Research and Honesty

by TR 12 Replies latest jw friends

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  TR

  When I was a JW, I thought I knew enough about the religion to try to convince others to join. In reality, I only knew what other JW's and the WTS told me. I admit to being gullible and naive when at a young age I wasn't sure what I wanted out of life. Why didn't I do the research? I was too eager to accept what seemed like the most genuine religion I ran into. I was never(before I was baptized)confronted by opposers of the WTS. Still, it was my decision, and I accept responsibility for my decision. Others, growing up as JW's are in a different situation. It might seem normal to some JW's, growing up in the cult. How normal is it though, to assume that your small circle of believers are head and shoulders above the rest of society in terms of religious beliefs?

  I would encourage anyone to research any strong personal belief, no matter what it is. It could save you from many wasted years. Determining the validity of your belief system could put you on a track to a more useful, happy and genuinely productive life. It could SAVE your life. Be honest about your beliefs.

  Tom

  Edited by - TR on 25 October 2000 20:32:35
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  Pathofthorns

  nice post

  Path
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  Grunt

  Isn't that a big part of why most of us post on these boards? To try and warn the innocents who might be buying the line? Don't you wish you'd had all the information available that is available today online? I think, I hope, that I would have checked it out and then dodged the bullet. Instead I listened to only one side of the story and allowed the other to be villified to the extent that I was no longer listening to anything the opposition was saying. I hope that I can help someone see the truth about this cult and stay out. I like to think I have as I try and reveal the real Watchtower to all whom I know whenever the situation permits. I feel as much of a desire to tell this truth as I did to tell what I thought was The Truth in those arrogant days just before the world ended back in 75.
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  AhHah

  Tom and Grunt,

  I agree whole-heartedly.

  I hope that any JWs who read this forum will find validation for feelings of being betrayed by an organization of men.

  I hope that they will find the courage to reclaim their lives and their spirituality.

  I hope that they will know that they are not alone -- that others are willing to listen and help the best they can.

  I hope that they know that people of other religions and no religion are also ready to reach out to them in love, with a better understanding of what religious freedom means.

  I hope that they will read Ray Franz's books and still have the fine Christian attitude that he has.

  I hope that, after they have gained their Christian freedom, they will try to reach out in support to others.

  Edited by - AhHah on 26 October 2000 12:20:21
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  TR

  You guys are so right.

  The thing that disappoints me about the conversations I see between JW's and x's, is the JW's ability to side step the facts, or to rationalize them via WTS mentality. I see it constantly on H2O especially, even when presented with loads of information. The JW is programmed to dismiss any and all info contrary to what the WTS teaches. I remember closing my mind to opposing views when I was doing street work as a JW. I was so sure I had the "truth", that I was willing to dismiss other info without researching it. The WTS's warning about reading other info was stuck in my head. It doesn't matter the source, the real facts, whatever. It boils down to mind control.

  I remember many other xJW's saying that they felt like they were taking a major plunge to start researching the WTS. I felt the same. All the years of WTS rhetoric pounded into our heads. Mind control. Cult.

  Tom
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  AhHah

  Tom,

  You are right. The WT indoctrination demonstrates how very powerful the cult influence is. One is taught to dismiss or filter out every contradictory thought, as not even worthy of consideration, since it could not possibly be true if it did not come from God, as revealed by God's only true spokesperson, the cult leader, in the JW experience, the Governing Body.

  I believe that the best interests of society are served when cults are exposed for what they truly are. I hope that we are doing our share. Sometimes, I feel that I should do more.
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  Peter

  Back when I first joined (baptized in '79 but first studied in '76), I did try to research the organization. There wasn't a lot out there. Those were pre-internet days, my friends. The library and encyclopedia had little info on this rather obscure organization. The only book I found was something called "Faith on the March" or something like that. It wasn't published by the WTBS, but it wasn't exactly written by a disinterested observer, either. It was written by a JW and slanted in the favor of the organization.

  Once I was deep into the religion, I didn't look into any further. We all know that was forbidden.

  I do remember one shock that should have made me wake up. A Bethel Brother invited a few of us down for a visit. He worked in the writing department and showed us the rather extensive library. Normally, the JW tour does not include this room. I was shocked to see so many books by and about other religions. I often wondered how the Watchtower and Awake got quotes from these books, and was told that interested non-JWs simply sent them in. What a surprise to find a stash of "forbidden" books right there at Bethel. It reminded me of "Animal Farm".

  Anyway, now that I'm out, I can look at anything I want. The 'net has made a huge amount of information accessible. I am convinced that leaving was the best thing that could have happened. Especially after reading Ray Franz' book, "Crisis of Conscience", I can see this is not God's organization at all.
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  AhHah

  Peter,

  Let me extend a very warm welcome and thank you for posting. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences and what it was that caused you to question your beliefs in the religion. Was this forum helpful then or now?
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  RedhorseWoman

  I must admit that even as an active JW, I couldn't really understand why other literature was forbidden. I always used to wonder who at Bethel was either strong enough or expendable enough to read all of these reference works so that there could be articles written using quotes from the material.

  I also reasoned to myself that if we were going to teach the "truth" to people of various religions, it would be good if we could understand what their religion taught so we could know how to handle things in our ministry.

  I even went so far as to send for a Catholic study course. I was terrified, however, that I would be found out and df'd for having such literature in my possession.

  I let the fear rule my literature choices from that point on, but those thoughts stayed in my mind. Those "why's" added on to many other "why's" over the years until they were too numerous and too clamorous to ignore.
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  Grunt

  After I was baptized I really wanted my wife to "come into the Truth" also, so I made a deal. If she would read the Truth Book (The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, I believe was the full name, a little blue book that ruined many, many lives) I would read any book she wanted me to. She got me "Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave" and I did read it, but as the guy who wrote it was going around to Churches!!!! and talking against the Truth!!!!! I dismissed it all as lies. He also used phrases like "They flailed my hapless back" and even the title of the book made it easy to dismiss. Now, I wish I had been smart enough to look for the real points he probably made. I read it in about 74, and I have a hard time remembering too much, he had been about everything from pioneer to a bouncer, said Germany was on the way to becoming a Jehovah's Witness State which also threw me. Anyway, I wish I had agreed to read a little less bombastic book, that hit more on facts and less on emotions. I would like to read that book again with my mind open and see what he said.
  Any of the old books by Rutherford would have turned me around though, as one later did, the one with the pyramids and the days and years measured in steps down the various halls and chambers. Napoleon as King of the North and Great Britian as King of the South or vice versa if I remember right. Now that was a night I will never forget, when I read that book. After that book I never attended regularly again. I had already had real doubts over the chronology but that cinched it.