What was your initial reaction to finding out the religion is a cult?

by make yourself 59 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • ziddina
    ziddina

    "When I left in 95' I didn't think it was a cult. From what I'm reading and hearing now.......it's turned into a cult...."

    HAW!!! ThinkAboutIt, when I left in 1983 (approx.), I knew it was a cult within a year , after I'd read every

    book on cults I could get my hands on... Pre- Steve Hassan, I think...

    Trust me, the WTBTS has been a cult for a VERY long time...

    My initial response? Very much like Little Sister's... "Aha! That's what I suspected! What a crop/crock of lies!" And then a great deal of anger at being beaten, bullied and badgered into the cult by my idiot parents - tho to be perfectly honest, they were a nasty, gruesome twosome even WITHOUT the cult, to begin with...

    Zid

  • AwSnap
    AwSnap

    I left almost 15 years ago & did not think it was a cult. Only recently have I become convinced. I laugh now. I'm praying for my family members still in, but when I was told recently by a jw that the WTBS NEVER spoke badly about the UN...THAT's when I knew. And it wasnt too long ago. So a span of 15 guilt-ridden years went by...now I'm just grateful.

  • Found Sheep
    Found Sheep

    took a while for me to think "cult" but now that is all i see and i want to get my loved ones out!!! I think my initial reaction was relief!!!! I KNEW they were wrong!!!

  • garyneal
    garyneal

    It explained a lot when I found out. I remember hearing this many years ago by an old friend of mine who was a witness at the time denying that they were a cult. From what she told me, the main differences were they use Hades where most Bibles use Hell and they use Jehovah where most Bibles use God or LORD.

    A few people over the years told me that it was a false religion but when I met my wife, I looked into it and began to suspect that it was not as bad as it was made out to be.

    Only when I got troubled and really began doubting my own faith and believing that this religion may indeed be the truth did I start searching. Boy was my eyes OPENED! Changing the scriptures to fit their doctrines, teaching that Jesus was not our mediator, the FDS was not the entire body of Christ but the 144,000 annointed ones, and all of their false teachings regarding the pyramids and their failed prophetic dates.

    When I found out it was a cult I was kicking myself for not seeing the signs. A high control religion that made me depressed when I considered the possibility of actually placing myself in subjection to it. The same depression I use to experience at that old fundy legalistic rules based church I use to attend.

  • AK - Jeff
    AK - Jeff

    Re: What was your initial reaction to finding out the religion is a cult?

    I cried buckets, for months. I had invested everything in this religion. Everything. Now I had smoldering ash. I thrashed like a madman in my mind until I finally slept like death. It took months to shed the baggage. Years to heal the scars.

    But from the moment I learned it was not the 'truth' I never once sat foot inside that unholy place again. I am a man of integrity. I walked away from lies not truth. It was both the easiest and hardest thing I have ever done in my life, or ever will do.

    I have no regrets. Peace comes to those who cut off liars in mid-speech.

    Jeff

  • jamiebowers
    jamiebowers

    Relief! I was out for 13 years before I heard about the child abuse scandal and out for about 15 years before I discovered it was a cult. I finally understood why the Watchtower directed elders did nothing to protect me from sexual molestation as a child and domestic violence as an adult. All those years I thought it was something particularly nasty about me that attracted such vile attention, and it was no wonder Jehovah rejected me and permitted my disfellowshipping. Now I know differently.

  • agent zero
    agent zero

    not too surprised. i had my suspicions, because all the unlogical reasonings never sat right with me in the first place, and that's what got me to find out more on the internet. once my doubts were confirmed it was more a situation of "oh shit, now what do i do if i want to keep all my friends and family?!?"

  • flipper
    flipper

    Initially I had anger at how the WT society duped not only me - but millions of OTHER people with mind control . But it did open my eyes A LOT and explained the bizarre standards and petty rules that existed within the Jehovah's Witnesses. And when I came full circle mentally over the last 6 years- now I feel grateful that I discovered the scam - and have proactively educated myself so as to help protect others from this dangerous cult

  • greenhornet
    greenhornet

    Its like passing a kidney stone.

  • SouthCentral
    SouthCentral

    When the generation teaching changed in 1995, that the the red light that made me question everything. Of course I wondered, What else is a lie? They I could see that everything was subjective.

    In reality, it was just a semantics thing for me; I mean really, what is a cult? All religion has falsehoods, deceptions and lies. The dubs are no different. Spirituality is a few levels above religionist. Most J-Dubs have no idea what a relationship with God is or real spirituality.

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