by Gnosis 70 Replies latest jw experiences
Bad combination.
W
Temporary insanity!
I was pressured by my dad to get baptized before I was 16 after studyng the youth, and the live forever book. I never really wanted to get baptized but when your pressured by your father as if their is no option what is a poor 16 year old supposed to do? I was torn, I loved my freedom and worldly friends in school but felt guilty at the same time by what those publications and my parents were feeding me. I've gone in waves thoughout my life of trying to get to that special happy spiritual paradise of happiness that they lied about.
After being an MS and being the most miserable I've ever been, and seeing the tired look on the faces of others in the meeting I knew something was very wrong. I started digging more deeply and reading comments on sites like this and was amazed at what I found. It makes me angry to know I gave so much of my energy and trust to that aweful organization. Hopefully my experiences can help someone escape their damned concentration camp in the future.
Fear of the big A
Wanting to be the "good" girl
I thought at 12 that it was the right thing to do
1. I converted because I loved what I learned about idols, flag salute, military service, hellfire, and the Trinity 2. Loved many of the brothers and sisters. When I was young and got baptized, I found that many of the things I did in the world, such as parties (dancing and drinking), was alive and well in the cong. Many of the brothers and sisters were loving. 3. Clamped down on parties and gatherings by the WTS. One of my friends almost got df for telling other jw that he was going to the beach and others then showed up and they got out of line. Brothers and sisters socialized only at the cong instead of having picnics and gatherings. The brothers and sisters became casual acquaintances. 4. I went up the rank to elder and now actually saw the hypocrisy in the BOE. 5. My daughter got df and they wanted me to kick her out of my house to stay an elder. So I faded away. My 5 children, though raised as jw, do not associate with the jw anymore. My wife and her side of the family have stayed with the cong.
Peer pressure from family because the big "A" was coming in 1975. All a lie.
sorry bout that...
It seemed to make sense that a bunch of outcasts and misfits (like myself and most of the people at the local KH)) would be in line for some sort of reward for their trouble
I was brainwashed from birth.
Glastonbury, 1982, I learnt from a White Witch in the "Hunt Saboteurs", that in 1990, the "Angelics and Rainbow warriors" where going to wipe bad men off the Earth and leave it to those that love nature to take care of.
As an anti-social animal Lover, this sounded good to me, so for the next 5 years I was telling everyone I met about this pagan version of Armaggeden.
The first time I ever met a Witness was when they called on me in 1987, you can imagine their shock to have a householder witness a version of an end time prophesy to them.
Started a Bible study that very day, went to meetings the very next Sunday, was in the Field Service in a matter of weeks.
Being shown from the Bible confirmation of my beliefs, and it being God himself rather than Pan, (who I was a bit suspitious of anyway), it was a dream come true for me
