Posts by Stimorol

16

Does anyone remember when the Watchtower website first opened, it wasn't mentioned in the magazines or at the meetings for a while?

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

i seem to remember that from the mid-ninties onwards there were articles in the km and watchtower warning about the dangers of the internet.

as a result it seemed to come as a bit of a surprise to some witnesses i knew when the society opened up their own website.

but as i recall, when the society first opened the website, they never mentioned it in the literature or at the meetings.

Stimorol

I remember an elder in our congregation making his own JW website in our country's language sometime in the late 90's. Just general stuff, main beliefs, location of KH and times of meetings, etc. It was obvious he spent a lot of time on it. The WT site at that time had just opened and didn't have any content in our language.

The other elders with the help of the branch office made him shut it down. I know he was pretty upset about it and I remember it being one of the reasons I started thinking outside the cult-box. I just really didn't understand how a pro-JW website, made by a JW in good standing (an elder!), with loads of correct info could be a bad thing - after all it should help us to spread the good news, right?

Just one more thing I didn't understand about the WT. This was a small stepping stone in helping me to make my decision to leave.

79

Finished Ex-Jehovah's Witness Survey (Please fill out for help with project)...

by Tuesday in

jw
friends

hey everyone!.

) did you feel the religion was a cult before leaving?:.

) do you feel the religion is a cult now after leaving?:.

Stimorol

A.) Name:

Anonymous

B.) Gender

Male

C.) Age:

25-30

Questions:

1.) How were you introduced to Jehovah's Witnesses:

Parents/Grandparents/Relatives were in before you were born and taught you

2.) How did you leave the religion:

Faded Away (slowly missed more and more meetings until you stopped going completely)

3.) What Age did you leave?

10-18

4.) Were you Baptized

Yes

5.) What General reason did you leave the religion:

Wanted more Freedom (play school sports, date who you wanted, listen to music, etc.)

Didn’t believe the teachings, not allowed to question the teachings, disagreed with stance on social issues, didn’t agree with things said in the magazines or on the platform.

Depressed, Didn’t feel like doing all the things required of you, felt oppressed by the rules.

6.) How did you feel about the doctrine before leaving:

Believed there were more things right than wrong

7.) Did your feelings about the doctrine effect the way you left?

Yes

8.) If you were disfellowshipped for sin, did your feelings on the doctrine effect you sinning in the first place?

N/A

9.) Did you feel the religion was a cult before leaving?:

I saw a few similarities between the religion and a cult

10.) Did you research the religion's teachings after leaving?

Yes

11.) What are your feelings on the doctrine of the religion since leaving?

The religion has many problems with what it teaches

12.) How do you feel about the organization since leaving?:

There are many problems which far outweigh the good

13.) How do you feel about the people since leaving?:

They are mostly good people

They are misguided people and I feel sorry for them

14.) Do you feel the religion is a cult now after leaving?:

They have most of the qualities of a cult

15.) What is your opinion on the intelligence of those still in the Organization? :

They are like idiot savants with the bible

16.) Are you happier now that you’re gone?

I think I’m somewhat happier now that I’m gone

17.) Do you feel that other than the fact you left the Jehovah’s Witnesses that they would agree with how you live your life?

They would not agree with anything I do now

18.) If a Jehovah’s Witness approaches you to discuss their religion you’re more than likely do the following:

Give them a simple Not Interested

19.) Would you consider returning?

It’s nearly impossible I’ll return but I guess anything’s possible

20.) How do you feel about discussing your time as a Jehovah's Witness?:

I Hate talking about my time as a Jehovah's Witness and will avoid the subject whenever possible

23

New here

by Stimorol in

jw
friends

i've been lurking this board the past few days and reading a lot.. i'm a 30 year old male from an unnamed european country, i was brought up "in the faith" by my jw-parents (my father is an elder and was even the "head elder" (i guess that's not the proper english term, english isn't my mother language) for a while, although i believe he stepped down when i faded away, but was reinstated as an elder later.

i never really had any interest in religion or god, not even as a child, even with my perfect jw upbringing.

it always felt like a chore and i did my jw duties, but just the bare minimum i could get away with, living at home with jw parents (attending the 3 meetings every week, and going to do field work 1 hours on saturdays).. at around age 15-16 i got baptized, i was not directly pressured to do it but some hints were made by parents/elders.

Stimorol

There is a certain pleasure to be found in Disassociating yourself before they can do it, isn`t there?

@zzaphod: Yeah, pleasure and relief. I'm actually not sure if the WTS will view this as a disassociation, but I think they do. So I feel like soon I can finally live my life without that fear, "when will they find out and DF me". So one less thing to worry about :)

I recommend you to start reading Ray Franz's book Crisis of Conscience.

@Gayle: Thanks for the suggestion, I will certainly check it out. If any others have book recommendations, please let me know.

I'm pretty sure the local JW branch office will get a letter from the national registry with my name and "religion change" in the near future. I am wondering about this process?? Why would this registry contact the JW branch?

@Gayle: It's mainly for "church tax" purposes, the state collects church tax and dispenses it the the religious organization you are registered as. I'm pretty sure (heard it years ago) the registry sends a list informing the organizations which people have registered/deregistered as members of that certain organization.

23

New here

by Stimorol in

jw
friends

i've been lurking this board the past few days and reading a lot.. i'm a 30 year old male from an unnamed european country, i was brought up "in the faith" by my jw-parents (my father is an elder and was even the "head elder" (i guess that's not the proper english term, english isn't my mother language) for a while, although i believe he stepped down when i faded away, but was reinstated as an elder later.

i never really had any interest in religion or god, not even as a child, even with my perfect jw upbringing.

it always felt like a chore and i did my jw duties, but just the bare minimum i could get away with, living at home with jw parents (attending the 3 meetings every week, and going to do field work 1 hours on saturdays).. at around age 15-16 i got baptized, i was not directly pressured to do it but some hints were made by parents/elders.

Stimorol

Hello all again,

Thank you all for your kind words and support. I've read all your comments a few times and it's really helpful to see all the support from you guys :)

I really believe this is the way to go for me. Doing some research into the organization's early history is specially interesting because it basically proves to me that the JW's are just one more cult. Nothing more.

I don't believe in the JW doctrines, I'm content with believing there is some kind of a higher power "up there" and I don't see a need to define it any further.

I will talk to my parents soon and inform them about my de-registration status at the national registry, but I will leave it to the WTS to do some kind of judicial action if they feel its appropriate. I don't think my parents will shun me but if they do, it's their loss, not mine, and I will deal with it if it happens. They know about some stuff I've done with is a DF offence, I've voted and campaigned openly for a certain political party and they know about that, but I guess they haven't reported it to the congegration. So I'm hoping and guessing they won't shun me (plus my father said he wouldn't).

Thanks again, everybody, for your kind words and support. I will certainly hang out here, ask a few questions now and then, and perhaps even help some others that are in a similar situations as me :)

23

New here

by Stimorol in

jw
friends

i've been lurking this board the past few days and reading a lot.. i'm a 30 year old male from an unnamed european country, i was brought up "in the faith" by my jw-parents (my father is an elder and was even the "head elder" (i guess that's not the proper english term, english isn't my mother language) for a while, although i believe he stepped down when i faded away, but was reinstated as an elder later.

i never really had any interest in religion or god, not even as a child, even with my perfect jw upbringing.

it always felt like a chore and i did my jw duties, but just the bare minimum i could get away with, living at home with jw parents (attending the 3 meetings every week, and going to do field work 1 hours on saturdays).. at around age 15-16 i got baptized, i was not directly pressured to do it but some hints were made by parents/elders.

Stimorol

Hi everybody,

I've been lurking this board the past few days and reading a lot.

I'm a 30 year old male from an unnamed European country, I was brought up "in the faith" by my JW-parents (my father is an elder and was even the "head elder" (I guess that's not the proper english term, english isn't my mother language) for a while, although I believe he stepped down when I faded away, but was reinstated as an elder later. I never really had any interest in religion or god, not even as a child, even with my perfect JW upbringing. It always felt like a chore and I did my JW duties, but just the bare minimum I could get away with, living at home with JW parents (attending the 3 meetings every week, and going to do field work 1 hours on saturdays).

At around age 15-16 I got baptized, I was not directly pressured to do it but some hints were made by parents/elders. Shortly after I got baptized I realized I wasn't ready for a life commitment as a JW baptism is, after all I had never been really interested in religion despite my JW upbringing. Around age 16-17, shortly after my baptism, I started to "fade" intentionally, faking illnesses or making other excuses not go to meetings or in the field work. I moved out of my parents house at around age 18. By then I had totally stopped going to meetings and didn't want to discuss religion or JW to anybody.

After that, about 12 years now, things have been peaceful and quiet. I got 2-3 visits from elders, but I asked my father to pass along a message that elders were NOT allowed to visit or contact me, and they have respected my wish, until last year when a elder I particularily dislike tried to visit me a few times, but I managed to see him coming and avoided answering the door. Enough brainwashing for life, thanks! :)

My relationship with my family has been pretty good, we have a silent agreement to not mention religion at all and it works out just fine.

I've read a bit on the history of the JW and it really seems like just one more cult, imho. Doctrinal changes which go unchallenged by everybody, they just call it "new light" and nobody even questions it. It's really amazing to be able to see it now, how brainwashed the JW congregations are. When i was still an active JW I used to feel sorry for all the brainwashed people in all those religious cults, but I didn't even realize I was a member in one. They really do manage to brainwash you there, don't they? And now I feel sorry for all the brainwashed JW's ....

I have always feared to get disfellowshipped, and that fear has actually controlled my life to quite a large degree. I'm 30 years old and even if I have had some romantic relationships over the years, I've always ended them quickly, partly because of my fear to get DF'd. And of course, made sure no JW found out about it.

Anyways, I made a decision months, even years ago, to disassociate myself - beat them to it, to be honest. I really didnt want to live my life anymore in fear that one day I will get DF'd. So, finally, the other day I went to our national registry and changed my religion from JW to not being a member of any religion. I'm pretty sure the local JW branch office will get a letter from the national registry with my name and "religion change" in the near future.

So I am wondering what to expect? A meeting with some elders where they try to persude me to change my mind (yeah right), followed by an announcement in the Kingdom Hall? Seems like the logical thing. I discussed with my father a few years back, if being DF'd would change anything in our relationship and he said I would always be his son, no matter what religion I chose. So I feel I'm "safe" there, I will still have my family. At least, I sure hope so. Funny religion that teaches god's love is endless and he can forgive anything, but the JW organization shuns you.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi, introduce myself and hopefully take part in the chat here and ask a few questions. I've basically blocked all JW stuff from my life ever since i faded but I guess i need closure, so I'm gonna spend some time researching the religion, and making myself 100% content with my decision, because honestly I'm not 100% sure. Being brainwashed the first 16 years of my life when I started thinking for myself .... it really screws with your mind.

I didnt intend for this to become so long, but I guess I have a lot of issues on my mind :) If you bother to read it all, thanks for listening, and I'm looking forward to answers to my question, what will happen now that i've disassociated myself? Thanks again