Impromptu Survey - 2 Types of Reasons to Leave (page 2)

Out at Last!

Mostly #1, but did see alot of hypocracy in the "we love everyone" bullshit when certain ones in same cong wouldn't talk to eachother,

Now athiest-agnostic?

mysterious437

It started off as the fact that I believed I deserved a relationship and the JWs didnt believe gays deserved as much. After that google took over and the whole dogma became a house of cards.

wobble

No. 1 Teachings about GB/FDS were blasphemously displacing Jesus.

Now I call myself a Christian, do not associate with any organized religion, and think of myself as agnostic, in the sense of lacking knowledge.

I do not have the knowledge to be definate about the big questions like:

"If God is love, how come the great evil in the world, like the WBT$ ?"

Love

Wobble

AdaMakawee

Its really been interesting to read the responses, much different than I expected.

I left for reason number 2, long before there was a google. At the time I knew they had blown the one test that they spouted, but I really didn't care that much about doctrine. The one thing I kept for a long time was that I really had no desire to be associated with "apostates" because I thought they were all bitter people who protested assemblies and whined a lot. Along the way I bought Crisis of Conscience but it bored me to tears so I gave it to my brother, who lapped it up.

Then one day I discovered JWD and learned about Malawi and about the UN debacle. The whole house of cards came tumbling down, as someone said. But in the meantime the whole biblical house of cards had come tumbling down in the sense of it being itself any type of "truth." Once that was gone I felt connected to something, but I wasn't sure what, so I went on a journey of discovery and learned about many different paths.

Now I would say you all would throw me in the pagan bucket, but mostly I'd say the Gaian hypothesis is at the center of it.

Thanks for the responses, I love hearing how other people evolve.

Ada

AdaMakawee

BTW you are right. #3 should be policies. Good call.

Atomahawk

# 1, 2, 3 = me becoming Athiest and Freethinker.

When I was sincere in wanting to know and serve god he/she/it had the opportunity to do what was right by showing me the path. Instead I got involved in an organization that produced in me antipathy of anything called religion and worship of a creator. “Fool me once”

Regards,

Liberty

#1 and their complete lack of scientific understanding

Anti-theist

PrimateDave

A bit of #2 led ultimately to #1.

Currently non-religious/non-theist.

kriptonian7

i just posted something similar to this, but i didnt know this thread Had a where are you now part to it.

I left because of the two faced hypocracy that was going on with my congregation, along with my questioning of some fo the beliefs. i skipped out on my baptism because i had a feeling i was going to be in the situation of DF soon there after. i was datng a girl for over 3 yrs. No sex, no drugs, no smoking, no cigarettes...nothing. She didnt care what religion i was, hell i drug her along to an assembly once so we could hang out on a weekend (pathetic i know)

My best friend, and elders son, knew about us...hung out with us. One day he has this holier than thou brain fart spiritual need for cleansing, and decides he is going to tell his dad that he had sex with some "worldly" girl. Somehow i come up in the conversation. Next thing i know i am a focus of shepherd calls and meetings with the elders. There were two elders that i respected and they wanted to hear my story and actually gave me as much support as they could. the others...wow...So i was in love, i was going to marry this girl. This was real and it was not going away. Really it came down to them givingme an ultimatum. Leave her be and get baptised or they will deem me "bad association" and my mother will be reviewed in her part in this and possible DF could be the answer.

So...i decided to out all of their badd ass children whom i hubg out with all the time. There were maybe 8 of us in the same age group. they all drank...smoked...one did blow...and two pairs of them were sleeping together. They had to know these things...everyone knew this but because they were the elders kids it was looked over. One of the elders had a "worldly" wife! I had a real relationship and a connection with another human on this planet, and they wanted it to end for no good reason they could give me. To keep my mother out of trouble i told them that i was going to end it, and a few weeks later (and some personal one on one bible studies with different elders) I told them i wanted to ge baptised at the up coming assembly. That got them off the twice a week bible studies, and right before i turned 18 i packed my crap up and moved out.

All that combined with they couldnt give me a striaght answer to why the Romans, who crucified people on a daily freaking basis, decided to hang Jesus from a stake. Were they low on beams? Were they trying something new that day?

parakeet -

I suppose I'm closer to reason #1, but the real reason I left was because I couldn't stand the thought of putting my then newborn son through the same kind of childhood I had. I knew then I didn't really believe the dubs and never had. I had just gone along with it the way a child does, unquestioning amd trusting (but in an adult, it's known as braindeath). Only later did I search for doctrinal errors to back up my decision to leave.

My beliefs nowadays are a mixture of Taoism/paganism/atheism.

This has been my thought process too. I almost went back again for my family's sake. And I have been reading alot on Taoism and some buddhism as well trying to find my place now. Im havinig a hard time releasing the idea of a higher power.

Finally-Free

It can also be several reasons. I don't think too many people stumble on one single reason and make an immediate decision to get out of the cult. In my case it was a number of reasons that built up over a 20 year period. First I was struck by the lack of love. Then some "new light" would make no sense. Then some casual reading would reveal some old idiotic teaching that is now swept under the carpet. More lack of love, a few fucked up policies, more "new light" flickering, and finally the child abuse scandal. It was the child abuse scandal that prompted me to do the real, in depth research. After that I was out like a shot.

As for a current belief system, I have none. After thousands of years of recorded history people can't even agree on whether god exists or not, let alone any details. I won't assume that I can find an answer in the few years I have left. I have other things to do.

W

Impromptu Survey - 2 Types of Reasons to Leave

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