And He Ran

Joined

• started 4 topics
• posted 27 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by And He Ran

• 
  23

  Why does guilt often remain so long with those who've left the JWs?

  by And He Ran in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i would be interested in getting people's input in why so many jws - including me from time to time, though less so now - seem to be burdened by guilt after they've left, even after they've successfully faded and aren't being hassled by family or elders.

  is it a residual leftover of the indoctrination over the years?

  i welcome your comments.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  Thanks for all your postings and thoughts - very interesting, as always.
• 
  23

  Why does guilt often remain so long with those who've left the JWs?

  by And He Ran in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i would be interested in getting people's input in why so many jws - including me from time to time, though less so now - seem to be burdened by guilt after they've left, even after they've successfully faded and aren't being hassled by family or elders.

  is it a residual leftover of the indoctrination over the years?

  i welcome your comments.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  I would be interested in getting people's input in why so many JWs - including me from time to time, though less so now - seem to be burdened by guilt after they've left, even after they've successfully faded and aren't being hassled by family or elders. Is it a residual leftover of the indoctrination over the years? I welcome your comments.
• 
  34

  Why is today the only day of the year when I feel guilty?

  by And He Ran in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  why is today the only day of the year when i feel guilty about having left the jws?

  it's memorial day and i didn't go.

  my last memorial was in 2006. last year was my first non-attendance.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  Belatedly, thank you all for your postings and thoughts which contained some great tips and ways of looking at the situation. You were a great help. I just could not put my finger on the reason exactly on why I was feeling guilty. I think that with time it will get easier and I will feel less guilty. The phrase "you are slapping Christ across the face" comes to mind that some JW used a few years ago about non-attending the Memorial. I am sure that I didn't need to be at that Hall on that night to show honour to Christ. There are other ways.
• 
  34

  Why is today the only day of the year when I feel guilty?

  by And He Ran in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  why is today the only day of the year when i feel guilty about having left the jws?

  it's memorial day and i didn't go.

  my last memorial was in 2006. last year was my first non-attendance.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  Why is today the only day of the year when I feel guilty about having left the JWs? It's Memorial Day and I didn't go. My last Memorial was in 2006. Last year was my first non-attendance. It felt like such a final "break" from all ties with the JWs, a final severance of all emotional connection with them and their way of life. All my family are JWs - parents, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, grans. Why is today the only day of the year when I feel so guilty, sitting here at 10pm staring at the full moon outside, reminding me of what day it is? I would welcome your thoughts!
• 
  28

  What was the "point of no return" for you?

  by B_Deserter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  was there a point in leaving the organization where you did something that demonstrated that you had officially made your decision to leave?

  for me, i think it's going to be when i vote in the general election this year.

  it will be my first action in public against jw doctrine.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  My first Christmas, aged 30, not knowing about what Christmas was like in the outside world.

  Walking into the polling booth in 2005 to vote for the first time ever. I felt like I actually taking part in a democracy for the first time in my life.

  But mainly it was not going to the memorial in 2007, for the first time, three years after starting my fade. After that I think my family gave up on any slight glimmer of hope that I was just going through a "glitch" or a "rocky patch". It was not easy and I felt really guilty at the time, but I do feel liberated now from it all, just about...
• 
  28

  Went to a JW "funeral" on Saturday

  by Dorktacular in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my brother called me late on the 13th to let me know that a friend of ours - who is no longer a jw - called him and said that his dad was being flown by helicopter to the hospital because he collapsed at home and had no pulse.

  they took my friend's dad off life support on valentine's day and he died.

  well, i was debating whether or not to go to the funeral because i have no desire to hang around a bunch of jws or set foot in a kindumb hall again.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  So true, they're recruitment drives, JW funerals, I went to one last year and it made my blood boil, there was hardly anything said about the person who'd died or what he had done in his 84 years on this earth.

  How come the Witness funeral is the same in England as it is in the USA? Do they all use some sort of template?
• 
  15

  I sometimes wish I was still In.

  by faundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have read things on here that have made me think.

  i know it's the general idea.

  but the realisation of some of the issues and their legitimacy has made me wish that i was still a witness.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  Hello Faundy. I think the people that have posted already are right - if you were still in, yes, you could ask questions, perhaps, but I think it would all come to a head at some point in that you would eventually be chucked out (df'd) for asking too many questions, however subtly you ask them or however innocently. When I was in I used to ask my parents questions and instead of answering the question directly they would ask: "where did you get that question?" "have you been on that internet again?" "are you looking at those apostate sites again?"

  The motives of the questioner are always brought up. It is almost as if JWs think that no thinking person would ever have doubts of their own or come up with a valid question without having read it somewhere else...
• 
  31

  Am I the only one that didnt realize about the GB?

  by yourmomma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here is a question for you.

  i'll give a little back ground.

  i was raised in the witness organization however in about 1993 i encountered much hypocrisy and left for about 3 years.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  Well done for finally seeing the light Yourmomma and for sharing your experiences here on the forum.

  I think it is so so subtle, how individual Witnesses are sure that they are following the bible and only the bible, or their own conscience, which I think they are to an extent. They would never ever admit to anyone that they are following the instructions of men and the dictates of a group of men in New York. It was only when I was on the way "out" that it was blindingly obvious to me. I was amazed that I had never seen it before. To an outsider it's clear that instruction is received from New York and individual members can't decide for themselves even relatively minor stuff in their personal lives.
• 
  34

  Comical Memories While You Were A Witness

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in all the years i was a witness, i must admit there were some pretty funny things that i can remember.

  i can't forget the time after i had given a public talk and the sister who played the piano ran from the bathroom to the piano with half of her dress still tucked in her pantyhose.

  brothers and sisters were trying in vain to run down the long aisle but to no avail.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  For some reason I was convinced that King Solomon in the Bible was blessed for his faithfulness to God by being given 365 wives. I mentioned this in my talk from the platform. I was about 15 at the time. It seemed a fantastic reward from a loving God, but it was tactfully pointed out to me afterwards that I was, in fact, mistaken.
• 
  33

  I NEED TO VENT

  by Cindi_67 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for the past weeks, i have gotten in touch with a lot of old high school classmates.

  a lot of them i've found over the internet.

  after reading their profiles and talking to them, to my surprise, a lot of them are professionals with degrees like doctors, engineers, business, etc.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  And He Ran

  It's very true, growing up as a JW drains the ambition out of you. The number of times I heard the phrase "Why polish the brash on a sinking ship?" from the platform was unbelievable. Over and over they discouraged people from furthering themselves, from entering higher education.

  PS Skeeter1, that quote was Shakespeare, from Hamlet.