Can any who grew up JW relate to this? (page 4)

oompa

Micky, I feel EXACTLY like you on this one. I am not disparaging anyone who bought the lies as an adult, but as a born in, it is very hard to imagine. I still feel guilty for placing a Truth book with a young couple at 11 years old...they had two kids and I ruined their lives. My folks studied with them and "brought them in".......but to this day I still get all the credit........puke.............oompa

M.J.

It takes a bit of time.

It has been shown in psychological studies that repetition trumps logic in determining what claims are true.
Check this out:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-manjoo_23edi.ART.State.Edition1.465279d.html

Then of course there's the Asch conformity experiment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKivdMAgdeA

Which illustrates how we determine what is true based on group pressure. Even when we see that something is clearly wrong, we question ourselves, and even change our minds when everyone else around us asserts the opposite.

An assertion read about in isolation may seem preposterous, but when you are surrounded by everyone who seem so darned sure about its validity, it just seems so much more natural to accept.

The study leader also becomes an authority figure, intensifying the pressure even further.
Check out the Milgram Experiment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ymKWITV4c

logic

I came to realize that the watchtower society is nothing but a social club with a religious theme. The club is like any other club (elks, moose, masons, etc). The important thing is the club ( wts). The members all think the same , if they don,t they are not excepted into the club. The members have the same agenda. People who don't agree to or go by the rules, are better off leaving. As george carlin said (about the rich), it is a club folks and you ain't part of it.

In my case I did not fit in to the club, and now I know why, I always knew something was wrong, things just did not make sense, but I thought I was in the club, but really I was not. Now I am not frustrated because I am not where I do not belong.

Gregor

gary, good analogy. That is certainly my case as a born in. During my transition I almost jumped out of the frying pan into the fire when I got involved in BRCI. No reflection on those good people but I decided I had had enough of religion.

jaguarbass

I hear your Mickey Mouse, I always wondered how my mother hooked up with such a bunch.

odie67

Born into it..

the thing that used to get me was the preaching.

Jesus told his followers to preach the good news.

they preached, if people believed that was great, if they did not they moved on.

no one counted time, bible studies, magazine and book placements.

sometimes when jesus healed people he told them not to say nothing.

how much would JW's preach if no one counted the time?

How many meetings would be attended if no one counted the people?

SirNose586

there are a lot of lonely people in the world.

True. People need friends...who better to find than people who are depressed and alone?

Free

Anyone who start threads or post here continue to have baggage in some way shape or form regardless of whether they are born in or not. I guess that makes the Parents and/or Grandparents stupid if someone was raised in the Cult and those of them who got caught in it due to inheritance turned out smart enough to see beyond the mind control at a young age and come here to share their vast knowledge with us depressed and needy ones whose conversion seems unfathomable.
I do feel for those who did grow up in this Religion and used to feel sorry for them when their Parents would make them go to strangers doors in the fraud service or give talks at the Misery School or spend time at Circuit and District assemblies when most were obviously uncomfortable and should have been at the beach playing in the sand. I can understand them looking back on those who joined as adults and after leaving being like " I would have never got involved if I were an adult, I'm to smart to be fooled " but hindsight is 20/20 and we all came from different circumstances .Stupid threads like this one are as worthless and unfeeling as the ones we are all here to bash (WTBTS), So load up all that baggage and remember we are all in the same boat. Seems to be the ones who grow up Witnesses sometimes turn out worse and with more baggage then those who experienced real life before and were able to somewhat readjust to normal life faster after leaving. Something's are like riding a bike, You never forget, but try learning how to swim in your late teens or early twenties and see how fast you will sink at first, Good luck to you all, We all need this place. I saw allot of strange people in my time involved in the Religion, Some very bright and some not. This forum has been the best place for me and my own recovery and others need this place also. For those of us who came in and left as adults this thread is somewhat of a slap in the face. That's OK by me, I love pissing people off too, How about an Amen for all of us for seeing the Religion for what it is, a Cult.
I can take a slap, and definitely not afraid to give one back.
I can't believe that some who have posted on this thread have the balls to call the ones who came in and left as adults weak and with huge baggage when they themselves still go or went to meetings and/or the Memorial for years after realizing it was bullshit, WTF are you kidding me.
You have huge bags of luggage and to boot you waste your time and self inflict torture on yourselves attending those boring meetings, and for what ? " Oh, I do it for my Mate or my Mother or Father or Sister or Brother "
Please, Save it, You are the weakest link and are supporting the Cult even if its just taking up a seat. No shit, I feel better now, I love this place and appreciate many heartfelt post and threads from many on this site including some who have posted and will post on this one. Live Free or Die

potleg

The witnesses use the old "bait and switch" tactic Get "em with the pretty pictures and promises of never having to grow old or die and if you've lost someone, well soon you'll se them again right here after they are resurrected ...And they all lived happily ever after... That is until you discover you've been decieved, lied to and robbrd of your free will to do as you please.

My mother grew up in England during the second world war. She passed nights in air raid shelters as bombs exploded near by. Of course she wanted something better, a brighter future for her kids...the clergy didn't fill her needs, but the witnesses sure did. Here comes paradise, all aboard...that was 1960. She's still waiting. I'm not.

I remember at school thinking "of all the rotten luck, I get the mother who's a JW" Still, it took me a long time to escape but I made it.

LayingLow

Wow, I can really relate with Awakened at Gilead. I recall showing people scriptures that I knew sounded very convincing but at the same time feeling something was very wrong. I can see how people can buy it. Mix in some convincing arguments + involve the emotional pacification of having all of the answers.

How many people come in to the religion because they believe the governing body is God's mouthpiece and that Jesus isn't their mediator? I doubt many. These are the doctrines that you realize later, when it's too late. I think they snag people with the unitarian view of God, annihalationism, and millenialism. Once they get someone with that, the mind shuts off and the "we must believe everything they say because we believe the big things they already told us" sets in.

Can any who grew up JW relate to this?

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