Posts by Maria Nieves

31

A Witness on Facebook posted why JW is not a cult!

by Addison0998 in

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Maria Nieves

From my understanding, Jehovah Witnesses are not supposed to post anything about their religion on-line. I wonder how the congregation would feel if they were to know someone among them posted the above on-line.

27

I Ended my Bible Study

by Maria Nieves in

i ended my bible study today.

several months ago, i began to feel that the truth was not the truth.

as the months progressed, my feelings intensified.

Maria Nieves

@UnshackleTheChains, there was a video shown in regards to ending unproductive bible studies. I wonder how many bible study conductors are ending unproductive bible studies? My bible study conductor should have ended my bible study months ago because it was months ago that I stopped showing interest.

I was not strong or brave enough to end the study. I am sure that there are others like me who no longer want to continue to study but are not brave enough to end the study. Many of them will move on to baptism.

I tried to fade but that did not work. Whenever I would miss a meeting, I would automatically be contacted and asked why I had missed a meeting. I tried saying that I was not feeling well when it came to bible study but I could only say that I was not feeling well so often.

I know how controlling the Jehovah Witness religion is. I hope that you are able to break away without any repercussions.

27

I Ended my Bible Study

by Maria Nieves in

i ended my bible study today.

several months ago, i began to feel that the truth was not the truth.

as the months progressed, my feelings intensified.

Maria Nieves

@Pete Zahut, She was kind and I would say that she was a good teacher. She placed a lot of effort into what she was teaching and seemed to really believe what she was teaching.

She was also controlling. I think that it was obvious that I reached a point where I no longer wanted to continue to study but she never ended the study. I stopped attending the week day meetings. I also never brought up the topic of studying but she would always tell me the time that the study was going to occur. The study would occur weekly for several hours. From me, she easily got at least 13 hours of study per month.

Prior to the study, I had to prepare. Preparing for a study would take approximately two hours. And, she would always have questions about what I had study. Therefore, she was able to know whether I had studied.

I am sure that she believes that I need to be saved from the wrath of God. However, I think that it was more that she was being pressured. Maybe she was being pressured into bringing someone into the truth. Jehovah Witnesses are always admired when they have their study go from being a study to being baptized.

I do feel somewhat bad because during my time in the Kingdom Hall, I saw bible study conductors progress their study to baptism. Obviously, these Jehovah Witnesses were commended when their study resulted in baptism.

27

I Ended my Bible Study

by Maria Nieves in

i ended my bible study today.

several months ago, i began to feel that the truth was not the truth.

as the months progressed, my feelings intensified.

Maria Nieves

Thank-you to everyone who took the time to respond especially those who responded to my initial post. I do feel better. The comments that have been provided throughout my time on this site resulted in my gaining a better understanding of the Jehovah Witness religion and what was occurring with me.

@WTWizard, As you are aware, there is a lot of judgement within the Jehovah Witness religion and I did not want to be a part of that. However, I felt that I was being taught to judge. Therefore, I am glad that I put an end to the study because the person that I was being built to be was not the person that I wanted to be.

@ShirleyW, Not associating with others who are not Jehovah's Witnesses was one of the first things that I questioned within myself. It didn't seem God like to me. There was a time where I believed that the Jehovah Witness religion was the one true religion. However, when I began to have doubts, what occurred was a slow unlearning of what I had been taught.

@john.prestor, Thank-you. Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to have friends that are not Jehovah's Witnesses. I did not want my bible study conductor out of my life. However, I did not want to continue in the study. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the study had to stop. With that reasoning, I also came to the conclusion that my relationship with my bible study conductor might come to end. Event though I did not want her out of my life, I eventually accepted the fact that might be a possibility and I made peace with it.

@nicolaou, Thank-you for sharing your story. So many individuals have been impacted by the Jehovah Witness religion. Some of these individuals were not even Jehovah's Witnesses.

@Wasanelder Once, Eventually, that was what it became. I didn't want to disappoint anyone and I buckled. It did feel that I was being pressured into being baptized because the topic of baptism kept coming up. I did fail in believing that the Jehovah Witness religion was the one true religion. However, I never said anything out of fear of being labeled an apostate. Seems like whenever someone questions something or is not accepting or in agreement with what is presented within the Jehovah Witness religion, the person is automatically labeled an apostate. I felt that it was not safe for me to belong to a religion where I was not free to express my opinions.

@smiddy3, it could be that those who are vulnerable are easy targets to become a study. That was how I became a study. I was vulnerable. Sadly, there is no asking confrontational questions in a study. Those that do, are labeled an apostate. A witness would not entertain such questions. They would automatically end the conversation.

@The Fall Guy, several individuals on this site have commented that prior to being baptized, they did not believe the truth to be the truth. However, they went on to get baptized because they did not have the courage to say no.

@jookbeard, Thank-you. Many agree with you.

@Vanderhoven7, Yesterday's study was difficult. It might have been the most difficult study that I have had. I am glad that it is over and I feel a sense of relief. Yesterday's study was not even a study. It was more me being questioned as to why I had not established a relationship with Jehovah and what I needed to do in order to establish a relationship with Jehovah. How the Jehovah's Witnesses viewed establishing a relationship with Jehovah was not how I wanted to establish a relationship with him.

27

I Ended my Bible Study

by Maria Nieves in

i ended my bible study today.

several months ago, i began to feel that the truth was not the truth.

as the months progressed, my feelings intensified.

Maria Nieves

I ended my bible study today. Several months ago, I began to feel that the truth was not the truth. As the months progressed, my feelings intensified. I wanted to end the study but did not know how.

Somehow, I ended the bible study today. During the study, I felt that my bible study conductor was criticizing other religions and that she was drilling into me that the Jehovah Witness religion was the true religion. I was also being questioned as to whether I believed the Jehovah Witness religion to be the one true religion.

I told my bible study conductor that the purpose of a study was to progress to baptism and that I was not progressing.

Although the ending of the study needed to be done, I do feel guilt and sadness. Ending the study was not easy to do and I felt like crying. I also feel a little lost and wonder how I can move forward. I dedicated more than two years of my life to studying, going to the weekend meetings, going to the weekday meetings, going to the assemblies and conventions.

I know that Jehovah Witnesses are not supposed to have friends who are not witnesses. However, I viewed my bible study conductor as a friend, I confided in her and I trusted her.

I do want to have a relationship with God and I want to grow closer to him. However, I still feel that the truth is not the truth.

6

Reflections and Field Service

by EmptyInside in

wow,i started posting on here 10 years ago,time flies,when waking up from cult mind control,lol.. i've been watching a lot of youtube lately from ex-jehovah's witnesses,especially those just coming out.

and some still go out in field service on their own.

i have a confession.

Maria Nieves

Thank-you for sharing your story. I am glad to see that you are much happier now.

35

Reporting Live From Orangeburg Assembly Hall

by HiddenPimo in

2,259 in attendance .

9 baptized.

$21,000 to operate one day assembly.

Maria Nieves

I attended today's assembly and yes, donations were requested.

One of the things that really bothered me was a skit that was shown. The skit involved two Jehovah Witness adult females.

One of the females was engaged. She informed the other female that she and her boyfriend were alone and things went too far. However, it was not disclosed how far things went.

The female who was engaged stated that she and her boyfriend had discussed what had happened. She stated that they both came to the conclusion that it would not happen again.

The female who was engaged begged her friend not to tell the elders. The friend responded by saying that Jehovah was watching. She instructed the female who was engaged to tell the elders. The friend stated that if the elders were not informed of what happened, she would be the one telling the elders.

The way that I saw it was, two adults decided to engage in some type of sexual behavior. The sexual behavior that they engaged in was consensual. They were both scheduled to be married within a matter of weeks. What is the purpose of the elders knowing that they engaged in some type of sexual activity? What are the elders going to do with this information? If Jehovah was watching, then why do the elders need to be told?

Also, in my opinion, sex is something that is personal and done in private. So, why do the elders need to know that a couple in the congregation that is soon to be married engaged in some type of sexual activity?

I am surprised that it was encouraged for the members of the congregation to report to the elders if they know of someone in the congregation engaging in sexual behavior.

29

Congregation memorial stats

by nowwhat? in

2 congregations met together attendance 355 which is close to exact number of combined publishers.

only saw a couple of new faces.

so it looks like once again the invitation work was a complete failure and relatives of jw's couldn't be talked into coming anymore!.

Maria Nieves

@FedUpJW, what was the purpose of the American Indian drinking the wine? Did he not know that he is not supposed to drink the wine? I am curious to know why he drank the wine.

49

VIDEO - Memorial toast stuns Jehovahs Witnesses congregation!

by John_Carter_1912 in

i applaud this great and holy man!

do you?.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fstqepi9iu.

Maria Nieves

This man is commendable. There needs to be more people like him. It’s time that the truth about the Jehovah Witness organization is exposed.

14

The brother at the door

by days of future passed in

i got up late today.

i hear the doorbell ring and i go - not really dressed for company - i stand back and see a jw man maybe 60 years old or so.

at first i was just going to brush him off.

Maria Nieves

Well, you know how it is. Jehovah’s Witnesses are only to read things that come from JW.Org. JW.Org is not going to report facts about child sex abuse that has occurred inside the organization. They just paint themselves as taking appropriate measures in order to prevent child sex abuse and they paint a picture as having appropriate policy and procedures in place in regards to handling child sex abuse once they know that it has occurred.

In addition, if a witness were to question anything negative about the organization, they are labeled an apostate. Therefore, I am not surprised about the witness’ reaction. It is what is expected of them.