Posts by Searching

39

I need some help

by Akid48 in

well let me start with my age is 13 and i have been thinking about this jw thing and i need help i just dont know if i want to be one any more.. the help i need is some one to send me some links to places i can research i just dont know if i want to study with a jw any more..

Searching

I second the advice to not get baptized unless that is YOUR choice. Getting baptized makes things a whole lot more difficult if you in the end decide that you want to leave.

JWFacts, as everyone else has mentioned is a wealth of information, and is honestly the main reason that I woke up, but there are also a lot of youtube channels that you can go to that have information in a easy to understand way, with their own personal experiences and struggles. I'd recommend EXJW Critical Thinker, JWStruggle, & John Cedars. Those folk were the main ones who helped me, but there are TONS more out there.

This is a really confusing time for sure, and you are in a tight spot because at 13, they might not listen, simply because of your age. Hell - I know if I learned this at your age my parents would have punished me, then sent me off to my grandparents so I could get an ear-full more.

But right now, the most important thing for you is to keep learning, don't stop researching, but also don't try to start a fight with your family over differing viewpoints. For the time being you might have to go with the flow, but learning the truth early will pay off in the long run.

29

Do You Ever Think Of ALL The Wasted Time Because You Were a JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the longer you are out the more you see how a cult steals all your time, resources and energy.

we wasted so much because we were witnesses!

👎.

Searching

I try not to think about it, honestly. My heart aches whenever I try; especially considering that my mother, grandparents, and great grandmother are still in the Org. The fact that I was taught to fear every single thing in life, and that the God we were worshiping might just kill me if I wasn't good enough, and I might just bear witness to the destruction of 90% of life on earth, you can't do that to a child and expect them to grow up okay.

But I have a great love for my family, regardless of the pain that I went through in the past, I'd do it again if it meant that I got to keep being known as their sister/daughter.

44

A WTF Moment While In the WTS

by Searching in

has anyone else had a moment, while still within the organization (and before learning ttatt) that caused them to stop and go, "this is kind of messed up.".

for instance, back i believe in the early 2000's, i was attending a dc with my family.

it was announced at the beginning of the convention that there was going to be a special announcement at the end, so for everyone to please try to remain until the very end of the meeting.

Searching

Has anyone else had a moment, while still within the Organization (and before learning TTATT) that caused them to stop and go, "This is kind of messed up."

For instance, back I believe in the early 2000's, I was attending a DC with my family. It was announced at the beginning of the convention that there was going to be a special announcement at the end, so for everyone to please try to remain until the very end of the meeting.

Well that point rolls around and it's announced that due to the economy and increasing gas prices - that they were going to put a halt to the monday (tuesday? its been a while) meetings, so that people could more easily attend the longer meetings on thursdays & sundays.

Afterwards my family stayed and chatted with the family that was sitting next to us, a mother and her two children I believe. And she was talking about how she had gotten so excited about the announcement, she was certain it was that it was going to be that Armageddon was coming. She exclaimed that her children had been so excited that they'd rushed outside to grab the camera.

I remember staring at her and then looking over at her kids, who couldn't have been more then six or seven years old and thinking 'this is the most messed up thing I have ever heard come out of someones mouth.' To my mothers credit, she smiled at laughed it off, but I think it really perturbed her as well.

48

"You're going to die in Armageddon"

by Jules Saturn in

i'm sure i am not the only one to have heard this come out of the mouths of my loved ones.

it's a very painful thing to hear, especially when it comes from the people like your own parents/family.

even after i've been told that, they would say "we'll just continue life without you.

Searching

To add to the verses that @FedUpJW put forth

(Colossians 3:13) Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
(Ephesians 4:2) Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
(1 Peter 4:8) Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Ask them if, making such claims - wishing death upon you - and stating that they will not mourn your passing; if that is them truly taking these verses to heart.

31

Hello

by Jules Saturn in

hello, i've been lurking for quite some time here on this forum, reading a whole lot and i've finally made the courage to create an account as a form of escape and in hopes to be understood and not feel "mentally diseased".

little background on me, i am a born in but i consider myself a pimo (physically in mentally out).

i feel like i've always had doubts but these doubts would sink with the meetings and the assemblies and every other little thing that drowns any doubts a witness may have.

Searching

Welcome!

I know for a fact that the moment I started learning things, it hit me like a train. Especially considering the fact that there was not only scriptural evidence to back up statements, but statements from the WTS own publications (I had previously told myself that if what I saw was just peoples opinions w/o evidence then ofc that meant the whole deranged apostate thing must be true)

And it is very hard, when you are someone who has woken up, but not been really able to talk to other people, especially family and friends - about this kind of thing. I know I want nothing more then to speak to my mother about the subject (once more, since I kinda messed up the first attempt) because there IS so much and often it does feel a little bit overwhelming, the staggering about of information. It makes you shocked doesn't it? How much we just didn't know.

But I will say that you're very much welcome here on the forums, there is a lot of good information here. You are not alone in this, and you are not mentally diseased, deranged, or a heathen hell-bound to drag everyone to the lap of Satan.

We are all at very different stages of waking up, I'm fairly new to it myself, so we're all learning how to live outside of the Organization together, one step at a time.

4

Do they know that you are here?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

have you ever admitted to your jw family and "friends" that you read apostate sites?.

Searching

My mother knows that I've read from "apostate sites" however the websites in specific she has no idea - nor does she know that it wasn't like a one-off occurrence.

17

"Apostate" brother gives talk in Kingdom Hall and gets removed

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

this guy has to have the most courage of anyone i've ever seen or balls the size of basketballs.he actually gives a good talk and has tidbits scattered about throughout his public talk with hints,suggestions,innuendos of the wt organization.i never want to go in another kingdom hall again in my life but would have made an exception just to be in this audience.

lolnotice what's going on in the audience when they realize somethings up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqqt0y1peuu.

Searching

I'm honestly very impressed by his talk. He used the scriptures to back up what he was saying, and not once did he say anything disrespectful towards the organization.

When I heard the Elder state that this was a "bad interpretation" I wish I had actually been at that meeting, I would have stood up and demanded to know what was so "bad" or "wrong" about it. He simply reiterated what the Bible has been saying all along, that Jesus is our King, Lord & Savior.

Jesus preformed miracles so that he could prove he was the Son of God. He knew and valued the importance of proof, especially to those who had doubts, but had good hearts as well. He didn't tell Thomas "Well if you don't believe me then tough, guess you ain't getting into heaven."

Though that seems to be the message that the WTS wants drilled into peoples heads more and more.

27

How to convince someone to leave.

by Smiruk in

jw
friends

hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster.

i'm currently in a jehovah's witnesses household, which is very deep into the "truth".

i woke up a few months ago, and i haven't told my parents yet.

Searching

Hello! Welcome officially to the forums!

One mistake I made with my Mother, was that in my eagerness and hope that she'd see things as I did - was to overload her with all different facts, my mother isn't an active Witness, but she is a born-in and has been for 40+ years. While I still pray & have hope that she will come to see the truth about things in time, I'll admit I made a big mistake doing what I did. Don't overload them with facts all at once!

Honestly you could approach this in a few different ways, a single topic to kind of break the ice, depending on what you think matters the most to THEM

- The Child Abuse/Sexual Assault

-The discrepancy of 607 BCE - 1914

-The false end time predictions

-Discrepancies within what the Watchtower teaches vs the Scriptures (two big ones for me was the context of the "light getting brighter" & the partakers of the Passover)

You know your parents the best. Any of these could really create a lightbulb effect and get them to either question and examine the scriptures, or if its more about the scandals, look up news articles.

We all have different things that "woke us up" so to speak. Mine was more of an emotional "no loving God could destroy 99.9% of earth due to a technicality of not being part of a man made org."

Find theirs and try to gently slide it into a conversation, you really don't want to make it seem like you are attacking their beliefs, because that will only cause them to close up.

62

Russian Ban upheld - JWs lose appeal

by OrphanCrow in

jw
friends

the supreme court of russia has rejected the jehovah's witnesses' appeal.. https://jw-russia.org/news/17071719-195.html.

july 17, 2017 the supreme court of russia has missed the last chance to restore law and justice for the 175,000 russian citizens professing the religion of jehovah's witnesses.

it took less than an hour of the meeting a panel of three supreme court judges, to leave unchanged the decision taken earlier by the judge yuri ivanenko, the liquidation and ban any and all registered organizations of the religion.since there is no more effective domestic remedies, the believers will appeal to the european court of human rights and other international organizations.. *note: as reported by the jworg source, jw-russia.org.

Searching

Taken from RT (though you could double check this anywhere on any news site)

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka region may trigger tsunami waves within a 300km radius, the US Pacific tsunami warning center said.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake hit at a 11.7km depth in the Pacific some 200km from Nikolskoe, a village located on the Bering Island off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Three other less powerful quakes were registered in the same region by the USGS in the past 24 hours.
The Kamchatka unit of the Russian emergencies ministry said it expected the tsunami wave to be no bigger than 0.5 meters. It told Interfax that Nikolskoe residents reported feeling tremors as did some people living in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the provincial capital.
The forecasted wave, however, failed to materialize, local authorities reported two hours later after revoking the tsunami alert. The quake itself did no more damage in Kamchatka than rattling some items off shelves, according to TASS.
The quake comes shortly after a powerful spewing of ash from the Klyuchevskoy volcano in Kamchatka. The ash plume rose to a height of 6 kilometers above sea level, prompting an advisory for planes flying in the region, local media reported.

Honestly - you got me, I'll admit, my heart clenched and I got a little afraid, I'm less then a full year out; and fear was probably the main reason I hung on.

But it is an evil and vicious cycle that you cannot let consume you. Once you allow yourself to think that God is using now in modern times, natural disasters as a means to punish those who are persecuting "his organization" then you open up a whole new can of worms thats best not to open in the first place.

149

why jw's commit suicide?

by notalone in

jw
friends

we all know the rate of suicide is high among jw's.

my question is this- was there some subliminal messages that encourage this.

i was a born in and my entire life i would have these thoughts that could come out of nowhere,"kill yourself.

Searching

Honestly, I believe various things could push one to contemplate and ultimately commit, suicide.

As LevelThePlayingField pointed out, there is an incredible amount of pressure for each and every one to do more, every single convention isn't Love or Kindness, its about how YOU can improve your ministry or how YOU better stay obedient or else you will get shunned by your family while you're alive & then get killed at Armageddon (which is probably tomorrow so you'd better stick with US.)

I also think that, if someone IS shunned or disfellowshipped - the worst (and sadly, most likely) scenario is that they will be cut off from everyone that they've ever known, friends and family alike will treat them as if they have the plague or are dead and it is very hard once on the outside to actually know how to function on the outside and form bond.

Also - perhaps if one is disfellowshipped, and comes to the conclusion that God does not exist, and that there is no real meaning for us even being alive - that could be incredibly hard on someone, especially one whose been told their entire life that they were going to live forever on a paradise earth.