VioletAnai
I have stated on the board before in other threads, that it is my opinion that some people are just Jehovah's Witnesses. Just as some people are men, some people are women, some people are artists, some people are catholics. I myself have no religion, but I am Catholic. It is in my DNA. Some call that a Cultural Catholic, Irish Catholic specifically. If you are a witness, hey go for it. If it makes you happy and gives you a fulfilling life, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.
I ask, that if you do, when you do, keep in mind some of the things you have heard here. Keep your eyes open. Do not let people abuse you or others. Remember that in each group there are people hurting. Help them if you can. If you are a witness, then be the best you can be. I am not speaking of just the moral codes, but the emotional ones. The tenderness that Jesus showed to people, show that to others. Be a joy for other people. Make field service something that people, including you, look forward to. Be the person that the other witnesses are happy to be around. But mostly be happy to be around yourself. In otherwords, be well satisfied. And don't let us talk you out of it.
I've read some of your posts and I like them frankly. I dont consider this post to be about convincing us to go back to the hall or an attack. It is true what you said to a degree, in your experience the ex witnesses are a pretty angry and vocal group. Of course, that is partly your experience because you are on an ex witness board. If you were spending a lot of your time on yahoo chat, you would see a lot of ex witnesses who get along with the witnesses over there and we all just chill together. You would see ex witnesses who defend the watchtower society and certainly defend witnesses in general. You would see us do this sometimes because folks are just stating the facts wrong about yall. And sometimes because it is just fun to defend the witnesses. And nothing excites some of us exes more than watching a witness totally destroy some preaching trinitarian.
If you ask sometime I will give you apostate websites for some other religions that I have visited, like mormons (I am studying with them now), and ICOC (I studied with them for a short time and went to their church) and Moonies(havent met them yet) and Catholics (havent been since I was a kid) and Pentacostals (Havent been there since I was 18) and other religions. I myself dont really have apostates of my religion, which I created and made up totally from scratch, nothingism, but I have plenty of opposers, right here on this board. I am opposed here more than the witnesses are, well that is my fantasy anyhow. But I wont push, if you want those, so you can compare them to this site let me know I will hunt them up again.
As to the word apostate, lots of JWs here think the society misuses the word. They do not. The word apostate merely means someone that leaves a specific group. So by leaving them, we are apostates. Where they err is in claiming that if you leave them you consciously choose to leave god. Now if it is true that they are the only ones with the truth, then you are leaving god by leaving them, however, this does not mean you are aware that you are leaving god, if you think your new religion has god. The other way they err is in thinking all apostates oppose them. I personally am intrigued and enthralled by them. Though I would like to see them change the shunning doctrine and their policy about reporting cases of abuse.
You mentioned you grew up in it I gathered? And that you left. When you left were you a 'good' girl or a 'bad' one? This is a rhetorical question, dont answer it. I say it because when I left, (I did not grow up in it) I was 'bad' in only a couple things. I drank a little, not much. And I went to strip clubs a couple of times. I dont drink anymore, and strip clubs, while interesting, dont have much appeal to me, now that I dont think they are sinful. However a lot of witnesses I have noticed that leave, particularly those that grew up in it, end up joining 'the world' in full force. They get involved in drugs, smoking, alcohol, sex, perhaps crime, violence. The list goes on and each person's experience is different. They then perceive that this experience constitutes 'the world' and the watchtower society is right. For some that is the world. For others the world is vastly different. They lead sober, successful, moral, uplifting lives. They help others, care for their families, and are productive members of society and god.
I loved my experience as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I would never wish it taken back. I am sure you did as well, and I hope in the future if you are a witness in the sense of it being something in your very blood, that you enjoy that experience as well. I am glad you dont blame the organization for things that were done for you, nor do you blame other witnesses. I dont myself for things that were done to me and my sisters. Only those who did them are responsible. If someone knows something and keeps it a secret, well the law will determine whether they are also responsible.
So I say, do what you want. I hope if you get baptised or participate in any way in the organization, you will contribute here still. I look forward to seeing many more posts from you, and hearing about your experiences in field service, the hall, and assemblies.