i don't mean this as an insult, more of a life experience thing.
i saw a lot of people leave in my years there and a lot were angry with the religion and the people, and some even protested the kingdom halls and wrote things in the newspapers.
a lot though, came back in time, as it was just the comfort zone they felt at ease in.
it was just the comfort zone they felt at ease in
Count me out. When I finally made the decision to leave it was like shrugging out of clothes that never fit right in the first place. The kind you are embarrassed to be seen in, that are too tight, constrictive, pinch and chafe like a burlap bodysuit made two sizes too small. Now I can't even read the Watchtowers without cringing at the thought that I ever bought into their crap. No, without a doubt, I could never, ever go back.
i was discussing with my auntie how in the 70's transplants were not allowed, and then in the 80's they were, and asked that since people died by not having a transplant what evidence this had of gods direction.
he answer enlightened me.
she said "transplants were dangerous in the 70's and so god was protecting his people from them.
I read the same response your aunt made on another forum by another jw apologist. It sounds like a valid reason until you read the article that "brought out" the reason transplants were wrong: they were comparable to cannibalism because it was a matter of taking in another person's flesh for survival. If it was only a matter of being dangerous, why didn't God just direct them to explain that it was not safe? Why go to the extreme of calling it cannibalistic? So far, any JW I have asked doesn't have a good answer, but I know why.
so why not print in the watchtower...even in a question from readers..this 'reasonable' explanation...why are they so scared to do this????
Because so many of the rank and file still don't know about this. It seems to us that everyone must know, but it isn't true. They have been able to successfully hide it by scaring people away from the primary source that educated us about it: the internet.
I'm willing to bet that the majority of witnesses have never even heard a whisper about this scandal. And, unfortunately, many who have completely disregarded it immediately.
I donated a kidney and it was the best thing I have ever done. When I go I hope to help as many people as possible.
I absolutely encourage everyone to make their wishes known to their family members and fill out the drivers lisence.
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or what do you regret most about being a jw?.
for me it's being alienated by my twin daughters.
The very worst thing that hurts every day is that I subjected my children to this religion. The pressure they went through because of my bad choice, the loss of Christmas, birthdays, all celebrations that make a childs world fun and memorable, the pressure to conform at the KH and sit like the "good" witness children, the questions from classmates about why they don't do things, etc., etc. The fact that now they don't know what to believe because we are starting over and they went through it all for nothing. I hope I haven't damaged them forever. That is the worst thing, worrying about what I've done to my kids.
i'm curious, when you made your decision to leave the org.
did you do it before or after looking at this kind of internet sites?.
in my case i made my decision without ever looking any of this websites.
I made the decision to find out it wasn't The Truth before I started looking at these sights. But I always knew they were here waiting for me and that they would be devastating to the JW faith. I gave myself permission to look at them after seeing something else that they lied about.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4666132.stm .
this caught my eyes and reminded me when as a ministerial servant that we had to go into the back room for instructions from the po (not very clever man), he tried his best to explain to us ms and elders about the wearing of beards in the congregation.
he must have gone on and on for 30 minutes about not having beards, but kept impressing that this was not a rule, but beards should not be worn, but its not a rule, just dont expect to have any privileges if you grow one on your face and wear it (sounds like you wear it like a tie he he) but we are not making it a rule, just dont wear a beard.
My husbands hypocrite JW relative was growing a goatee when we saw him at !Christmas!. (This is when we told him we were out). He decided to tell on us, but before he did it, he shaved the goatee. Go figure.
for the newbies, this post is a follow up on my situation regarding the watch tower's law suit against my due to my watch tower quotes web site.
for the background on the story so far, see these threads:
quotes website receives "cease & desist"
Quotes, I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I wanted to offer you a personal thanks. Your site was instrumental in helping me see the Society for what it really is, and it was your site that helped me show my husband the same. You have no idea what this has done for our lives. Thanks.
have any of you in se wi or even any yoopers, written the milw journal sentinel about the ap story yet?
did i miss the article?
if you haven't written, please consider sending off a quick email.
I didn't see it in Sunday's paper, but on the website it was listed under Religion Today and the date was January 26. I assumed it ran in that edition, but I only get it on the weekend so I missed it.
i had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend who is also an ex-jw.
this person is older than i am, and was a jw for a number of decades.
she was talking about worldly relatives that she basically ignored when she was a jw.
We tried to keep normal relationships with our non Jw relatives, but there was always that "thing" there between us. When we announced our decision to leave, all embraced us with open arms and no "I told you so's". Only love and relief. We also heard many "We've been waiting for you" and "We have prayed for so long for you". We had no idea. Nobody ever put any pressure on us. Just the exact opposite of the JW side. Now we really know the meaning of love, not the fake, conditional love of the JW's.
