Was The Internet The Clincher For You To Mentally Leave The Organization?

by minimus 66 Replies latest jw friends

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  alias

  Was The Internet The Clincher For You To Mentally Leave The Organization?

  Yes, and as an exercise for my own reflection, because:

  1. My fading out was facilitated by my association, experiences, and learning about the nature of people on pro-JW boards in the late 90s.

  2. I was forced to take off my rose-colored JW glasses when I started developing critical thinking skills and learning more about the authentic history behind the organization, not just the white-washed experiences printed in the literature and touted from the platform.

  3. After I got over the concept of "scary apostates" online, I realized that in many cases, the only thing I have in common with former-JWs is the experience with the religion. People who leave JWs move on with their lives in some form, many still deal with the embedded remnants because of how being a JW has impacted their lives, sacrificed resources, strained family relationships, etc.

  I've learned a lot by listening to people's experiences and viewpoints, and particularly by healthy discussions by former JWs of every persuasion.

  Thus, the Internet has been a real-time learning medium to explore, experience, and form new thinking (mental) patterns.

  alias
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  Ding

  My involvement ended before the internet got going.

  Regarding Alias' comment, it's interesting to see how JWs react if you try to show them WT history right out of WT publications, such as original Studies in the Scriptures books, the Millions booklet, JWs in the Divine Purpose, the Proclaimers book, etc. A lot of JWs won't look at all. It's as if deep down they suspect something is rotten with the foundation of the organization but shut their eyes because they can't handle the truth about "the truth."
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  WTWizard

  Ultimately, it was Jehovah himself that drove me away from him with his selfishness, false promises, and using out of date stock examples to snake on fixing issues in my life that he himself created. The Internet merely helps me keep up with what the washtowel is up to without having to go back to serving Jehovah when he doesn't deserve it.
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  Think About It

  Yes, It was the internet, but to be more specific......it was JWN. Thanks to all.

  Think About It
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  DesirousOfChange

  Yes, It was the internet, but to be more specific......it was JWN. Thanks to all.

  After being deeply involved in the Organization............don't want to give too much private info...............but deeply involved, I developed all kinds of doubts on my own, but never enough to cut the cord.

  The Internet was the real downfall. With JWN a significant player (now I'm an addict). The info available online just overwhelmingly confirmed my doubts, and (worse) was like Pandora's Box in exposing the WTS. EVERYTHING I had believed in.........not just the things I doubted...........but EVERYTHING came crashing down.

  HOLY SHIT BATMAN!

  

  My head is still spinning. Still trying to figure out how/when to get off the merry-go-round.

  DOC
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  minimus

  This thread is very revealing. MOST here have been affected by the internet's information highway.
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  Hiding Questioner

  At the risk of bragging I am proud to say I helped bring the Internet to the masses. I have been in telecom for over 20 years and have made internet connectivity a major goal of my rewarding career. Last year alone I helped facilitate over 300 new fiber broadband builds across the US and Canada. As I make this investment in time and energy it is not for the money (as the WTS promotes and might think) but for the shear satisfaction that, in doing this work, I am giving people greater access to information that could improve their lives. Long live the Internet!

  HQ
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  breakfast of champions

  It was absolutely a tipping point. My questions were about the validity of 607 v 587, and every time I googled it, "apostate" stuff popped up. I really was trying to do an independent study and did not want to use "apostate" information. But one google item caught my eye. It was about Ray Franz discovering the truth about 607 decades ago... I couldn't NOT look!

  What bugged me about this find was that I never knew that a member of the GB had apostasized! I had only heard that Fred Franz's nephew had. I felt like someone living behind the iron curtain for 40 years, which pissed me off. After that, it was through this site that I saw my situation and feelings were not at all unique, that there were thousands if not millions who weren't through what I had.
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  LongHairGal

  breakfast of champions:

  I know what you mean about feeling like you were "behind the iron curtain". I too was very angry when I learned I was deceived and also how thoroughly the religion kept the rank and file JWs in a news blackout! I was very shocked when I learned about the U.N. scandal.

  In my opinion, this news blackout is what has enabled the religion to retain people over the decades. The people sitting in the seats are kept in ignorance (told not to read opposing literature or talk to disfellowshipped people, etc.) and so they continue on and on. That is - until the internet came along and they could research things in the privacy of their own home, without anybody looking over their shoulder. For that I am deeply grateful because how else could you find these things out?
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  exwhyzee

  The internet confirmed my resolve to leave the organization and help remove much of the residual guilt for having done so.

  (side note) Ironically enough, one of the developers of the first "Web Page" was a friend of mine who was disfellowshipped by the backwoods elders in his hall for playing Dungeons and Dragons and went on to become a multi millionaire after he and his wife who I grew up with here in "Techie Town", went back to school in their 30's and got their degrees. His wife is a high level designer for a international company and travels the world with her dream job, shopping the worlds markets in search of unique items to decorate public buildings. He is extremly scientific and can go on at length about string theory and the like and no longer believes in the existence of God. He is a very warm kind and honest person and despite his wealth, lives a nice but simple life and does free lance work for Bill G. and Paul A. etc. He and his wife shake their heads at the thought of ever having believed "THE TRUTH" and are amazed that anyone could fall for the current overlapping genertaions nonsense. His wife realized after taking the required" World Religions 101 in College, that she had been mislead and promptly left the organization.