Hello everyone, I came across this website by accident today, and thought I'd join as I had some experience with Jehovah's Witnesses.
I was introduced to the JWs by a man I had a crush on at work when I was still a teenager. This crush developed into an affair with lots of physical expression, but not actual intercourse (oh no, that would be adultery!!! .... doh .....what was all the other stuff???). When I grew much older I realised that I'd been seduced and my anger was practically uncontainable. But over the years I also matured enough to forgive this person, and I have received many apologies from him also, and we are in contact by email, as friends.
Because of this crush being connected to a person in the Watchtower, the JWs began to have a psychological effect on me. Back then, my "friend" manipulated my feelings by saying things like "if you don't go to the meeting tonight I won't speak to you" etc. etc. I went to meetings, I went witnessing, I got to love the "exclusiveness" of the organisation, but something (probably God) kept me from fully accepting the "Truth" and I wouldn't contemplate baptism. I often frequented Bible bookshops, but still kept on attending meetings because of this man.
Ten years ago a lovely little old lady came witnessing to my door. She was Polish and so friendly. At the time, I was separated, and felt I had no one on earth to care about me. We became real buddies. She often had me to her place for meals. She thought I was going to make a wonderful JW, but I just couldn't let go of my belief in the Trinity. Things came to a head; I sent her some anti-JW tracts, and next time I saw her in the street she put out her hand to me and turned her head away, as if she was saying "get behind me Satan", and that was the end of a nice friendship.
But I felt FREE, RELEASED!!! It was absolute bliss to be away from the continual condemning of everything in the satanic world!!
What gets me about Jws is that they want to condemn this evil world, but they aren't slow in demanding their rights etc from this world. I remember reading about a court case regarding selling their magazines, etc. Jimmy Swaggart was also involved, and he'd be someone they'd normally regard as an apostate and disgusting. The JWs certainly are HYPOCRITES.
I still get the magazines put in my letterbox. I read some articles then they go into my rubbish bin. Unfortunatly, I've become practically a non-believer of any religion, especially since discovering the Internet 7 yrs ago, or at least very cynical about so-called faiths.