Skeptical of the Apostates Motivation (page 3)

Gordy

I left because of the lack of love at a time when I needed it.

But I never found it hard. Lets face it whats hard about it. All your beliefs are set out for you, you don't have to think about them. You do your 2 -3 hours door-to-door each week. You sit at a meeting in the KH just listening to whats said, falling asleep. Keep your nose clean, smile at the Elders. Apart doing the odd item during Service meeting or giving a public talk which incidently I enjoyed doing.

I mean I didn't get all that worship and singing like I do now at the Pentecostal church I now attend. Nor did I get intense discussions as I do now with other Christians about scripture or Christian teachings. Theres no one telling me I have GOT to believe this or that teaching. I have GOT to be in this church to be saved.

If anything its harder being a Christian.

Gregor

I think your friend is applying the old saying "the best defense is an offense". Putting people who ask reasonable questions in the category of 'troublemaker' or 'spiritually weak', that is, someone who just wants to shirk any obligation to "god", works quite well for the org.

Kaput

People may "leave" the organization for various reasons e.g. pressure to conform, injustice, molestation/abuse issues, humiliation from reproof/scandal etc. The list goes on......

However, I would say most of these people never really "leave" in the sense that they have not de-programmed themselves from the JW mindset. For one to truly "leave", the de-construction of their "pyramid" belief system must take place. Major doctrinal points must be examined against the Bible/logic/conscience/facts and then rejected as erroneous/unacceptable. It really is a major project, but only then can a person be on the way to true freedom from the Borg. Those (such as myself) who have always wanted the "truth", were shocked and shaken after finding out about the UN/NGO affair. This was enough to send a wake-up call to my brain. At that point, you either take the red pill or the blue one. "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."

JWdaughter

I started questioning because of contradictions. Questioned more intensely after the 1975 article in the late '70s/early 80's. Left when questions were unanswered. Not a drinker, never used drugs, was a virgin for half a decade after I left. . .no, I didn't leave to live a licentious life. I became a Mormon:)) Morals were the same, but also had to forgo caffeine, and tithe to boot. I served a youth mission also. Not recommending this as a way to leave the org. . .but I still liked being a Mormon better than a JW. Much more joy, much more of a community. Left with no bitterness. Which says less about me than it does about the respective religions and their way of doing things.

daystar

He believes that many individuals leave the truth because it is hard; and they look for any miscue to escape the organization and their responsibility to God.

Hmm, perhaps some might. But he's just presenting his opinion and it's doubtful he has done some sort of poll or study to back this up.

As opinions go, however, his is a weak one and is due to a great deal of misunderstanding. Staying in "The Truth" turns out for most to be much easier than leaving. Dealing with the uncertainty of the world outside, being shunned by friends and family members... thinking one is destined to die a horrible death at armageddon and never seeing loved ones again, or dealing with the fact that it was all a bunch of BS...

SB

i would use the example of a relationship gone bad. if i was in a long term relationship w/someone, and found out our whole relationship was built on lies and secrets, yes, it WOULD be hard to stay in that relationship. it would take a lot of work, sacraficing my own feelings of hurt, betrayal, and anger. on the other hand, it's not easy to leave either b/c of the anger of wasting all that time.

of course, an answer that i've always wanted to throw out there is, "prove to me that 607 BCE was the fall of jerusalem and i will reconsider my doubts".

SB

tim hooper

I didn't leave because it was hard. I left because it was pointless and false. tim

Undecided

That's why I left at first, it was just too much for me to handle. I was running the whole congregation and got tired of it all. You could never do enough to satisfy God.(WT) I later found out the truth about the "Truth". I enjoyed my life so much more after I left.

Ken P.

GetBusyLiving

Leaving the JW's was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It would have been so much easier to just tow the line and lead a double life like all of my old ex-friends.

The Witnesses try to take your very motivations and piss on them when you leave. I saw them do it to others who had left before I had, and it made me sick.

I'm WAY happier now, but it took me a while to get here..

GBL

Seeker4

I agree with GBL - leaving took more courage and was as hard as anything I'd done. I had 35 years invested, family, tons of friends. Now many of the same people who used to admire me think I'm scum. Yeah, it wasn't easy to face all that.

Wanderer, what your friend is telling you is one of the greatest JW myths, in my mind. It is soooo much easier to not rock the boat, to stay in and just suffer quietly. Standing up against the status quo is hard. You face ridicule, being completely misunderstood, lied about and slandered.

I left because it became obvious the WTS didn't have the truth and the Bible was not what people claimed it was.

Drawing those conclusions and taking that stand in a literalist, high control religion that practices extreme shunning is as hard as it gets.

S4

Skeptical of the Apostates Motivation

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