What did I do to free my mind from Watchtower thinking?
oh, let me count the ways...
1. Contacted the best and brightest JWs I knew, including elders, pioneers, annointed, a high-ranking Bethel official, to ask them my questions.
2. Contacted the best and the brightest Ex-JWs I knew of and asked them my questions. (Thanks Ron Frye and Ray Franz, and Randy Watters, Marilyn on the Helpline)
3. Read the Bible.
4. Did a multi-year study of JW doctrines.
5. Read Crisis of Conscience, In Search of Christian Freedom, Index of Watchtower Errors, Witnesses of Jehovah
5. Attended churches and got to know these so called "Future dead people" that were nicer, smarter, more Christian than JWs could ever hope to be.
6. Hang out on JW.com.
7. Began building a new life that reflected my interests and hobbies, and began to surround myself with people that stimulate my mind, and are warm and caring.
8. Read more great books, saw more great films.
9. Found a new spirituality, one unencumbered by fundy or JW bias.
"The God that comes before skepticism may bear little resemblence to the God that comes after."
(M. Scott Peck: The Road Less Traveled)