Leaving without the internet. (page 2)

DannyHaszard

n Ray Franz's book Crisis of Conscience, ...
Franz, Raymond. Crisis of Conscience. Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1982. ...

I stand corrected COC was published in 1982 i didn't discover until 95-Danny

Clam

I left pre-internet and escaped just before a planned dipping. I certainly haven't had the aggrevation that so many have had on here though, even though I've still got close JW relatives.

This is an interesting thread. The net is a great resource for true enquiring minds as well as a way of finding friends and support, and it does bring home how some of the people posting here were well and truly on their own with their brave decision.

I certainly would have healed a lot quicker if this forum had been around. I felt caught between a rock and a hard place for quite a few years and carried many "poisons" with me which the WTS had planted into my mind. Thank heavens for the internet. It gives me a kick seeing lurkers become newbies and moving away from the destructive false prophet/publisher.

AlmostAtheist

Since I've left I've only had the deepest respect for those who left before there was an online community like this. They had bawls, we are walking a path made easier.

Yep, same here. Props to all o' ya. I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of that "the flood never happened" stuff I read came from AlanF.

Dave

truckerann

I know you all don't know much about me...maybe someday when I get up the courage I will share my experience with you...but I did have several problems with a lot of what was going on in my congregation...my sister was a pioneer and very close to some the elite cliques there so we would hear a lot of behind the scenes gossip that was discussed between return visits and door-to-door activities...she was one who couldn't keep her mouth shut and would often share some of it with me...I couldn't believe what I heard...then I started to see a lot myself...I witnessed firsthand how my grandmother was totally humilated by her fleshly brother who was the PO of the congregation by Dfding both my parents and my sibly all on the same night...for something they did not do..oh the stories I could tell you...as I read the threads on this forum I see a lot of what has happen to each of you to have happen in one way or another to me or someone I know.

The only thing I haven't been subjected to thankfully is the molestation (sp?) and abuse of some of the innocent ones only to have it covered up by the body of elders...and the GB. that is was so sick about all this....

greendawn

Just out of general interest: though the internet started up slowly in the early 70's it was not until late 1992 that it began to take off in the form that we know it and after a phenomenal growth in 1993 and 1994 it became solidly established.

Nosferatu

The internet was pretty new around the time that I left. I only had exposure to it at school, and when I did get it at home, I never thought to look the JWs up on the internet for years. I came across freeminds.org through a link on another site.

Anyway, not having help from the net gave me a different mindset from those here who embrace the internet when they leave.

When I left, I left because I was so tired of trying to live up to all their standards. Lots of things didn't sit well with me either. But, I left still thinking that this was the one true religion. I also still believed that armageddon would come before the Generation of 1914 died off. Shortly after I left, they changed that belief and I had no clue they did that!

When I left, I started thinking about how I was doomed at armageddon. I really didn't care anymore that I was going to die any day. My stress levels were much lower, my depression was better, and I was actually having some fun. If God wanted to kill me for keeping my sanity, then so be it. I basically took all the problems that I developed in the JW religion and locked them into a mental closet. I just wanted to ignore it all and try to move on.

Well into the new millenium, I still believed in the Generation of 1914 doctrine, even though it had eliminated 6-7 years previously.

When I came across that link to freeminds, I clicked on it and spent three days straight reading and deprogramming myself. When I read that the 1914 Generation doctrine had been changed way back in 1995, I was completely outraged! I spent the entire day pissed off that I had believed a lie even after it was "corrected" without my knowing. I felt a bit like a fool, but a very angry fool! It was that moment that I knew everything about the JW religion was complete bullshit.

I have never looked back.

Cellist

I remember days and days spent studying. Comparing scriptures to what was said in the Watchtower. By the time we left, we no longer believed it was "the truth". But, still, until we found this site, there was no where that we could discuss a big chunk of our life.

Cellist

Chimene

I was out for only one year until I found this site. It was hard because I bumped into Jdubs almost everday, I still do. Since I found this place, I am sooooooo much more relaxed, I don't dread going to the store or anything anymore. It really helps. Only today, I was told no more on line at work

New Worldly Translation

I don't think I could have properly left without the internet and sites like this one and freeminds etc. I had already started the fade before I researched on the internet but it was a one foot in the org & one out sort of thing. The stuff I found out subsequently on the web put the tin lid on it so to speak and made sure which side of the fence I was standing. Knowledge is the key to freedom.

LDH

I left in around 93. Moved away.

In 95 I got on the Net. Spent several years working on the net, never could be bothered enough to look for JW stuff.

It was only while looking for a vendor for a software application (forums etc) on a "client page" that I saw a link to "WitNet.com" and I clicked over.

Well I knew a ton of people, the majority of whom felt that I was a super zealous JW. For years I was able to use Theocratic War Strategy. I posed some 'questions' during those years that were (theoretically) doubts that I had. The Real Apostates saw through that, and would PM me. Good folks all. I've received several messages from people who tell me that what I did was a big help to them.

It wasn't until toward the end of that board, beginning of this one, that I made my real agenda known.

Oddly enough, all of the things I read about, none of them surprised me much. Kind of hard not to believe it too, when you see stuff in writing in THEIR magazines then they try to revise history.

It's really great to see all the newbies still finding this and other forums.

Lisa

BBS Class

Leaving without the internet.

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