Why did you leave and did you still hold on to some beliefs for a while?

by happpyexjw 26 Replies latest jw friends

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  happpyexjw

  When you left the wts did you leave over something specific? Did you, or do you, still believe in some of the JW ideas?

  In my own case I left over a family issue I have mentioned elsewhere. I still carried around some of the JW ideas for a long time. For example the aids epidemic started around the same time and I thought, "Wow, I guess they were right about avoiding blood." Even now, I have trouble with mainstream religion because I just can't wrap my brain around the whole trinity idea and I really don't like it when they seem to be calling Jesus God. I still believe that they are father and son, two distinct beings, based on what scripture says.

  Anyway, I am interested to hear what your experiences have been in this regard.
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  Quirky1

  I left because my doubts were confirmed by doing my research now I hold no beliefs in any religion.
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  parakeet

  I left because of the WTS's vicious and deadly blood policy. I dumped all their crap soon afterward.
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  villabolo

  Even though I had done some research my main issue was with the organizations self worship. I was df'd for questioning their calling themselves "The Truth". Once I got used to detecting contradictions in Watchtower literature I started seeing them in the Bible. I quickly lost all beliefs in them or the Bible especially after considering Matthew 10:23.
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  The Berean

  I left because I felt closed out from the inner workings of the organization. I was either unable or unwilling to pay the necessary dues in order to gain equality and privilege. I am not a good politician or a "yes man." I also have specific character defects which are not appreciated within the group.

  Simply stated it couldn't work for me.

  As to holding on to ideas ... people can find good ones and bad ones in all organizations if one wishs to cherrypick ... they all use ther same MO. So, I hold on to what I believe are beneficial ones.
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  WitnessInRecovery

  I left because I grew weary of being called before the Elders every time I was seen associating with a close friend who had been disfellowshipped.

  I still believe a lot of what the Watchtower teaches about such things as the Trinity Doctrine, the true nature of hellfire, and mortality of the soul, just to mention a few. I still don't celebrate most holidays. I have yet to vote in an election. I don't engage in idol worship (I do not own a cross, despite joining another church.)

  I have rejected such erroneous Scriptural interpretations as disfellowshipping and shunning (hence my departure). I, as do most former JWs, also reject the Watchtower's unscriptural efforts in trying to predict the exact arrival of Armageddon (i.e. 1975), or when the last days started (i.e. 1914), or the constantly changing attempt to interpret what "this generation" means.
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  blondie

  WIR, you have approached it in the correct way, not rejecting everything just because of the WTS. It is important to reexamine each thing carefully and determine what you feel should be discarded and what should be kept.
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  Scarred for life

  When you left the wts did you leave over something specific?

  No. Nothing specific. Just the whole lifestyle, no education, no career, no worldly friends thing. Those were my biggest objections. I was 15.

  Did you, or do you, still believe in some of the JW ideas?

  Well, yes, I DID at one time because I was raised to believe all the JW teachings. I was taught all this stuff from birth. Of course, I believed it. My parents, all of my mother's family and the people at the Kingdom Hall that we saw 3-5 times a week all taught me the teachings of the WTS. These were the people that I loved and trusted.

  No, I do not still believe any of the JW ideas.

  I would say that it took me 2-3 years to rid my mind of all the JW ideas. This was after leaving cold turkey and having no contact with any JWs except for my parents and sister. My parents allowed me to leave with no hassle from them and we never talked about JW things again even though they were still attending. So, anyway, even with no contact with JW things it took me 2-3 years to feel like I had completely escaped and was free from the mind-control.

  I think some of these things that we are taught as children will always come up in our minds. Like the blood transfusion thing. I am a nurse and have given many blood transfusions but I can tell you that the JW teaching against blood transfusions came up in my mind everytime I have given one. I'm not saying that I still believe what the JWs teach. I just always remembered what I was taught as a child.

  Also, the trinity thing. I'm the same as you, happyexjw. I cannot ever think of God and Jesus as the same. I think that's impossible for me to ever accept that. I am a member of a Methodist Church but I cannot ever believe things in the same way that some people do. I take what I need from the church and leave the rest. I enjoy the fellowship of my fellow church members. I enjoy some of the Bible Studies, like Beth Moore. I really like helping with local mission work. But my Methodist Church is nothing like a Kingdom Hall. You are free to think and question and live your own life.
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  StAnn

  Initially, I was df'd for sexual immorality. I was out for awhile and then was reinstated. Once I was reinstated, having the benefit of having been out of it, I was shocked by how ridiculous their teachings were. Apparently, my memory of what they taught was flawed or else I got a whole lot smarter. So I was reinstated but could not bring myself to go door-to-door. Just went once and couldn't speak. It felt like I was passing out poison. And the stuff said from the platform was so stupid that sometimes I would literally laugh out loud at the meetings while other times I would want to leap to my feet and scream, "Can't you people see how utterly insane this is?" However, my son was having great difficulties because his dad was an elder and his stepmother a pioneer and I got reinstated to make his life easier.

  I did speak to DF'd people and one of them encouraged me to read Crisis of Conscience. Once you read that, if you have a half a brain, you can't go back.

  Although technically I've faded, my family says I've DA'd because I've been very vocal about how the WTS is a cult. My family shuns me. Whoop tee do.

  You know, when I was DF'd, I missed my family so-o-o-o much. Once I was reinstated, I was surprised to find out just how boring they are and how shallow, too. The WTS really prevents any kind of personal or intellectual growth in an individual. I couldn't believe I had missed these dumb and dull people so much. Now I really don't care that they're not in my life, as we have nothing in common. But I do wish, for their sakes, that they were out so they could pursue lives that would bring them satisfaction. Funny, I don't really like them but I still love them. I know for a fact that some of them are still in the Borg simply because of pressure from my mother. They've seen her turn her back entirely on her children who've left the Borg and don't want to endure that themselves.

  StAnn
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  StAnn

  Oh, yes, the second part of your question. No, I don't hold on to any of the JW beliefs now. I was a hedonistic atheist for quite a while (not saying the two go hand-in-hand; merely that that was my chosen lifestyle). Eventually, I began studying religion, preferred Christianity over Buddhism, and began studying various denominations within Christianity. I attended services in many different denominations, from Assembly of God to Episcopalian. Finally I was convinced by what I'd read and became Roman Catholic six years ago this week. I'm very happy in the Catholic Church, but it took me some time to get here. The Catholic Church is so different from what the JWs teach (and what they say that the Catholics teach) that it took a long time for me to overcome my prejudices and open my mind.

  StAnn