Hi everyone, I’ve been lurking at the forums for a while now, just reading the posts and trying to figure things out. Some background story of me. I am 21 years old; I have been studying since I was 18. I grew up catholic and always thought of religion as pure hypocrisy. My step dad was born into the "truth" but left it when he was in his early 20s. But every year we would go to the memorial, when I turned 18 we started to get a study. Everything seemed fine; I liked what I saw and didn’t question anything. I was seriously thinking of getting baptized when I was 19, but for one reason or the other, I didn’t. I am kind of glad.
The biggest thing that made me realize that this couldn’t be God's chosen organization wasn’t so much what I was being taught, but how people were. Hypocrites, spreading rumors, talking crap about others, how they lived a double life, how the elders were. During high school I was friends with this boy, we had the same classes and liked the same things so it was fun to talk to him. When we graduated I introduced him to this game called "World of Warcraft", which I play quite a bit. With that game we started playing a lot, and got to know each other, I learned that he was a Jehovah’s Witness and he learned that I was studying. From then on we started hanging out a lot (something he didn’t do before) at the time I didn’t know why, but now I understand that before he couldn’t really talk to me because I was "worldly". So anyways, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I went along with it. His mother didn’t like me at all, you could tell, he didn’t tell his mom that we were going out till like 2 weeks later, and his father, being an elder never found out. I always questioned why and later years, I found out why he never told his father. I felt dirty, like I was doing something wrong, but I didn’t know why we had to keep it a secret. From the double dates that we would go to with his sister and her boyfriend, I found out that his father, the elder, also didn’t know that she was dating someone, his mom was the one who would take those places. It was sort of upsetting to hear. How can she lie to him? He ended up breaking up with me after asking to marry him, which confused the hell out of me. It was all really upsetting. Two days later he says we should give it another change. One day later, breaks up with me again (all this through text). Like with? I later found out his mother had something to do with it. But it made me angry that them being "Jehovah’s Witness" they acted like that...
Another that made me think about things. The congregation I used to go to, I stopped going because I couldn’t make the times, I started going to another. This sister came to visit us to have lunch with us, as she was getting off; I noticed she was talking to an elder (this elder lives 2 minutes away walking from our house, right in front of us (could have gone himself to ask us not mention it to her)). When she walked in, she told my mother and me that the elder told her that we needed help. That we weren’t going to the meetings, and that we were doing very bad things. The sister mentioned that we (My mother and I) had been attending another congregation because we couldn’t make those times. He stood quiet and told her that he "heard" from other sisters that I had gotten pregnant, and ran off with my boyfriend. What is wrong with these people? Such a disappointment.
It slowly made me realize it wasn’t a "God's chosen" religion. I started to question their changes, their teachings; I encountered this website and was amazed. Blondie’s' comments in particular. I had spoken to my mom about some of the issues I find (She is the only I told about how disappointed I am). She agrees with it, but always brings up that it’s the best from other religions. If I were to even mention any of these to my step dad I would probably get kicked out the house. He is so ignorant and so very close minded. He contradicts himself trying to prove a point, and gets angry when told otherwise. It is so annoying.
Anyways, I am currently still attending the meetings (live with parents); I don’t go out preaching anymore or have parts in the meetings. Not so much of a choice to leave though, they have this policy where if I don’t go I get kicked out the house. I do not plan to get baptized and once I leave to university in another city, I plan to fade and then move out when I am done with school.
I am not a bad kid at all, I love drinking but I don’t get drunk, I don’t do drugs, I have always kept straight A's. I don’t go around having sex with random people, nor do I go out every weekend. It makes me upset that even though I have always been good to them, they are willing to not speak to me and kick me out if I don’t follow their religion...
That is my story and how I slowly started to lose my mind.