Posts by SummerAngel

72

What was the biggest thing that convinced you that

by Ponyo in

.....the truth was not the truth... ?

.

SummerAngel

I'm a bit unusual here because for me it was growing cognitive dissonance that something didn't fit then a few incidents.

I was there at Twickenham assembly when 1975 was announced from the platform. Although young I was old enough to know what was said and that it didn't happen. Some years later I innocently asked my study conductor for the WT from 74 that predicted it and they pretended they didn't know what I was talking about.

I played music in lots of churches as a teenager. I waited for everything the WT said about churches to be true. It wasn't. I did not get struck down, I just met lovely friendly people.

As an older teen I knew I hated being different and hated the restrictions. I faded through my uni years but still had a bit of 'maybe they're right' for a few years. The single biggest incident was really very minor. I was travelling and had spent a perfect day snorkelling off the barrier reef. I did a lot of thinking when I travelled and realised that the world is a truly beautiful marvellous place. The lie I had been sold that it was all dreadful outside the WT, that everyone in it was out to get you just didn't have any evidence. I looked at how beautiful it was and knew that armagefon was not coming any day soon if ever. I think it was the culmination of years of stuff not adding up rather than any specific doctrine. There was n Internet then to redirect you I just worked it out for myself.

18

How/when did you become a jehovas witness?

by Lewis1998 in

so i've been a protestant for most of my life, it's how i was raised, but recently i started questioning my faith more and more and now i feel like my beliefs resemble that of a jehovas witness rather than a protestant.

i don't know any jehovas witnesses, so i was just wondering how a lot of you found the religion and adapted to it?.

SummerAngel

I was born in and deflected to real Christianity about 25 yes ago. There are many differences but predominantly it is the cultural difference rather than belief difference. Ie I go to church to worship god and have fellowship. I can openly challenge leadership. I can not turn up for 5 yes at one point etc and I have no flack from management for that. Before joining you should read JW facts although his stance like many ex JWs is atheist he raises a lot of awareness about this cult and just what you would be joining.you could simply shop around amongst evangelical or baptist type churches or you may conclude that none is for you. Bear in mind everyone on this site and there are 20k of us left for a reason, many others want to leave but are trapped..Personally there's nothing to recommend this cult at all.

20

Meetings are boring

by Akid48 in

meetings are boring for young kids and old but i'm going to focus on young kids 5 or 8.. i think is unfair that young kids get punished for falling asleep or zoning out.. as meetings are not as boring but i have to go to school the next day and staying up till 10pm isn't the best i can't get out of going.. but think of the young kids that dont even understand most of the teachings.. i know most on the site are adults but i heard of adults falling asleep..

SummerAngel

To get through the unbelievable tedium as a kid here's a few ideas. Set your self silly but tricky maths problems. Count heads, count blonde vs brunette, married vs singles and work out percentages. Count backwards from 1000. Work out a system of signalling with a friend there and send messages back and forth. Take loads of loo breaks, take a phone to them and surf. Miss as many meetings as you can. Its 2 hours of your life you won't get back.

I've never understood why WT don't copy what churches are doing with the yoof its far more effective. My daughter loves the singing she dances at the back, there is a packed kids program from creche to 16 with police checked skilled helpers who do bible stories, prayer, arts n crafts cooking which she and my son loved. She looks forward to it because its child friendly. We do messy church once a month which is open to anyone not sure if you have that in US if u do popnalong. Its just bible themed arts n crafts, games singing and loads of fun. We are a very small town and had about 50 kids come along Monday. We feed you for free too as it's a poor area and our church like to reach out. As a result our numbers are growing its far more effective than carting. At the last big summer conference I went to they built a skate/bike park for the older kids which blasts out christian rock at teenage friendly volume. Imagine Assembly's doing that. It works young people and families stay in.

23

Help with acceptance for JW family still in

by MaryKN in

well, it's been a long time!

i first lurked here around 20 years ago and read huge amounts of threads which certainly helped when i was making my decision to leave the religion.

i was never baptised (resisted it!

SummerAngel

See I never found the confrontation worked for me they read aggressive apostate backed into a corner. I found my stronger card was to be the daughter I wanted to be , I found by minimising and ignoring their cult it reduced the impact. I've found the questioning stopped after a couple of years. Now we do occasionally talk about God and I've even had some acceptance about my beliefs but I appreciate that is rare. I would react to the questions empathically_ ' I appreciate you care but I'm fine ' type approach

I did ask a very telling question however I asked my mother " if thexWT conflicts with the bible who do you believe?' She was pretty stumped at that..

In terms of sadness as I said before I feel pity for them and a bit embarrassed. They went to a local shop to by foil blankets for their go bag recently. I can just imagine the conversation in the shop. Then I thought most normal people would see my own parent's as loonie amagedon hunters which they are I guess it was just a rare glimpse of how odd their normal really is.

26

When is the last time you saw an educated middle class family become Jehovah's Witnesses?

by xjwsrock in

we know from casual observation that if anybody does respond to their preaching/recruiting work it is usually someone that is a social misfit in some way or a person that was indoctrinated early in life.. think about all the nicer neighborhoods witnesses preach in.

if a family of four with a father that is an engineer and a mother who is a medical professional ever walked into a kingdom hall for the first time and said they were studying, people would faint.

lol.... this of course isn't what you would expect from a religion backed by the ultimate intelligent creator.

SummerAngel

My family are however they converted decades ago but in a Cong of window cleaners, IT and retail professionals stand out. I've known a few people part way through uni degrees heading for good jobs bail and go into retail or pioneering . my dad particularly is a reader and thinker and I do wonder how he can be taken in by such nonsense. Interestingly he's never had any jobs to do ( they aren't privileges they're jobs)

23

Help with acceptance for JW family still in

by MaryKN in

well, it's been a long time!

i first lurked here around 20 years ago and read huge amounts of threads which certainly helped when i was making my decision to leave the religion.

i was never baptised (resisted it!

SummerAngel

Just to answer the questions you pose at the end such as does it make me sad? With regard to my parents saddens me to see unwaivering loyalty to such an uncaring group and even worse that they have so litre self esteem they can't see it. For example even in very poor health and inclement weather they still 'cart' or attend meetings late at night. With online stuff there is no excuse too big or talk too small to miss. I've rarely seen people round offering to help. I see wasted lives, my parents aren't drones they are quite odd ball and very middle class I suspect the only reason they haven't been pulled up for fraternizing with us is that they give handsomely to the Borg although I have no evidence of this. We do family ccassionally have spiritual ding dongs but I've found these counter productive its better to show love and when praised for our kindness I drop in stuff like- ' I don't think you're used to this' or ' that's what Christians do" and just shrug not making a big thing of it.

My sibling on the other hand had woken up and started to fade, he then married a devout JW and has been awful ever since, they virtually shun us. We did have a close relationship for many years but that's just gone. This makes me feel sad angry and frustrated i cannot see how he cannot see but i suspect he isnt in it for the belief but because his Mrs makes him toe the line. Her family are very presurizing so i see him as weak.

The only other issue with trying to wake someone up is it reveals to them just how apostate your views really are. If as in sibling and in law they return they have even more ammo to use against you and shun you.

23

Help with acceptance for JW family still in

by MaryKN in

well, it's been a long time!

i first lurked here around 20 years ago and read huge amounts of threads which certainly helped when i was making my decision to leave the religion.

i was never baptised (resisted it!

SummerAngel

I'm in a very similar situation, for me its been 27 years and for most of that time I've been openly BA Christian. Initially they were pretty awful lots of comments etc like ' we will be in paradise without you but you will be erased from our memory" my mum can be quite spiteful at times. Because I wasn't baptised I was never dissed so I've always remained in contact in fact even stayed with them for a year recently. When I first left I wsd naive it never occurred to me that they may shun Mr, if it had I would have probably thought twice but never regretted a day of leaving. I also have 1 sibling in and an in-law , sibling has caused issues. In terms of hoping they will wake up. Religion is the elephant in the room. I try and say positive stuff about church and why I'm happy there occasionally I can tend to jump on any negative JW stuff and when I told them the facts that the world is getting better not worse you could have heard a pin drop. However they are now in their dotage we just show them lots of love and care. My days of playing scripture ping pong with them are long gone. Yes I wish and pray for them to wake up but I have my doubts now and feel the shock of an entirely wasted life would be too much ( they are in 80s). I worry more about the damaged relationship with my sibling who has chosen after yes of inactive to become aggressively JW. Its difficult but put the bible away no one was ever logic"d to God, be everything they told you you couldn't be without their religion.

14

Not A Day Goes By Without Me Thinking About Watchtower

by pale.emperor in

although i consider myself completely "cured" from watchtower brainwashing, guilt tripping and propaganda, i realised today that there's not a day that goes by without me thinking of the cult we left.

i think of my former family and what i'd like to say to them, what i'd try to explain and how i'd say it without them switching the "ignore" button and running away.. today on my instagram account my little step-brother "liked" a picture i posted.

i didn't even know he was still on my friends list.

SummerAngel

Hi PE, this post made me think. I've been out longer than I was in however due to a relocation move I am now living closer to people still in than I have for 15 yes and this has reawakened my fascination with WTS stuff. I watch family trotting off to their indoctrination sessions and I see evidence of wasted lives, no provision for old age either materially or emotionally and feel like I want to scream wake up to this nonsense. Whilst away I lived in a non JW bubble in which our 2 vastly different cultures never met and polite conversation not talking about religion was had. I maintained good relationships with patents and siblings including 1 still in and Jdubbery was the elephant in the room. Since moving back ironically closer to be with family the differences in culture are all too evident. My brother who I have enjoyed a great close relationship with for the last 20 yes who almost left and wanted to fade has now shunned me. My others brothers wife who returned to the cult is now quite off with us. Fortunately my patents have remained OK.

There are also loads of psychological reminders that never go away. This thing divides families and scars people for life. I was one of the lucky ones born in I escaped and got an education and never got baptised. I also remained in contact with some family. But on the plus side we are all a product of our background and the struggles I had made me who I am today. Leaving the Borg meant I could reinvent myself to be who I wanted to be.

28

Baptism statistics from CO

by neat blue dog in

just went to the assembly yesterday and during the final talk the circuit overseer said:.

'sure, there are some adults baptised here and there, but do you want to know something wonderful?

the vast majority of those getting baptized are teens and preteens!

SummerAngel

This is really more a general comment on numbers rather than baptisms. I feel this recent trend for harsh doctrine has caused the WTS to shoot themselves in the foot. It was done to scare people into remaining active but if they had half a brain cell they would have read the writing on the wall and done things the other way. What I'm trying to say is I wonder if this decline could force a backpedal to more lenient thinking under the banner of ' new light" eg to include inactive ones to 'encourage' them back in. Less DFsing and quicker reinstatement these are their best hope on this sinking ship. It would be a very different tack but also a very quick way of boosting numbers. What do others think?

23

youngest baptised.

by zeb in

jw
friends

what is the youngest you have seen someone baptised?

i recall seeing a 9 yo girl baptised..

SummerAngel

I've noticed a few posts on this site comparing the WT trend of young baptism to the practice of church infant baptism. There is absolutely no comparison. Most churches these days baptise older teens or adults not infants for a start. There is no compulsion to be baptised and once bapped no contract to attend or consequences of breaking rules - there are no rules to break as such. It is simply a show of faith and expression that you are serious about your belief.

As an adult, you may meet a few times with the minister to ensure you understand the step you are taking. On the day you would have the chance to give your testimony and have prayer. There is celebration afterwards whatever the age it isn't a dreadful sombre occasion like in JWs.