i realize this is odd, but a "how you woke up" thread and the personal stories that are told which i know we all enjoy, made me think of this.
in helping my wife and a couple others get the ball rolling, i realized the thing that resonated with me, didn't even move the needle with them.
i wanted to rail on and on about blood, because that was my conduit to waking up, but for my wife it was about shunning.
I was not triggered by:
what did you imagine jehovah to look like?
i always pictured him like this:.
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I had no certain picture of Jehovah in my mind. It was more a feeling that resembled my father.
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) .
Since I underwent a surgery in 2009, certain questions popped up in my mind:
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:
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.
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?.
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 was the teddybear of the author of the book "Goodbye Jehovah".
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).
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?
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"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/.
"Make the Truth Your Own (Song 56) - Have you taken that step?"
in my case; 27 years.
7 of which were as a ministerial serpent ... sorry, i mean 'servant' ;).
29 years
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.
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?
was there anything positive about your jehovah's witness experience?.
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 don't know if this makes much sense, but that's my way to make the best out of it.
