Posts by Rzach

25

If you didn't go to the Memorial last night, what did you do?

by Victorian sky in

we watched the tv show, 'the amazing race' (the couple i didn't like finally got the boot), ate take out chinese food, and had a relaxing night.

my mom, aunts and inlaws all went, poor souls, we prayed for them.

Rzach

Waited to get a Vampire character approved for use in a online chat RPG.

22

Just found this page and wanted to introduce myself

by Rzach in

i just found this page and wanted to introduce myself.

i noticed that there wasn't a category for introductions so i hope .

this is the right place.

Hi,

I just found this page and wanted to introduce myself. I noticed that there wasn't a category for introductions so I hope

this is the right place.

I was born in 1979 to a JW family. (My mother has been a witness since she was 10. She is 56 now.)

I spent the next 14 years going to meetings and assemblies, and going door to door.

I was the oldest of four brothers. And I was expected to set a good example for them.

When I was around six my dad divorced my mother, then he was disfellowshipped shortly thereafter.

At the age of eight my mother started putting pressure on me to get baptized. I resisted. (I never did get babtized.)

Around the same time she had me enrolled to start giving talks. Luckily our congregation had three rooms they used

for the talks. I got stuck with the small group of people who were all just starting the ministerial school.

When I was 10 we moved to a new congregation. This one was terrible. People were divided between two different elders

who hated each other.

A year later we were attending a different congregation. It was a better place. All kept going the same until I was 13.

Around this time I started to notice that my worldly friends were having fun on the weekends while I got to spend

Saturday having a bible study with an elder, and Sunday at the Kingdom Hall. The elder who gave me my study was the one who

set me on the path that led to me quitting the "truth". See I heard about a "satanic game" called Dungeons and Dragons. The articles

that the WTS put out on it only got me curious to see what it was really about. I prayed to Jehovah for guidance. The next day I went to a

Goodwill store and found a copy of the old 1978 basic rules set. I bought it for 30 cents and went home. Boy was that a eye opener.

The game was not at all like people had told me it was. I then started wondering what else they were wrong about. I started to wonder

about a lot of things at that point. The elder who was conducting my study was discussing evolution when he told me "God may have used

evolution as tool." At that point the wheels in my mind started to really turn. I think he noticed, because he had a discussion with

my mother and told her I needed to decide my priorities in life. That very day I told my mother that I didn't want to be a Witness. She

said that it was my decision and that she didn't mind. Boy did she lie. For the next nine years she treated me like I was the cause of all

of the problems in her life. My family all treated me different. It was like they would talk down to me. Even their body language was

different. Since I was not a witness I spent my teen years trying different religions. None of them really fit. I couldn't find it in

myself to believe in the trinity. Nor could I embrace many of more philisophical religions. I eventually became very critical of all

religions. Whenever one of the Witnesses from the congregation would stop by to talk to my mother they would always try to reason with me

biblically. So I reasoned back. "If god is all knowing and all seeing, then he knew that Adam and Eve were going to sin. More so he knew

that the Devil was going to tempt them. Even worse he knew this before he made everything." I would say. To which the usual response was

"But Jehovah gave them free will. They could make up their own minds. He didn't know that they were going to sin." So I would reply

"Then your god is not all knowing or all seeing. Which means he can fail. And if he can fail the Devil can win. And he is a liar". At this

point they were normally quite angry at me.

I have spent the last 12 years being free of that cultish bs. And I can say that I am better for it. More so I was finally able to get my

mother to realize that D&D is just a game, and that her son was not a demon possesed fiend. She and my youngest brother are still part of

the cult but she still talks to me at least. Most of the rest of my family still thinks I am evil, but I don't care for their stuck up

ways either. I have found a religous path that makes sense to me. And I have friends who are better than the ones I had as a witness.The

only thing I miss as a witness is the dramas they used to do during the District Conventions. The ones with the people who dressed as

bible characters.

I am glad I found this board. It's nice to have people out their who understand what it is like to deal with these situations. Nice

to meet you all.

Thank you for your time.