Excellent post. It's a colossal mind f*ck to leave and every time people do something nice, I'm FLOORED. Like, wait, I was always told worldly people would be lovers of themselves, hateful, mean, etc., and yet they haven't been. Oh, sure, it happens, but in my experience, I see more good since having left than I ever saw while we were in.
Leaving Jehovah's Witnesses is NOT the same as the doctrines leaving you
by Terry 52 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Terry
I've come to realize that we can be like the onboard computer H.A.L. in Kubrick's 2001 who is blindly killing the crew to complete the mission!
Human life is expendable when you are programmed that the mission is everything!
It starts with your own life, of course.
How many older JW's do we know of now of little use to the Kingdom Hall who have no resources? (The end result of staying "on mission".)
How many fathers trying to provide for their family are forced by their loyalty to the GB to live way below the national standard?
How many mothers are burdened with stifling their intelligence in the presence of obstinate congregation males and refrain from speaking out
or speaking up to identify problems or offer workable solutions--simply for being female?
How many young kids are turned into an oddity at school for refusing participation in thanksgiving, Christmas and school spirit programs?
How many Teens are driven to secret hurtful behaviors because their normal desire for dating and companionship are made to be disgusting and evil?
How many keen minds in JW heads are forced by doctrine to disbelieve Science and cling to Bronze Age myths?
How many opportunities to volunteer in Community Fund Drives, Meals on Wheels, Elder Care and worthwhile charities is squelched by narrow-minded
nay-saying policy from the top of the Watchtower Org?
How many lives have gone from a meaningful potential to feckless actual just by planting a numb butt in a folding chair on Meeting Night?
These internal Legacies are a dry rot to the mind, the soul, the family, the community and the human race!
The backwash of swallowing bilge creates an illness of the Intellect that does not soon pass. That is, it won't pass at all--unless vigorous and searching inventory of the core implant meme is rooted out---AND REPLACED by facts, science, skeptical inquiry and determined goal setting for the individual.
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panhandlegirl
Terry, I read "Misquoting Jesus" a few months ago and it upset me. Before then, I believed the Bible was inerrant even though my two brothers had told me it wasn't; I didn't trust them. After reading that book, I don't see the Bible in the same way as before. He presented enough evidence for me to change my mind. I realize I have jw beliefs that I am not even aware that I have. I have made statements that have caused my non-jw friends to look at me like 'What did you just say?" That's why I like this site and jwfacts. I am reading and learning all the time. I have been out of the borg for over 25 years, but it takes a long time and patience with yourself to erase those ideas out of your mind.
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King Solomon
Heh, precisely what i was tempted to post in another thread: you can take the person out of the JW's, but you can't easily take the JW out of the person. :)
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cyberjesus
The people who leave this site offended......it was their jw "conscience" what was offended
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Terry
Terry, I read "Misquoting Jesus" a few months ago and it upset me. Before then, I believed the Bible was inerrant even though my two brothers had told me it wasn't; I didn't trust them. After reading that book, I don't see the Bible in the same way as before. He presented enough evidence for me to change my mind.
I was 50 years old before I discovered there was no such thing as Original Autograph Manuscripts of the bible!!
I had never questioned that they MUST EXIST in a museum somewhere so that translations could be checked against them for inaccuracy, distortions,
corruption of text and inerrancy.
What a FOOL I had been.
I kept asking myself why nobody had mentioned this before!
It was only at that moment of asking that I realized it was MY FAULT for never investigating. You'll never know that what is
most false about Jehovah's Witnesses is that they only aim for the TRUTH.
The TRUTH is worthless unless you meet the courtroom standard:
THE TRUTH THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
The Watchtower writers OMIT what does not support their doctrine. They obscure annoying facts. They distort critic's writings.
They are cherry picking quotes by "experts" and ignoring the Big Picture.
Sure--they taught us about the Nicene Council in 325 c.e. and 1John 5:7. But completely ignore the myth of original copies!
It is up to each of us to ferret out what has been learned so that all the puzzle pieces remain before us BEFORE we assemble that BIG PICTURE.
I say it is UTTERLY USELESS to argue the "meaning" of scripture because the bible is a BOGUS foundation wholly corrupted by every hand that has
touched it throughout history. (Not with bad intention--but--because each change was wrought to CLARIFY (according to bias) for others!)
Pious Fraud.
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King Solomon
Terry, as you know, they even point to the multiple authors over thousands of years, speaking different languages, as PROOF that the Bible has to be Divinely-Inspired.... That's a common tactic: take a known vulnerability and spin it into a strength! Anyone who doesn't dig deeper for themselves to confirm of deny will buy into it on face value.....
Ps don't be too hard on yourself for not looking into it: the Internet has made obtaining information so much easier. I recently had to conduct research and sought out an old book, long out of print. I found an available copy at a university nearby, and as I approached the massive old building I felt like I was performing some ancient ritual, seeking out lost knowledge in book form contained within a hallowed large room filled with stacks of paper.
But even there, I used the internet to learn of its existence, and to find a copy: much easier...
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whathehadas
Good Post Terry W. I'm still in recovery mode after almost 3 years out. I will devote more time to researching and reading objective materials.
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PrincessPeachz
hear hear
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iamwhoiam
I think the hardest part for me was realizing I was duped my whole f*ing life (i was practically a born in). at about 20 years old, i started reading books and learning to think critically. I began to feel that something about the organization was just not right. at about 24, i knew for sure it wasn't right. i started getting more and more into philosophy and learning to think critically. then at about 28, i finally cracked and had my moment of enlightenment when i least expected it...something some people spend thier whole lives trying to attain. when it finally hit me, i had a nervous breakdown of monsterous proportions. from then on i was "born again" (pun intended since im not religious now) and was finally able to accept that 95% of life is bullshit; the other 5% is reality. I stayed in for family for the next 6 years which was a mistake. It seemed like the more I didn't care, the more they demoted me (e.g. made me an MS, gained more responsibilites, etc). I felt like such a hypocrite..giving talks from the platform and telling people things that I new was bullshit. Anyways...long story short, I finally got burned out and found a way out. I have offically been inactive for a little over a half a year. There is alot more to it than this, but for now, its all im willing to share.