in late may 2017, i told my parents how i really felt about the religion they had raised me in, and by early june i was out of their house.
i've done a lot since then.
i let my hair and beard grow out a bit.
Wow- look at all that you've accomplished in such a short time!
There's something kind of great about having been raised as a jw...when you leave, you appreciate your freedom so much. Other people may take it for granted-but every ex JW knows what it means to contemplate just living a lie for the sake of keeping family and ultimately how that isn't really much of a life, is it?
Very happy for you! Hope it only gets better
in this summer's convention theres a video showing the tale of a rather geeky plain looking brother whose relating the tale of how the prettiest girl in the whole school fancied him (!
) and sent him a love letter, the letter is read and it says .
"i think we would get along,i'm attracted to you, i like your personality, and that's not all, i think we could have fun together.
Ha- they've always been out of touch with youth culture. I remember back in the day the crazy dramas about kids being in a line to watch a "R" movie or smoking cigarettes. Meanwhile in my school teens were doing acid/ecstasy and smoking pot.
I'd say that type of letter is pretty unlikely unless you were living in some backwards country where there's no access to civilization (aka internet). Now kids just send snapchat messages to each other I would be skeptical of any letters with complete sentences from teens...lol. That's completely made up.
not quite a week ago, @lost in the fog created a thread entitled: do you have this illness?.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5187824140681216/do-you-have-this-illness.
in my year of being on this forum, i have browsed many a disillusioned thread of ex-jehovah’s witnesses expressing similar symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder when detailing their awakening - my own story included.
@dubstepped - that video was amazing!
There are so many talented, insightful people on this forum
some who are not disfellowshipped are still shunned i also know there’ are disfellowshipped ones that family still associate with..
@ToesUp "soft shunned" -that's a great term!
I'm soft shunned by most of my family. All of the friends (with exception of one) who I grew up with and knew for decades basically fell of the face of the earth once I became inactive. Honestly, we'd probably have so little in common now that I don't consider it a big loss. I think many times the only thing we had in common was the religion.
I'm with Morpheus on this.
No one puts a gun to their heads to get baptized or shun or not take blood. All of these are their choices. This is why I have such an issue with the "cult" label. It seems like a way to free oneself of personal accountability.
@Td I don't know a whole lot about Mormons, but when I read ex mormon stories- sounds alot like ex jws.
As much as I have issues with JWs for how their policies have affected the relationships I have with my family, I would never rejoice over any government banning a religion.
Are we seriously looking at the Russian government and applauding them for taking away a human right?
is the average jehovah's witness selfish and self-centred?.
i know, i know...many will object and say "no - preaching is the most selfless thing a jw can do.
it saves others lives...".
There's always a motive with JWs. They shun people to get them to return to the fold. They are nice to non-jws so that they might recruit them. They are kind to other JWs so that they won't stumble them and be blood guilty.
They are never just genuinely loving and kind because they have a deep rooted conviction that that is the way you should act- regardless if the person on the other end is a jw or gives you anything in return. I would call that very selfish.
after i awoken from the cult, i went through the normal process of not knowing who i was and what my tastes where.
looking back this was a wonderful time in my life because i experimented and tried different things and now i like or dislike things because i personally like/dislike them - not because i've been told they're good or bad.. black pudding is an example - it's made of blood and is a popular addition here in britain to fried breakfasts.
i tried it for the first time last year and i can confirm that it is indeed revolting.
My taste in music didn't change when I woke up. I was allowed to go to concerts when I was a JW and there was a group of us that would go to concerts.
I've always loved the Smiths- I saw Morrissey in concert in the 90's. It was an amazing show. I even went with my JW best friend.
hey guys, so now that i’m pretty much atheist and i’m not scared of demons or supernatural things, or bring them into my house by watching movies or reading books about them lol, i defenitly want to watch a few scary movies.
i’ve always loved scary movies, but as witness, you don’t get to watch many since they need to be pg-13 and have no spiritism in it lol.
does anyone have any suggestions?
Babadook
A Quiet Place
The Others
El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
The Boy
I don't care for the Saw type movies either.
i want to suggest something that i've been ruminating on for a while now.
that involves the possibility that when jehovah's witnesses look for "sheep-like ones" what they're actually looking for is this: those who will allow themselves to be dominated (get rid of things that god "hates," accept the movement's beliefs without protest, not check into the movement's history) and those who are willing to be shamed (letting jehovah's witnesses into their homes when doing so is looked down upon in secular society, talking with them on the street when everyone else avoids them).. i say this because from what i observed at the kingdom halls i attended in the course of gathering data for my research i saw:.
-frequent shaming: jehovah's witnesses must do more to be acceptable to god, they are "good for nothing slaves," they are spared through armageddon by jehovah's "undeserved kindness," etc.
Communal Narcissists for sure.
I think this is why I have such a strong reaction to certain do gooder groups that are self promoting and incredibly self righteous. They remind me so much of JWs,
