What's The Worst Thing About Ever Having Been A Jehovah's Witness?

by minimus 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  WTWizard

  That they misrepresent the religion to people--someone is a Jehovah's Witless, so that means you can abuse that person all you damn want and they won't care about it.

  The wasted time and energy in field circus.

  Repression of everything that qualifies as normal. You aren't even supposed to look attracted to the opposite sex or to items that pertain to Christmas that look attractive.

  That they imposed stupid rules, with stupid logic, and breaking one is somehow tied to breaking a Bible command. One example is "stealing". They claimed that I could "steal" the word of God if I didn't, at great personal hardship, spend all my time spreading it to everyone or if I could have tried a bit harder getting others to believe the crap.

  Later, that though I seen the territories being worked through multiple times, nothing seemed to be getting reduced in size. I didn't succeed in even reducing the number of doors per territory left to be worked.
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  minimus

  Another thing: SEX is so taboo. It puts couples in a bad place because it's not mentioned unless it's considered sinful.

  I think many JWs are messed up because they can't have normal sexual feelings without being made to feel like they are sinning.
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  nancy drew

  Whenever i read about everyone's situation I feel really bad,for me it was different. It was just another dead end in my search for life's meaning I became a jw at 36 didn't lose any family members or my husband because we left together. we didn't follow all their instructions we continued to think and improve our financial future and we didn't have children. we just left because it wasn't the truth and yes we had to leave alot of people we were fond of but other than wasted years not much impact.

  However, since I've left and read everyone's stories I am overwhelmed by the intense sorrow and damage the org has caused and while I was in I guess I was oblivious to others sufferings especially the children since I,m not a kid person and I didn't pay attention. The whole experience is a hard lesson.
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  HappyDad

  Thirty plus wasted years of burning gasoline just to count time in FS knocking on doors and hating every minute of it. (there were a few good calls) Thirty plus wasted years of feeling like an outsider everywhere except the KH and never having any real friends, just conditional ones. One of the worst thing of all was denying my daughter a college education (she had to turn down scholarships) just so our family wouldn't stumble any of the condemning JW's we were associated with. In my early years of being a JW, I still had time to use my VA benefits to get some education for myself but didn't because the system was ending in 1975. (sheesh)!

  And now that I know.....I guess I should add that it was thirty plus years of being taught falsehoods and believing most of them until the doubts started in a little at a time. I could think of many more worst things but I should stop at this.

  HappyDad
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  Quandry

  I like the word someone used, profound-yes-the profound waste of thirty years of my life:

  Going out in service every weekend.

  Not seeing my "worldly" parents very often. (now they're dead and I'd love to tell them I'm no longer in)

  Letting elders talk to my teen daughter like she was a waste of skin and then disfellowshipping her-she "refused counsel because it didn't seem like she wanted to answer their questions about doing some paltry teen things." (she is going to graduate with honors from college in December with a degree in Biology)

  Not getting a degree because it "might stumble someone" and now going to college at 59 years old.

  Having to think about what "could have been" had I not tried to twist my brain to believe all the flip-flops and generation idiocy.