What makes a person lean on one side rather than the other side?

by JH 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  jaguarbass

  They say when the student is ready the teacher appears. My grandfather told me when I was 18 that the Wac Tower was full of shxt and had been misfiring and prophecying falsely since the turn of the century. I wasnt ready to here that or comphrend it. Maybe I was in denial.

  After suffering financially for my association with the witness, and having almost killed my wife by denying her a blood transfusion and watching others die for refusing medical treatment, I became ready for the teacher. The teacher was wisdom and knowledge and it freed me from being trapped in the tower for 31 years.
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  sweetstuff

  Gas?
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  Sad emo

  Shock, fear/denial, bargaining, possibly eventually acceptance (that's when they start checking things out.

  It's a bereavement process in a way.

  Some folk never get past the denial or bargaining (trying to justify even though you know its not true) stages
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  R.Crusoe

  From infancy you were fed limited foods so it becomes harder to stomach others when older. Your fashion sense is similar. Your mother tongue means you think in terms of that language and its culture. Your personal intrigue and interest in all that exists in the world may have been limited instead of being opened to your 'intelligence taste buds'. So rather than finding the world exciting, full of difference and being eager to try new things, you have been conditioned to rigidly adhere to a diet that suites your own tastes. So trying new things feels bitter to your soul and you still recall the 'fix' you got from the old sweet parts of your previous diet. And your body and mind keeps reminding you when you feel weak to return to what you know. Overcoming this and being unafraid of trying out the rich tapestry of other things in this amazing world is no sign you are displeasing God - until you are able to think the same you will consider everything is put there by Satan! This is a JW speciality ! Not only have you been fed a limited diet which leaves you feeling unhealthy, but you have been conditioned and maybe imprinted with the notion it is evil to do otherwise. This is why some are less able than others to move out and stay out - psychologically speaking! If you are ever strong enough psychologically to move out - you could attend a hall and have a personal view of it without worry - whereas some don't go and can't keep their heads out - ironical isn't it?
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  Junction-Guy

  No one has mentioned this yet, so I will.
  
  JW's, are faced with the dilemma--to whom shall you go?
  
  The Watchtower has repeatedly denigrated Christendom for so many years that the average JW would never consider that another religion could hold more truth than the Watchtower, thus the confliction.
  
  So JW's who even find out the Watchtower has many secrets, are left with a dilemma. If the Watchtower does not have the truth, then Christendom does not either. If these JW's still have a sincere belief in the existence of God, then they will remain a JW until they find some other religion comparable in doctrine to the JW's.
  
  
  Also there are many other factors too including the loss of family ties, and the ever present "what if they are right afterall?"
  
  
  Fear of feeling duped did not enter into my equation at all, I wanted to be proven wrong about the JW's, however the info available (pre-internet) was scarce If I could have met at least one effective Apostate years ago, then I would have had a much smoother transition out of JW-Land Instead the doubts lingered in my head, all the way up until 1997 when I finally got online..
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  R.Crusoe

  Where do I go? This is because you are king of your own life on a chess board where you have slowly been worked into a check situation and all your pieces taken. Your options are cut - both physically, psychologically and spiritually. You have been checked in three dimensions of your life. Moving on into another world will mean you do so in a weakened state with all your support networks gone. They even may have your family as pawns to block you! Stand alone before your God who is in your mind! Know that what you do is from your heart. Do it your lonely way and live or die by it when you stand before God - or ignore your heart and do it their way on their promise you will be spared. Place your spirituality in your own control or give it all up to them! I hear Quakers have meetings attended by Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Humanitarian, Atheist etc. A community of minds to share ideas and belief. A compassionate respect for the views of others. I have thought of going along but my mess of a life distracts me! I have also wanted to go to Buddhist meditation meets but ditto. To feel the human in you often means you need a community! It is a natural thing for our species to belong to a group. Being in a group where difference is the accepted norm may be a good place for exJWs since they feel so different - even in their own family group! Alone is second choice to most people though some settle for it when first choice means lots of conflict of interests. And remember by the end of this week another million humans will meet their Armageddon anyhow, so what's the worry - it comes when it comes - I don't care if I live or die so long as I know that in my heart I am trying to do what I feel and I think coz for too long I did it the way of others and realized I was living their life - NOT MINE!