Posts by Brad Wilson

26

Hello from Muddy Waters

by Muddy Waters in

well, here's some of my story.

(am leaving out a lot of personal details.).

but i was prompted to look outside the wt because i'd been having doubts and questions for a long time.

The music that moves you....

by FlyingHighNow in

once when i was profoundly sad for too many days, my brother in law sent us a mix tape.

he named each song after a person in our family.

this is the one he named heather.

Why I Left Jehovah's Witnesses--a 10-page essay by sd-7

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

why i left jehovahs witnesses.

they can be painful to bear, but sometimes that is part of life in a setting with many people and their various personalities.. it was my examination of evidence that did lead me to leave jehovahs witnesses.

they, of course, had failed to bear proper witness to his name.

Brad Wilson

I felt that Watchtower literature rarely did much to enliven the power of scripture without telling you how to think about it.

Enjoyed reading the whole post but the above line really struck a chord, toward the end for me it just seemed like at every turn you were told what to think not taught how to think.

Thanks - Brad

69

What was the last meeting you ever went to?

by lilbluekitty in

i figured out it's been 4 months and 5 days since my last meeting ever.

july 10th, it was a sunday.

i hadn't been there in 2 months or so and decided to see if anyone noticed i'd been gone.

Brad Wilson

special talk May 2009

now ex-wife wanted me to go as now ex-dear friend was giving it.

same old drivel and had it not been for that, memorial 2009 would have been last.

sure don't miss it - Brad

43

Do You Miss Even A Little Bit Your "Friends" From The "Truth"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i miss a few but honestly i could count them on one hand after being in the organization for almost 5 decades.

some jws are ok but most, i simply tolerated, due to being an elder..

Brad Wilson

Mixed feelings over mixed drinks on this.

There are definitely a few I would enjoy contact with again but in retrospect one has to wonder what that new relationship would be even without the w.t.

Those few were in fact close confidants over many years but looking back there was also always that underlying sense of protecting the organization first and living your life second, so then did I really know them ?

C'est la vie - Brad

54

You Can Overcome WT Phobias!

by leavingwt in

jw
friends

early in the exit process, it's very important to begin overcoming irrational fears.

fear of the devil.

fear of god.

Brad Wilson

Our thoughts and actions have been micro-managed to the point where some have trouble deciding what flavor ice cream to order without being told

So very true 3rdgen, and all across the board witnesses do, often as not, what they want to do and yet fall back to "what does the society say" when others are around. Just not a healthy environment to live in.

Brad

7

A secular website/podcast interviews an ex-elder

by JonathanH in

jw
friends

i just stumbled onto this by accident.

i was reading pz myer's blog, and just on a larf clicked on a link to another blog.

one of the first entries was "view from the watchtower" in which an ex-elder is interviewed about his past experiences as a jw.

Brad Wilson

well worth the listen

Brad

41

Was it the doctrine or the control that woke you up?

by Evidently Apostate in

even though i knew some of the doctrines were so convoluted they couldnt be genuine, every prophecy mentioned in the bible was simplistic and direct i still felt it was the best place to raise a family.

i felt like i could ignore the hypocrisy, manipulative and fake personalities and still have true friends and unbreakable family bonds.

even though my concience would bother me i would always try to forgive.

Brad Wilson

the ever increasing control just fueled the doubts

Brad

283

Are you sure leaving is a wise decision ?- Lurkers think twice- Part 2

by mankkeli in

in the previous thread of this series, i called lurkers attention to the need of being discreet when contemplating an exit from the jw religion.

i mentioned that the thread was borne as a result of the general observations i made reading old posts here and discussing with many ex-jws and their lives have gradually turned out.

that thread alone was visited more than 2,980 times and graced with 204 contributions.

Brad Wilson

my pure motive is to keep lurkers away from information intended to undermine the credibility of the borg.

and just what credibility is that ?

Brad

60

why JWs doesn't celebrate birthday?

by vientotz in

i'm so curious, why they're not celebrating their birthdays?

is it just because jesus don't celebrate it and it's not written in the bible that they celebrated the birthday of jesus?

or is it written in the bible not to celebrate birthday?

Brad Wilson

vientotz ,

I became a witness largely because they were so nice and they seemed to use the bible , I left the witnesses 34 yrs later because while many of them remained nice their use of the bible became primarily a use of the wt publications while ignoring the very bible they claimed to be using. Of course after 34 yrs there became many more reasons for leaving and the primary one of those is and was their very very CONTROLLING mode of operation. In a nutshell this was no longer the religion I had signed on for.

And thats just a hint of why You need to ask many many questions.

Peace - Brad