Do your friends and workmates know...

Aude_Sapere

Do your friends and workmates know about your JW history?

How open are you in sharing this part of yourself with them??

How do they react when you tell them?

TresHappy

Most know, but I don't talk about it, except on rare occasion. Like when my parents showed up on my supervisor's doorstep last year!

It seems to enventually come out. People will ask what religion your were raised then they want to know why you are no longer that religion. Most of them are surprised to find out about how they shun people and are so cult like.

Wild_Thing

Everyone at my work knows. We are a pretty close knit group there, anyway. When I first started working there I was technically still a JW. I didn't want to be a JW and I didn't want to tell anybody that I was raised as one, or that I was one. Including the time I did my internship there, it was almost an entire year before I told anyone that "I was a Jehovah's Witness". They were very nice and accepting about it when they found out. They had no idea that I was struggling with remaining one.

The next year, I made the big exit by fading. All my co-workers knew about it because I was in a million pieces when my family stopped talking to me. The ones that didn't know that I was a JW quickly became aware and I started talking about it more. Just about everyone there had already met my sister and my neices and nephew. Sometimes on more than one occasion. They couldn't understand why it was such a big deal to my family. I can't begin to tell you the amount of support my co-workers provided to me during that time. (Six months later, my family came around and started talking to me again, btw.)

Now, my co-workers have a very poor opinion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Of course, some of them had a poor one to begin with!

Freedom Fighter

Mine don't - I like it that way as I look on my JW experience as firmly locked in the past. I like beginning with a clean sheet with new people.

FF

Swan

A few know, but I prefer that it not become common knowledge. If a JW were to come to work there they might feel like they would have to shun me, and I just don't need that silliness at my workplace too.

Tammy

blondie

Some know but most don't. I don't know the religious affiliation of 95% of the people I work with either. It's not like when you meet sometone, you say, "Hello, my name is _______, I'm _____ (fill in the religious affiliation)."

mrsjones5

I've told just about everyone I've met at my new church, even the pastor (who mentioned it in one of his sermons). most often I get sympathic knowing looks, some even say "isnt that a cult?" I havent gotten any negative reactions, maybe cuz I'm out of the bOrg. but someone did tell me that thier mother drove by a kingdom hall and had some negative things to say about the jws.

what i get from it all is jws and the society doesnt have the squeaky clean rep that they think they do, people on the outside have noticed that the society of jws has a cultish smell.

Mrs Jones

freedom96

Some know. It just is not something that comes up all the time. If there is a reason to tell my religious background, then fine. Otherwise, what is the point?

Preston

Well.... my religious affiliation is not a topic of discussion anymore. A typical discussion around the office goes something like this:

Employee 1: Hey Preston what religion are you?

Preston: Got none

Employe 1: Okay...

I really don't have the time for such discussions cause these things tend to run long term...