by miseryloveselders 44 Replies latest jw friends
Yep, used to sit up till 3am sometimes just reading stuff, then lie awake till the alarm went off. Had to stop because I was so sleep deprived.
I don't think I will ever forget the moment I found out about the UN and the NGO debacle. Silent Lambs was a heart stopper.
I don't obsess about finding anything out now, infact I have a really hard time reading anything from the WT. Happier for it too.
Going through all of the above right now. I honestly think I'm going crazy sometimes but it sounds like we all go through similar things. I'm having a hard time trusting anything written or said.
Miseryloveselders: I don't know how you do it! The last meeting I went to was the memorial and I just wanted to scream, grab the plate of crackers and down it with the wine. It was such an eerie feeling - like being in zombie land.
So nice to see everyone's comments - I learn a lot. Thanks.
miseryloveselders - I'm still preoccupied by it quite often. Just the other night on my way home from work I was doing exactly what you were doing: talking to myself. In this case it was about Faith vs Doubt as it applies to witness thinking. I was making an argument that the concept that "someone who has doubts is dangerous" is unfounded.
undercover -You said:
I think that "born-ins" who really accepted it and believed it well into their adulthood probably have a harder time letting it all go as opposed to someone who came in later in life and then figured out they had made a bad decision.
As a "born-in", I can say that I firmly agree with this statement. My mother was not "born-in" and she is having a much easier time coping.
I am totally obsessed right now. I took furious notes at the convention, even accidentally shaking my head when I didn't agree with something the speaker said. I study my WT and wonder how in the world did I ever believe this! There are few scriptures to back up any of their points. We were taught not to think or question.
Gentile Times Reconsidered was fascinating. I want to read all I can about the WT, and have just started delving into other religious books. Sometimes I wonder if I am normal...most people my age probably don't spend much time thinking about religion and I'm trying to get to the bottom of everything. One question leads to many more. When my husband is out, I'll probably stop obsessing about it. It's so hard to see a critically thinking, intelligent person put the blinders on.
yeah totally obsessed here, there is so much too it that i find so facinating. i mean, you have the docterines, then you have the mind control aspect. i just cant get enough. i really have been reading alot of the topix message board, there are jw's over there and to watch them defend child molesters and teachings that are just clearly and factually wrong is something that facinates me to no end. i mean, mind control is so powerful that it causes people to DEFEND friggin child molesters. CHILD MOLESTERS! wow.
i am not obsessed but i go through alot of hard times ever since i became mentally illed because of the neutrality issuse.
Yep...it lasted about a year and a half maybe. Still can't completely let go but no longer obsessed.
Villabolo - now we know why we lock horns so often on the political threads - we hardened our asses climbing uphill through the snow to get to the library!
These young 'uns raised on the 'net have no idea what it took in those days.
Ok serious now. Gruss' "Apostles of Denial" was built around an idea I still use from time to time; JW's define themselves by what they are not and what they don't believe, i.e. not trinity, no hellfire etc. Without the rest of Christendom they wouldn't have a religion.
Another one I found very useful in my search was Anthony Hoekema's "The Four Major Cults." A bit dated but very good in focusing on how cultic groups distort their religious views.
Oh yeah. Just when my brain was calming down a little, I have some friends we are trying to help out. It's kind of like reliving the process all over again (but in a good way). I never had anyone to talk to about all this stuff except with my husband and all of you of course. Now my friends that are getting out now call all the time and say remember this remember that! And yes it is all I think about when I mow and drive! NMKA
I had nearly all of the wt publications back to the early 1900s. I read almost all of them. I had to know... and my kids really worried about my sanity, because I spent every possible moment pouring over them. I'm glad I did though... it helped to settle things and my mind, and prove once and for all that it could not possibly be "the Truth". That made it easier in the long run to move on.
Coffee
