number of years, I had concerns. Something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but like any good JW, I tried to ignore the red flags that arose over time. There were many issues, but I’ll only touch on a just a couple because this will get very long if I try to include everything from a span of many years.

1: My dad died in 1978 of kidney failure. During his lengthy illness the subject of kidney transplant arose. My parents sought the advice of the society, and found that, according to the society, organ transplantation was “against Jehovah’s law”, and that it amounted to cannibalism. My dad did not have a transplant as a direct result of this reasoning. He remained on dialysis (which was not enough in his case) until his death. Two years later, the society changed their policy, and it became a matter of conscience as to whether or not to have a transplant.

I cannot tell you the emotion I felt when reading the “questions from the readers” that was the vehicle for the policy change. Now, most JWs will say that …”well, he was faithful and he’ll be back in the new system.” The question is “who was he faithful to?” It wasn’t Jehovah that demanded that he abstain from a transplant. His death did not result from being faithful to Jehovah…and faithfulness to the instruction of an organization is not the basis by which one gains salvation. Further, my dad was 68 years old when he died, a relatively young man. No one can replace the years he lost… I have 2 children who would have loved to have had a grandfather. He would have enriched their lives immensely. Now, who claims responsibility for this? Was it Jehovah who made the mistake? No….Jehovah does not make mistakes. The society went “beyond what is written” with terrible consequences, consequences that they do not take responsibility for…or even apologize for.

At that point, I was still very much “in” the organization, and I tried very hard to avoid thinking about it.

2: When my son was about 7 years old, one of his friends from the congregation, an elder’s son came for a visit. They were outside playing when a little boy from the neighborhood wanted to join them. The elder’s son started screaming at the little boy telling him that Jehovah hated him….that he wasn’t one of Jehovah’s witnesses and that he was going to die at Armageddon. I heard the commotion and went outside to see the little boy in tears and my son trying to comfort him. I called the elder and asked him to come and get his son. Where does that kind of hatred come from? Any religion that teaches a child to hate is not only unchristian, it’s dangerous.

Still in…trying to rationalize this as an isolated incident…

3: When my daughter was 13, she was very observant, wise beyond her years. She saw things going on in the congregation that she knew were wrong. She asked me on several occasions “Where is the love….isn’t that supposed to be the identifying mark of the true religion? Well, where is it?” I had no answer for her because she was right. It wasn’t there. It wasn’t just one congregation either. We were in several in Florida. I have attended congregations from MA to CA to Fl. The most important identifying mark… and it is virtually absent….

Still in, still trying to make excuses….

Many many more issues arose over time, and I continued to push them to the back of my mind. It got awfully crowded back there….and finally after my divorce in 1990 I decided to assess my life, and examine all that I believed. It was a turning point for me.

As a JW I had told countless people to examine their religion. I had never taken my own advice. I decided to do so. If it really was the truth, I would apply myself “whole-souled” If it wasn’t, it was time I knew. It was Fall, 1990. I was 38 years old.

I have an extensive library of JW publications that goes back to the turn of the 20 th century. I started at the beginning, and read continuously. It took nearly 2 years, and it broke my heart.

The society claims that they were chosen to represent Jehovah in 1918-1919 (depending on which publication you reference.) They claim that they were chosen based on the fact that they, and they alone were teaching Bible truths. If they were truly chosen on that basis, why is it that the teachings of today have little if any resemblance to what they taught then? I know what they taught then, because I have read it from the original publications. Not the same teachings at all….not by any stretch of the imagination.

The first really major books published by the society was the series “Studies in the Scriptures” The final volume was published in 1917, and was the most recent publication at the supposed time of their being chosen. I think every JW should have that book as required reading. It is filled with the craziest stuff I have ever read. And to add insult to injury, on the cover of this book (and all of the Studies in the Scriptures) is the symbol of the Egyptian sun God, Ra. Now I ask you, in examining the religions of the world, do you really think that Jehovah would choose a group that has the symbol of another god on the cover of their main teaching tool? And just what is it doing there to begin with?

It got worse the more I read. Changing teachings…false prophecies… 1874…1914, 1918, 1925…on and on. The original calculation to get to the year 1914 was taken from the measurements of the “Great Pyramid of Giza” from something called the “Pyramid inch”….first written about by Charles Piazzi Smythe…a mystic. The “Ancient worthies” men like Abraham, Isaac & Jacob were supposed to be resurrected in 1925, and Judge Rutherford even had a mansion built for them, and deeded to them. It’s in San Diego, and it was sold in the early 40s after that prophecy failed. Did you know that Adam was the first Pharaoh…and he’s buried in the sphinx? Yup and Jehovah resides in the Pleadies…. On and on. No jw today believes any of this stuff, no thinking person would…but it’s the substance by which they were supposedly chosen by God.

Ah, but you will say…we have new light!!! Look at Proverbs 4:18!! Please do, but this time read the whole chapter. This scripture does not teach “new light”. It is the story of a father teaching his son the best way to live his life… To sum it up: If you live a righteous life, you live an enlightened life. If you live a wicked life, you live in darkness. It has nothing to do with justifying changing teachings. Jehovah doesn’t change. Truth doesn’t change.

This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. It is truly a mess. There is literally nothing to trust!

Ah, but they are imperfect men, you say. They’ve made mistakes that’s all. Ok, then why not judge all religions by the same standard.? They are also made up of imperfect men. The society condemns all other religions for doing things that they themselves are guilty of. Why a double standard?

As I said before, it would have been easier to ignore the evidence and stay. ..to bury my head and try to ignore the facts. It was all I ever knew…ever believed…and it crumbled before my eyes. My consciennce won’t allow me to remain part of that organization. Live up to their standards? No, it’s the other way around. They do not live up to my standards. And they definitely do not live up to Jehovah’s standards. Faithful and Discreet Slave? There is nothing faithful nor discreet about their record. They are not who they claim to be. Their history confirms this sad fact.

How different from the simple truths that Jesus taught! Sometime if you get the chance, read just Jesus’ words in the Gospels. It is well worth the effort. You will find a message of love and trust and hope. It is where I now put my faith and trust.

coffee_black

Posts by coffee_black