HRH

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Posts by HRH

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  79

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

  by Tuesday in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everyone!.

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

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

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  HRH

  Ex-Jehovah’s Witness Survey

  A.) Name: Heather

  B.) Gender

  Female

  C.) Age:

  35-40

  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:

  Disassociated

  3.) What Age did you leave?

  31-35

  4.) Were you Baptized

  Yes

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

  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.

  Felt the elders or organization abused their power, felt they took presidence over God, Problem with the way they organized the religion

  Other (Explain: ___Did research...thought it was a cult.____________________________________________________________)

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

  Believed everything said was correct

  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 felt the religion was definitely 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 is like any other religion out there it has right and wrong in it

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

  They are evil

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

  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're intelligent but purposely deny facts for their religion

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

  I think every day about how happy I am to have left

  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?

  When hell freezes over

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

  It's part of me I'll discuss it if it comes up

  Questions:

  General
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  13

  JW survey

  by Halya in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm writiing a thesis on jws and am wondering if people with any connection with jws - underground jws, former jws / 'apostates', inactive jws etc would be willing to give me some feedback on these questions.

  no need for any personal details, but if you want to add some information about your experiences with jws that would be appreciated.

  if am interested in your answers to these questions:.

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  2. 
  3. 
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  HRH

  If am interested in your answers to these questions:

  1. What determines how you live your life?( I am a former JW of 34 yrs., so my responses are relative to my current perspectives of the JW's...) I determine how to live my life based primarily on the principles of love, acceptance, and kindness.
  2. If your personal interpretation on a particular Bible teaching differs to how others in the congregation understand it, what is the correct procedure to resolve the issue? Everyone in the congregation is supposed to be "like-minded" according to what The Society's interpretation of the Bible is, so if you have a personal interpretation of a Bible teaching you really should drop it.
  3. What kinds of qualities does a faithful Jehovah’s Witness have? Blind obedience, unwavering loyalty to the organization above all else. Note: I did not say unwavering loyalty to God, if you are disloyal to the organization on any level, they say you are being disloyal to God, but the organization is the intermediary that must have your whole-souled devotion or else you can not possibly be devoted to God or his "truth".
  4. What kinds of things does a person need to do to become this kind of faithful Jehovah’s Witness? Go to all the meetings, assemblies, study for all of the meetings, go in the field ministry often, accept The Watchtower Society as God's means of directing his people on earth and be unconditionally loyal to it.
  5. What kinds of things would a faithful Jehovah’s Witness NOT do that people in other religions do? They won't accept blood transfusions, won't celebrate any holidays or birthdays...in general, that's about all; other religions adhere to many of the same moral codes as JW's, but JW's also have idiosyncratic things they won't do like wish someone "good luck" or say "bless you" when someone sneezes.
  6. How much time do you consider a faithful Jehovah’s Witness needs to spend in studying the Bible and Bible literature each week to develop the abilities that help them stay faithful? Enough so that they don't have time to or want to be engaged in any other studying, reading or research. The whole point of "studying" as much as they do has nothing to do with learning anything new or honing any particular skills. They are kept busy with busy-work, "studying" the same things over and over again and the reason they need to do this is because the reasoning is mostly falacious, so, of course, they never really "get it" and they must be constantly enveloped in the Watchtower Society's dogma so as to keep them "strong" in the faith, which really means that when you don't immerse yourself in the repititiousness of the same material that you become "weak" or their hold over you has weakened.
  7. How and why is Witnessing important in being a faithful Jehovah’s Witness and why do Jehovah’s Witnesses usually go witnessing in pairs? They believe that, according to Matt. 24:14 that, "this good news of the kingdom must be preached to all the nations and then the end will come." So it's because they believe that the preaching work has to be done for God to bring Armagedon. They do it in pairs in imitation of Jesus sending his apostles out in pairs, though this is not really a rule because sometimes they go out alone or with 3 or 4 people...it's more a matter of safety or conveniencne.
  8. What do you think is the greatest danger to the spiritual life of a Jehovah’s Witness? According to them, it's the World. Anything outside their religion and the people in it are dangerous to their spiritual lives, including "worldly wisdom," which is what they call higher education.
  9. How do you use literature to engage the interest and reach the hearts of the people you witness to? I don't, but when I did I used current events that were horrible and usually highlighted in the books and magazines to try to connect with people how horrible the world is that we live in and along with other cultish techniques, I would try to feed off their fears and hopelessness to steer them towards our offer of answers to all the world's problems offered by God via the WBTS (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).
  10. How do you handle opposition in your witnessing work? Now I applaud those who oppose JW's work. When I was a JW I was happy when we were opposed because we were told that "true Christians' would be known because they had opposition, so it reinforced my conviction that I had "The Truth."
  11. What is your greatest fear as a Jehovah’s Witness? Apostates, i.e. anyone who had once been a JW and now wasn't...
  12. Why do you think Jehovah’s Witnesses are growing so fast? Because they feed off the fears of people and the uncertainty we experience in life. They offer comforting answers to all the problems mankind faces...it's a very nice delusion and unfortunately people want an escape from the way the world is rather than taking any kind of personal responsibility in changing things. We got ourselves into the messes we're in and we're suffering the consequences of thousands of years of believing that gods will somehow swoop in and save us.
  13. What appeals to you most about being a Jehovah’s Witness? The only thing I miss is my family and the community I once had. Unfortunately for me, I was born into a JW family and so I had no outside (of the organization) friends or support of any kind when I left. They completely isolate themselves, so if you ever leave, you are now on the outside and nobody from the inside, not even your family, will have anything to do with you. They try to whitewash this by saying that familys can talk to family members who have left, but the reality, at least for me, is that, yes, they will talk to you if you call, but they keep it very business-like and if or when you really need something, like food, you're on your own.
  14. What do you think are the reasons for people not choosing to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ organisation? Hopefully one reason is that they are educated enough to see how falacious it is. I believe the countries and areas they are growing the most is in impoverished lands and ones with minimal educational opportunities. I also think a lot of people who have other religious backgrounds think they are a cult, which I agree.
  15. The Russian government authorities are trying to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why do you think they are doing this? I am not exactly sure, but I think it's because the government views them as subverssive. I know they won't participate in any military service, although the exact "rules" on this are bent at times depending on who you ask at headquarters. Simply look into what the JW's in Mexico were doing to bribe themselves out of military service while the JW's in Malawi were being imprisoned and killed for not purchasing a political card.
  16. The Russian authorities have listed 34 Watchtower publications as ‘extremist’. Which Jehovah’s Witness teachings do you think they are objecting to? Perhaps not taking blood transfusions, especially not allowing their children to have them and choosing to let them die in lieu of using that medical treatment. They also believe that God will destroy all the governments of the earth and usher in His own, so that may be an issue. The Society has powerful control over millions of people. They could at any moment either "drink the Kool Aid" or do whatever it is the Watchtower organization tells them to do and they would all do it--no questions asked. Governments want people to comply with their laws and submit to their authority primarily, but JW's only do that relative to what the WBTS tells them to do.
  17. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses are currently suffering discrimination and persecution in Russia, China and Arabic speaking countries. What do you think the persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses should do about this? I have a dilemma in this regard. I want freedom for everyone from discrimination and persecution. However, I don't know what should be done with subversive groups that take advantage of people, like cults and the KKK who preach hate and intolerance.
  18. Some people think that science has the potential to solve many of the world’s problems but scientists do not agree on scientific theories or research conclusions. Where do you think we can find scientific truth? I think all information should be critically analyzed and that there may not be one truth or we may never find it, so we should just stop being so haughty as to believe any one thing as the absolute truth and realize that we're all just choosing what to believe and trying to do the best we can with the information we do have.
  19. Some people think the world is getting better – people are living longer; cures are being discovered for various diseases; we can travel further and faster, and communicate instantly all over the world. How do you respond to people who say there has never been a better time to be alive, despite the problems and challenges? I agree with them. It's your choice to look at all that's wrong with the world and all the problems or to look at all that's good and right in the world. Any person in any time period could find horrible things to commiserate about and surrender their personal power to religious or govermental authorities to "save" them, but there's always a bright side, even for death. I honestly believe that death makes us live and when religions use promises of eternal life as rewards for serving God, all they are doing is living for the religion and robbing themselves of their true life.
  20. Some people think that humanity should work to make life better for everyone by people learning to share, cooperate and make room for different lifestyles and beliefs. How would a world based on these principles compare with the paradise earth preached by Jehovah’s Witnesses? It would be similar in a lot of respects, except you'd have to be a robot if you're a JW. Yes, they embrace diversity as long as it's ethnic, but strictly speaking, that's about it. Diversity in beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. etc., are not tolerated among JW's. They believe that God will have to kill people of all other religions, beliefs, sexual orientations besides straight, anyone with any political views, and everyone else who chooses not to blindly obey the WBTS.
  21. What do you think Jesus meant by his statement ‘you will know the truth and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:32)? For me it meant that I found the truth that JW's don't have THE TRUTH and I was freed from mind-control. I was freed from major depression and anxiety attacks. I was freed from patriarchy and heterosexism. I was free to go to college and study more than one subject. I was free to be happy. I believe love is truth.
  22. How would knowing the truth help those whose lives are characterised by poverty, sickness, living in countries where there are wars, corruption, injustice, and oppression? It's an escape. It gives them a kind of hope, albeit a false hope, that if they just go to a few meetings and tell others what JW's believe that their whole life will be perfect and even if they die before they get their reward, God will remember them and resurrect them into a paradise.
  23. How has your membership in the Jehovah’s Witness organisation affected your life in this world? If you are a convert, how does your life compare to what it was before you became a Jehovah’s Witness? I was raised as a JW and left it when I was 34 years old. I am so much happier now. It's difficult to describe how freeing it is to be able to think for myself and choose what I believe and change what I believe when it's appropriate for me. I believe that people are JW's, stay JW's, and become JW's because they are miserable. They never find their own inner peace or happiness with who they are or how things are and they choose to live and believe in the magical fairy tale spun by the WBTS.