At what age do people 'wake up'?

by Splash 62 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Splash

  I was thinking about this question recently after being at the meeting when new pioneers were announced for the 2013 service year.

  We have a dozen or so pioneers in the congregation, and most are in their 20's. Some absolutely love the things they are taught and can't wait to spread the Good News.

  Others in the congregation are going through the motions, tired of hearing the same old same old but have no way to change things now. Then there are a couple like me. Can see the flaws, don't take the WT as gospel.

  I'm early forties but began to awaken in my late thirties.

  Could it be that the younger generation will never awaken? Do you need experience in life before you stand a chance of seeing through the deceit?

  Some younger ones leave but I don't think it's because of becoming awake, it's often because they just don't want any part of religion. This is different. Maybe the internet will bring the average age down.

  What sort of ages did people awaken on JWN?
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  GromitSK

  I suspect for many it is an event which triggers the process, not age.
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  oldlightnewshite

  I woke up about age 33. More-or-less born-in, that is, brainwashed from 5 yr old. For me to awaken, I needed about 3 intense years of really 'being in', zealously. I got lots of 'privileges', and got to experience the stinking underbelly of the beast. I'm not sure if being a brother, you become privy to more shit, and are more affected by cognitive dissonance. for this reason, I really do pity the sisters who live in their own la-la land, down lollipop lane... they only see what they are allowed to see.
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  GromitSK

  @oldligh - Love the avatar btw lol
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  Broken Promises

  The average age seems to be around 30.

  By that time, you've started to figure out what you really want in life, and have the maturity and experience to question things you previously took for granted.

  Many of the younger generation (teens/early 20s) seem to be "waking up" earlier than we did before, and I think the internet is a large part of that.
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  jwfacts

  I started to wake up in my twenties, left in my thirties. I felt ashamed on learning TTATT at such a late age, once I realised I was one of the last of all the people I grew up with to leave. If anything, people will wake up earlier now than they did in the past, due to being able to find support groups and information on the internet.
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  blondie

  It takes a significant trauma to question the "paradise" in the congregation. I think Steve Hassan was in car accident that gave him distance from the "moonies" and gave his parents unsupervised access to him to help him.

  When I had handled the significant traumas in my life, being an abuse victim then survivor, dealing with my mother's alcoholism, and getting the outside tools to examine the emotional trauma I could not recognize at the KH, I could finally see it and how to handle it. Eventually after being "slapped" in the face so many times by the WTS and its representatives, it was time to get out of slapping range.

  A wise man once said, It is only too late when you are dead.............
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  J. Hofer

  it's gradual. i think i was a full blown atheist by 26, that's when i stopped doing field service too, been missing more and more meetings before that already. i think i didn't believe it's the truth at 24 or so.
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  Phizzy

  I am hopeful that the Internet will bring the average Wake-up age down and down, but it is never too late, until you are dead as Blondie says.

  I was born in, never swallowed the Bulls**t 100%, but was a good little Dubbie for many decades, there was a gradual build up of Cognitive Dissonance, just more and more things I could see were plain wrong, until the Final Straw, and I walked away.

  But I was in my late fifties by then, which is way too late to rectify a lot of what is wrong with your life by then due to the malevolent influence of the W.T.

  But it was not too late to discover the wonderful world outside of the WT/JW bubble, the real world, where you can find real friends and real happiness.

  The sooner anyone who is a JW wakes up and gets out the better it is for them.
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  designs

  I saw the Wake-up happen in three main areas- Doctrine, Age, and Family.

  Doctrin: The 1975 and 1995 disappointments saw huge outflows.

  Age: Teens turning 20 naturally rebel and adults by their mid-40s naturally begin to question their goals and accomplishments in life.

  Family: Divorce sends all family members scrambling for new answers and in the JW world with +60% divorce rate few come back to the religion that let them down.