Why did you leave the society?? (page 2)

sadiejive

ISP says:

I had doubts and bit by bit the I dismantled the lie.

Not sure I follow you there. I can, however, see your point about bringing up children in the society. I have two of my own...and I must admit, that is my number one concern about the WTS. Thanks for your response.

LB says:

But the obvious mistakes were the final straw. 607, change in generation (done to save their butts)and of course one false prophecy after another. What is the sign of a false prophet? One false prophecy.

Yes. This is one of the first (disturbing) observations I made about them. In the bible it warns us (trying to find the scriptures but can't right now) about those setting dates, etc. I'm not a publisher. I have never gone out in the service. I just study with the witnesses. That's it.

LadyLee says:

Basic reason - abuse by my elder/husband and the cover-up by the elders

I am so sorry. Thank you for sharing.

sadie

patio34

Hi Sadie,

It's nice to have you here. Thanks for bringing this up.

I left for two basic reasons: i had been sick and was completely ignored. It was hard to get to the meetings and so i was friendless for over a year.

The 2nd reason was the primary reason. I decided to read info by evolutionary scientists themselves instead of what the WatchTower said about evolution. After my own reading, i left in a hurry.

Thanks for asking.
Pat

LB

Sadie how long do you think you will continue to study? It's different in all halls, but I was told to discontinue a study with a man after he didn't want to get baptized after one year. He had studied two books and enjoyed the study but he knew enough to know he didn't want to commit.

Welcome also Sadie. Hope you get to make some good friends here.

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

OlderTom

They didn't practice what they preached.

Jehovah kept changing his mind.

The end was always just around the next corner. we've been waiting now for 2000 years.

The unchristian way they treat each other after you are babtised.

The way they try to control and take over your entire life. Every thought is under their control.

Etc etc. Read some of the stories on Randys site. someone might post the URL for you, I seem to have lost it.

You might also take a look at the secret elders manual "Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock" It was available on the web somewhere. They have to move it round cause the Witchtower takes legal action to get it of the air.

And you will know the truth and the REAL truth will set you free.

OlderTom

Richie

For me it was a combination of things - I have been in the truth for about 23 years, yet in the beginning I wasn't doing too well: missed a lot of meetings, was irregular in service - needed to travel a lot because of my business. Eventually I got more serious as time progressed and as a result received more responsibility in the congregation. I became an elder in 1997 and immediately afterwards things were starting to be different: I noticed that I could not have my own voice anymore but had to go along with all the other elders in the congregation. That became the standard way of thinking: we could have our opinion on certain matters, but it always seemed to gravitate to a majority held viewpoint, even though I may have disagreed with various matters.
There was one thing that happened which changed my whole outlook: one of our elders who returned from visiting Europe, related an experience about this particular elder who gave a public talk at a district convention somewhere in Switserland, and after finishing his discourse he made it known to everybody present "that he had enough and did not have the strength or conviction anymore to continue on serving Jehovah" - He left the truth right then and there and he never came back.
When I heard that story, something snapped in me - in fact I secretly admired that elder in Switzerland and I wished deep inside that I could have done exactly the same. From then on I knew that it was a matter of time before I would resign. Sure enough - about 2 years later I did resign as an elder first and right after that I did not bother to attend the meetings anymore.
When I made that final decision to stop pretending I felt an enormous load off my chest and was relieved to the point of tears. It's like stepping from a prison to genuine freedom, similar to when you are ready to drown and suddenly your head is above water and you are able to breathe again!
When I finally left, I knew that my decision sprouted from many years of doubts, unhappiness, seeing hypocrisy practised over and over again.
My life as a witness was a journey of slow motion, where I did not even realize I existed even though I was alive yet dead in my true feelings...

Richie :*)

RedhorseWoman

Hi, Sadie. My reason for leaving was pretty close to Patio34's, except that it was my husband who was ill and who was ignored for about six months (despite my numerous pleas to the elders for someone to visit him, or at least send cards).....until he got discouraged and started smoking again, and the elders were at our apartment within days, threatening disfellowshipping. His cousin had "turned him in" when he mentioned to her that he had started smoking again. This is fairly common. People are encouraged (and expected) to turn in those who break even small rules.

Prior to this, I wrestled with the lack of love in the congregations for years. I had belonged to several different congregations and had visited many others, and out of the whole bunch, I can honestly say that I found "Christian love" in only two of them. Odd, since this "love" is supposed to be the hallmark of the true religion.

I battled with myself for years over this, and kept berating myself for not being able to ignore the shortcomings of "imperfect men". When this loveless attitude became coupled with outright deceit and lies, I could no longer ignore it.

After I had become permanently inactive, my mother, who had been a faithful Witness for over 40 years, went into a nursing home after suffering a devastating stroke.

She spent the last 18 months of her life in the nursing home, and, once again, in spite of my pleas to two different congregations, no one bothered to visit her. The only ones who came initially were two of her elderly friends, but they were also in ill health, and couldn't return. Of course, younger, healthier members of the congregation could have driven them, but nobody cared enough to do so.

AlanF

To sadiejive:

I quit because of the overriding intellectual dishonesty of the Watchtower Society. Over a period of years I began to notice that certain things didn't quite stack up to reality. Eventually I did some research to find out what was behind some of the problematic teachings. I found a systematic pattern of dishonesty, ranging from subtle misrepresentations of source references to outright lies. Naturally, this realization showed me that the basic teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses -- that their Governing Body speaks for God and must be obeyed as God would -- was false.

You've heard right, that some things don't surface until after baptism. Do you realize that the "baptismal vows" you'll make just before you get baptized are in reality a legal maneuver that fools you into promising to obey the Watchtower organization no matter what it tells you? They won't go over the actual vows with you beforehand, because that could tip you off. Do a little research for yourself, and find out exactly how the vows are worded. They appear in a 1985 Watchtower article.

A lot of this coverup isn't by design -- it's just a natural result of a community of religious believers knowing that a lot of their beliefs would be unacceptable to prospective converts if presented straight out, and even that some beliefs are undefendable. Some years ago, when I was still trying to sort things out, I complained to my stauch JW mother in a phone conversation that she and her husband (my stepdad, an elder for many years) and especially the Society were stonewalling about the hard questions I was presenting. I asked her how she would deal with those questions if one of her "Bible students" asked them. She said, "Well, I'd try to get them to put them away until they completed the study and got baptized." I said, "Ok, and then what? What answers would you give to the questions?" She said, "Well I'd hope that by then the person would have enough sense not to be asking them anymore!" I said, "Mom, don't you realize that you just admitted to me that you'd lie to your Bible student?" She said, "I can't talk about this anymore!" and handed the phone to my stepdad. She realized at that point that I had caught her out in her self-deception. This is a standard reaction of a cult member who is forced to look in a mirror.

AlanF

Esmeralda

I was raised in and left at the age of 25 because I was in a horrible marriage and suicidally depressed knowing that I could never get out of the marriage unless I also got out of the religion. I begged the elders for help in dealing with my husband and they told me to "Be patient and loving."

Read my story here:

: http://www.wtsurvivors.homestead.com/History1.html

~Es

p.s. It's true, they do treat people different after they're baptized. Since I was raised in it didn't happen to me (they always treated me like garbage *lol*) but I saw it happen again and again to new converts...

"God help my people, we look to you still,
God help the outcasts, or nobody will."
~Esmeralda, from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame

JonnieMae

Esmeralda, I read your entire story. You're the bravest person I know of. God bless you and your new husband.

To each his/her own,
jonnie

flower

part of my story is posted on the main board ..very long. mostly that is about my personal feelings and turmoil. i will post one day soon about the problems i have with the orgs doctrins ect. its definatley different when you are baptized.

Why did you leave the society??

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