I too was born into this religion. The doctrine didn't really do that much for me,although I did enjoy the gospels. The glue that held the whole thing together for me in my teens was the prophecy of 1914. This made me feel it had to be the truth and gave me conviction. I can understand someone that grows up in it accepting no holidays. When you don't know anything else it doesn't hurt as much. I cannot understand someone who has experienced freedom, willingly accepting that kind of intrusion on their lives. The teen years saw more sanctions than I could bear however, and I finally got canned for immorality. For many years I still hadn't totally resolved that it wasn't the truth. Another problem in leaving was that there was no old pre-self to return to. This lent itself to trying a range of experimentation and bad behaviour. I still wonder who the real me is to this day, but I do know it's not the truth. There is still a great void and many questions only time and knowledge can heal.
Tyrone van leyen
JoinedPosts by Tyrone van leyen
-
49
What were your reasons for becoming a JW?
by Narkissos inreasons, not excuses -- even valid ones (like, "i was ignorant, depressed, fooled").. yours in the sense that you can still own (to) them -- even though you now know the "answer" was wrong.. this obviously applies to those who became jws -- hence mostly not born-in, although some of the latter might admit to having chosen the jw way for themselves at a certain stage of their childhood or teenage years.. this question is triggered by a previous conversation with purplesofa on another thread:.
i think most of us that came in and not born in were searching.
our hearts were pure in our search.
-
-
-
38
Scared....
by coolcat inhello all.
i just joined the site.
does anyone know of a hotline or a phone number i can call to talk to someone about how to leave the truth?
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
There was a time when my parents were both deciding to leave the organization and my oldest brother did the same thing as you and went deeper into the religion. This had a unifying effect indeed but it has not brought happiness. Your parents need to know that family hapiness depends not on a relationship with the organization but a relationship with them based on mutual honesty and understanding of each other. Maybe it's time to let them know how you feel and tell them that you feel like you are living a lie as you have come to understand life differently. Perhaps deep down inside, with time, they will come to be happy inside, to see that you are happy. Tell them that you feel you made an honest mistake in seeking family unity through this religion and all you really wanted was to make them happy. Ask them if the only reason they went back in was for your sake. If it wasn't, then why should they be upset with your choices.?Tell them you are happy with your new outlook and still love them deeply. Religion should never be thicker than blood. In time, hopefully they will realize with your knowledge from this board, and never ending love, what really matters in life. You know what the struggle is about. Don't ever forget It, or substitute it for an illusion.
-
53
Where did the universe come from?
by Blueblades inif it was always here, how did it get here?
let's leave god out of the equation for now.. blueblades.
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
If the universe and time is infinite, then to fully experince all forms of consiousnes, all possibilties must take place even without our knowledge. This whole thing we are experiencing may repeat itself all over again when the unverse expands and contacts to a singulaity and then the big bang happens again. Everything that happened here will repeat itself including this mundane conversation right down to the last detail except your coffee cup may be 1cm to the left. The next time, you may expereince being me, or me being you, or an ant, God forbid, until all possibilties have been tried. How much control do we really think we have. We might have already done this before. Everything is as it should be. You are a biochemcal organism that is a mathematical expression unfolding as we speak. You think you have control but you don't really. Even if you move your finger, did you really do that, or is the result of surviving from thousands of generations engrained in you and you did it because it is the next logical possibility in the unfolding equation of your biomechanism. Might as well go with the flows dudes.
-
53
Where did the universe come from?
by Blueblades inif it was always here, how did it get here?
let's leave god out of the equation for now.. blueblades.
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
According to hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, the answer to life the universe and everything is 42 !
-
53
Where did the universe come from?
by Blueblades inif it was always here, how did it get here?
let's leave god out of the equation for now.. blueblades.
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
Most people who entered the witnesses felt they had the truth and learned otherwise later. Arn't you glad to be free of the ignorance. Don't give up the truth is out there! Science will track it down.
-
53
Where did the universe come from?
by Blueblades inif it was always here, how did it get here?
let's leave god out of the equation for now.. blueblades.
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
If we didn't have the ability to know such things, I would say forget about it, . However, I beleive we do have the ability to do so. What we are, all forms of life, is a conscious collective of the universe trying to understand itself. Resolving where we came from will also resolve the God issue and all the bullshit that goes with it. This will hopefully lead us with a clearer veiw to our collective destines and we will be able to set more progressive goals towards the elimination of suffering and creating a utopia, with or without God. We must remain progressive and eliminate evil and sickness with our own hands, in our own time, and conquer ignorance forever. If science had a give up attitude we would still be living in the dark ages.
-
26
Did You Overly Discipline Your Kids Because Of Being A Witness?
by minimus ini knew a lot of jws that "beat" their child with the "rod" as a preferred "scriptural" form of punishment.
corporal punishment was the norm while growing up......were you given the "rod" often?
did you overly discipline your children??
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
I got hit hard once with his massive paws. My brothers got it a little more. From then on he used phychology to keep us in line. A look of displeasure was enough. I don't see my dad as a violent man he's all headwork. His brothers were a lot worse and a lot bigger.
-
17
Anti Social Personality Disorder in WT cult leaders?
by Dogpatch inthere is an interesting article in the volume 5, number 3 (2006) of cultic studies review (http://www.culticstudiesreview.org) and i wanted to share a few of the interesting points related to anti-social cult leaders.
while application to a seasoned cult like the watchtower may be more ambiguous than a one-leader organization, i would like to know your viewpoints as to how you may have noticed any of these tendencies among elders and other leaders within the watchtower organization.
it certainly applies to rutherford for one!
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
Never noticed the finer points of the indoctrination and love bombing as I was raised in this atmospere. But my innocence and purity was untainted and always felt the need to spill my guts. I never got along with the elders that well but I can tell you they sanctioned every single facet of my life from the day I was born. The day of my Judicial comitee meeeting was the day I saw four clones of Rutherford. They were merciless and completly unjust. A real cult leader as you mentioned is aware of what they are doing. In my case however maybe they were just stupid or following the pack mentality. At the very least I'd have to call the po a sociopath.
-
14
Sharing Your new light with your Parents
by pratt1 inevery so often i get to share some of my thooughts about the borg and my new found beliefs with my mom , who is a die hard pioneer for over 20 years.. we actually have had decent conversations about doctrines and interpertations of the scriptures, and she has admitted that at times the borg may have misapplied certain scriptures over the years.. her excuse is that imperfect men sometimes make mistakes and jehovah makes allowances for this.. but what really gets her upset is when i bring up certain aspects of my childhood, that because of her belief in the borg, she made some unwise decisions for not only me be her family.. me getting baptized at 13, her not being fully supportive of higher education, cutting off family members, pushing me into an early marriage when i was clearly not ready, teaching me that all "worldly people', including my father woiuld die at armageddon, these are just a few examples that when we discuss them, she becomes extremely angry and then accuses me of making her out to be a bad mother.. i got me thinking, do you think that many dubs refuse to acknowledge the problems with their religion because it would mean that they made some really bad decsions in their and their families lives.. are they afraid to accept the responsiblity for this because of the guilt they would suffer?.
what are your thoughts?
.
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
Well said, tall penguin. She has not faced the issues of her childhood and cannot grasp what led her to the org. In transactional analysis by Thomas Berne MD., this would be seen as a role reversal wherin her responses are childlike and you have become the adult. In this way the religion has stunted emotional maturity and offered a comfort zone of denial. I also like the way R2D2 has suggested a means of drawing her into reality. Good luck!
-
15
Lessons Learned from Captain Jack Sparrow
by zagor ini've found this article that rang so true to me.
i share as sacred just about everything described, though in last few months i've found myself betraying my own values.
so i'm glad i found this reminder, these are defintely going on my wall as my own 20 commandments.
-
-
Tyrone van leyen
I read 1984 by George Orwell in 1984, and failed to make the direct connection to the organization. It all depends on how clearly we see our own life situation. It is so easy to lie to yourself and say that's not me and only see a story without seeing the relevance and deeper meanings as they apply to our own lives. The bible is 66 books within a book, with many different authors, written over a 3000 year span. Because it's many stories and their meanings are mixed with a degree of historical accuracy, we have ascribed to it a sigificance beyond the morals. Seeking coherancy and ultimate truth,we have derived from it, prophecies that have failed and put filters in place for unity of thought. This has resulted in confusion, fighting, disunity and abuse of power. I havn't seen the movie Pirates of the carribean and didn't realize it had a deeper meaning. Thank you for the coherant breakdown and useful thoughts on the story. It is really about being true to yourself by following your heart and your goals, and never giving up. That speaks loud and clear to many.