It's not only not wrong to leave the Watchtower behind its probably the only realistic route open to you.You might think that it's possible to help others get out, but the reality is that in the vast majority of cases it's not possible. It's the nature of cults that people will not leave until they are ready no matter what information you share with them, so walk away in good conscience.
LisaRose
JoinedPosts by LisaRose
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30
Is it morally wrong to put Watchtower behind?
by Darkknight757 inwith our latest and final run in with the elders, the wife and i had a very long talk about what's next in our life.
do we try to help others see the light as it were concerning watchtower or do we just let it go and move on with our life?
we have made it perfectly clear that we will never go back to watchtower and we are finally happy.
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Fading or Disassociating
by Saethydd inhello, i'm new here.. i'm a college student who has been raised in the "truth" for my entire life.
i was baptized at 10 years old, and looking back now i know i didn't fully grasp everything involved, for one thing i don't even recall ever going to jehovah in a special prayer to dedicate myself to him, but anyway that's the past and my focus is really on the present.
i'm currently pursuing an associates degree, but i find myself desiring to pursue a bachelors in my chosen field so that i may have a somewhat more secure future.
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LisaRose
I think we have all had to face this problem at one time or another. Every one's circumstances are different and there are downsides to whatever choice you make either way, so only you can decide what would be best but I have to say in your situation I would probably lean towards getting reinstated and then fading, if only because it would get your parents off your back while you finish school and get established in a career. When you are older they will probably be a bit more tolerant of you making your own decisions,vespecially of you are just fading.
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New member
by NinaCee ini did not see a newbs thread to introduce myself, so my apologies if i'm in the wrong place.
i was a 3rd generation born in witness for 30 years until i was disfellowshipped back in 2007 for making a mistake.
my entire life up until that point was based on and circled around the society, and even though at first i really enjoyed my freedom (i still do), the fact is that i'm still struggling with cognitive dissonance, resentment, and loneliness.. i miss my family all the time.
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LisaRose
Welcome NinaCee, thanks for sharing your story.
Losing your entire extended family is going to be a blow no matter the reason, my heart goes out to you. Even though you know you could never stomach going back it's always going to hurt a bit being separate from your family. I hope you keep trying to make new friends though. The reality is that friends do come and go even without the complications of the religion, I have lost friends myself a few times do to job changes, moves, etc. Being an introvert and not working anymore it's hard to make new friends these days, so I can relate to what you are going through.
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Greetings and would like some advice about a potentially fun idea
by towerwatcher inhello fellow apostates!
my first post and a long time lurker here.
i would like to thank all of you for the existence of this board as this has been instrumental for me in leaving the place i once knew as "the truth".
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LisaRose
It would be better to do shirts that would be a parody of these books. That way you wouldn't be as likely to run into copyright infringement. Personally I wouldn't walk around in a shirt with a Watchtower publication in the front unless it was making a derogatory statement of some kind.
There have been a lot of threads where people were making funny, fake Watchtower covers, you might want to look at those for ideas.
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black dog comes to visit
by zeb indear friends,.
once again my depression has got the better of me and i must bow out for a time.. "the angels sang glory to god in the highest and on earth peace unto men of goodwill'.
so if that means at this special time of the year then have a happy and safe christmas time all of you.. hugs.
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LisaRose
I get mid winter depression, I am well acquainted with the black dog myself. I know that in time it will get better, as it always does each year. Hang in there my friend.
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Mass JW exodus
by stockholm_Syndrome inmaybe there will be a mass exodus from jws when thinking people read feb 2017 watchtower telling them the governing body stuff up, shouldnt expect correct/ perfect information and basically make up guff as they see fit.....ya reckon?.
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LisaRose
There will be no mass exodus because most JWs are not inclined to question anything, no matter how cultish it sounds. the only people who leave will be those that were already questioning things and see it as the last straw.
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1st christmas ever
by notalone inso, i am around 50,4th gen born in- christmas.
strange thing this christmas thing.
i've been watching people this year, really watching them.
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LisaRose
I hope you have a wonderful first Christmas. It's so sad that such an innocent thing has been so demonized by the organization that the thought that a person might put up a tree is considered a scandal, a major sin. It's a celebration!
I'll never forget the first time I celebrated, it was wonderful. Christmas morning the doorbell rang at 8:00 AM, my husband goes to get it and yells out "Babe, come down, Santa is here!". I go downstairs and sure enough, the fat man is in my living room. We had a Christmas gift get hung up at the post office (they sent a notice, but it slipped behind a table so we didn't see it). A wonderful mail carrier made it his job to deliver all the post packages dressed as Santa. We gave him some cookies and he went on his way.
I'm pretty excited about Christmas this year because my step son, his wife and our adorable two year old granddaughter are coming. We have three grandchildren between us, but unfortunately they all live out of state, so we don't often get to celebrate with any of them.
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Just a little bit depressed .... so I went for a walk - a walk into the beginning of my JW life
by fulltimestudent ini seldom feel depressed, but i did yesterday.
possibly, its because i'm likely going to graduate next year and i feel somewhat lost.
the goal i've had for the last 8 years to improve my understanding of the china-asia nexus, will have been accomplished.
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LisaRose
We all have our difficult memories, and choices we made that we wish we had not. You have to reflect on the fact that we did eventually learn more and make better choices and we did free ourselves when many did not.
Look forward, not back, my friend.
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What is your story?
by HereIgo ini thought it would be fun to get to know each other's background a little better.. what brought you into the "truth"?
were you born in?.
what caused you to have doubts?.
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LisaRose
I was converted, along with my parents, when I was thirteen years old, back in 1968, at the time the thinking was that Armageddon was going to come in 1975. I was influenced by my ten years older sister who was the first in the family to be converted.
I left in 1999 after 28 years in a bad marriage (my ex husband was disfellowshipped early on). I could no longer see any reason I should have to suffer, nor any reason God would want me to stay in a destructive relationship, and I had lost faith in the organization due to its failed teachings. I walked away, moved and never looked back, although my JW family treats me as if I am disfellowshpped.
I have been out for seventeen years now, happily remarried to the love of my life, a guy I wouldn't date in high school because he wasn't a JW. Life is good.
Lisa 🌹
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Finding out that jws are not what they make out to be
by nomorepain13 in*warning this is long* it all started on the last day of the "remain loyal to jehovah" convention.
a little background story, i've been raised as a jw, been in and out of the religon, never baptised but was made an unbaptized publisher about 3 years ago, always felt out of place in the congregation, blamed myself for this because if i had just went to meetings and did all the right things then i would have friends and not be in the mess that i was.
right after becoming an unbaptized publisher i met my now fiance, end up leaving my mother's house to live with him, elders haven't contacted me about my situation even though i'm sure they know as my step father is an elder...but anyway on the last day of the convention my fiance came with me as i was visiting my mother and had planned to go with her and her husband to the convention.
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LisaRose
Trust your instincts, you are asking all the right questions.
What did it for me was the fact that the Watchtower has predicted the end of the world many times, always incorrectly, but still act as if they possess special knowledge about the end and still pretend that Armageddon is just around the corner.
I was told as a young person in 1969 that I would never have time for a career in this system. This was in the Awake, not some individual. I am 61 and they still tell people not to go to college because the end is so close. What's worse, they pretend they never said 1897, 1914, 1925 and 1975 would be the end of the world. That is the very definition of a false prophet.