Posts by Schnufti

20

What Did You Imagine Jehovah To Look Like?

by pale.emperor in

what did you imagine jehovah to look like?

i always pictured him like this:.

.

Schnufti

I had no certain picture of Jehovah in my mind. It was more a feeling that resembled my father.

41

What woke you up?

by MrRoboto in

for me, i think it was just the right time as i was starting to wake up on other fronts as well (anyone who had went through these will know what i mean).

but it started when i was looking for what info goes on a publisher card, which led to me reading one person's story (ex bethelite) which was pretty crazy to an all-in jw but who trusts those apostates...?.

then i started watching videos on cults, as if my subconscious was trying to tell my concord mind something... when i saw a particular one about a young man in lds getting ready to start their 2 year preaching campaign, including a school, social activities etc, i realized that i couldn't tell the difference between the folks of this mormon cult and the jws (save for some religious differences) .

Schnufti

Since I underwent a surgery in 2009, certain questions popped up in my mind:

Why wouldn't Jehovah forgive me if I accepted blood because I was in mortal fear?
Why does Jehovah put himself in a bad light by the blood doctrine?

Then I took a further education course. For two years, week after week, I was panicking that I had to out myself as a JW. It became clear to me that I "didn't had enough faith". I knew I needed to research things like:

How can I be sure that humanity is only 6000 years old? And why hasn't there been anything in the publications about it since the 80's?
Who decided which books belong to the biblical canon?
Why is there so much cherry picking which scientific findings are true?
Why do we assume that the bible is true without really going into detail?
Why am I scared to research outside Watchtower publications?

I repressed all these questions that were bugging me. I was ready to wake up, but couldn't do it by myself. Then finally last year, my husband opened up to me that he researched and doesn't believe anymore that it is the truth. I broke down and cried and didn't know how we could go on with our marriage. But one week after, I woke up too.

234

Suicide - How many do you know within the JWs

by Lady Lee in

thw wts likes to play games with their statistics.

one interesting but truly tragic is the number of jwhovah's witnesses who commit suicie.. now i suspect that if a person commits suicide shortly before or after they are disfellowshipped then the elders would say that person wasn't a witness or that they had done something so terrible that they were too guilty to admit it and by their action of committing suicide they pretty much declared they were no longer a jw.. yup fancy talk to make sure any crap didn't fall on them.. so my question.. do you know of cases like this?

if so then can you answer a few more questions.. had this person been dfed or in real danger of being dfed or whatever the equivalent is if they were never baptized?.

Schnufti

Last Summer during convention lunch break I saw a sister walking around and smiling. The very next day she took her life. She had been mentally ill (shizophrenia, I'm not sure) and didn't want to go back to the clinic on Monday.

116

What is behind your choice of forum user name?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

just curious how we all think.. what prompted or influenced your choice of username for this forum?.

there are some really amazing names, and it would be great to hear the stories behind them.... mine was nothing fancy.

i just felt "stuck in a rut too" along with so many others.

Schnufti

Schnufti was the teddybear of the author of the book "Goodbye Jehovah".

37

Which Watchtower publications did you keep?

by Schnufti in

i'm currently cleaning up our bookcase and need to decide what goes into the trash.

i'll keep the watchtower books that are not available online anymore (e.g.

the brown "reasoning" book).

Schnufti

Hello there,

I'm currently cleaning up our bookcase and need to decide what goes into the trash. I'll keep the Watchtower books that are not available online anymore (e.g. the brown "Reasoning" book). It could be useful for future arguments with my family ("They never said that!").

Did you keep any Watchtower publications, and if so, which one?

yaayyyy Child baptism!!

by Schnufti in

.

"make the truth your own (song 56) - have you taken that step?".

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/songs/56-make-the-truth-your-own/.

Schnufti

"Make the Truth Your Own (Song 56) - Have you taken that step?"

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/become-jehovahs-friend/songs/56-make-the-truth-your-own/

46

How many years did you waste away in the Org?

by Tallon in

in my case; 27 years.

7 of which were as a ministerial serpent ... sorry, i mean 'servant' ;).

Schnufti

29 years

45

How did you feel when you got baptized?

by Schnufti in

back in 2005, i remember sitting in the stadium in the special rows with 42 others.

8000 people were looking at us - maybe even with a binocular - while listening to the speech.

my family and my friends among them, being all proud of me.. i don't remember being enthusiastic.

Schnufti

Back in 2005, I remember sitting in the stadium in the special rows with 42 others. 8000 people were looking at us - maybe even with a binocular - while listening to the speech. My family and my friends among them, being all proud of me.

I don't remember being enthusiastic. The most exciting thing was that someone I had a crush on was sitting only two rows behind me and soon I got to see his half naked body. Instead I felt somewhat empty and scared. It just had to be done and there was no turning back. When the elders had gone through the questions with me I felt the question "Do you really want to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses?" very uncomfortable.

Were you happy when you got baptized? Did you feel particularly "close to Jehovah"? Or did you want to stand up and hide in the toilet like me?

66

Was There ANYTHING Positive That You Experienced Because of Being a JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

was there anything positive about your jehovah's witness experience?.

Schnufti

I met my husband because we both grew up as JWs. This and waking up was the best thing that could happen to me.

I don't regret being a JW. If I hadn't been a JW, I would take many things for granted and probably wouldn't be as happy as I am now that I've woken up. I feel relieved every day because:

I never have to go to field service again.
No more panic of being outed as a JW in front of workmates. I have nothing to hide.
I can work on my career without any guilt.
I love my husband as the person he is. Before I was an awful wife because I felt like he wasn't good enough as he wasn't as spiritual as I wanted him to be.
If I got sick or had an accident, nothing would hold the doctors back to save my life. My hypochondria is gone.
I can spend cozy evenings at home - instead of entering a room crowded with people who judge you and ask if everything's okay if you don't put on a fake smile.

I don't know if this makes much sense, but that's my way to make the best out of it.

106

So what caused you to have doubts in the first place?

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

i had no doubts at all about the 'truth' untill a friend of mine in the cong' began falling away.

in trying to help him i had to ask questions and do research and that of course cracked the doors of my mind open for the first time in over thirty years.. years ago, when jwd allowed members to have signatures, i used the following quote from voltaire as mine.

i still love it.. doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous..

Schnufti

I remember that I questioned the Bible as a teenager. But I put it aside because my life was comfortable.

It began years later when I had to stand up for my faith. I was in the hospital and had to refuse a blood transfusion. I refused it because I felt obliged, not out of deep conviction. I felt like I didn't have any other choice. It was horrible. I cried all day and was scared I would die.

This experience made me think. Why would Jehovah demand something that brings such bad reputation to his name? Why doesn't he save JWs that die of blood loss so that everyone would clearly see that they are his people? Why wouldn't he forgive me if I accepted a blood transfusion because I want to live?

At that time I also attended evening classes for two years. I was panicking about my classmates finding out I'm a JW. This fear reminded me every week on my doubts.

Finally my husband woke me up last year. I'm glad he wasn't afraid of doing research.