Maybe fear of death at Armageddon while someone is still waking up to TTATT, but the biggest thing is the very real fear of being DF'd and shunned.
Why do JWs stay despite doubts & discoveries about JW Beliefs?
by ProfCNJ 27 Replies latest jw friends
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Band on the Run
I've said many times how my father and uncle knew a lot about Bethel inner stuff b/c it was so small when they were there. In many ways, my mom's family knew even more b/c they routinely fed starving Bethelites and offered TLC. Neither family were gossips. I don't know the details b/c I was so young. My father always abandoned us and roamed the grounds for his Bethel pals. Sometimes they heard from hard core Witnesses they knew for long periods of time that a splinter group had left. The inner crowd was in total shock.
No one the local KH, our co, etc. heard about this. The Society would deny it. Before the Internet, this info was hard to find. Many is the time I was beaten for special Bethel rules that don't apply to regular JWs. Some looney stuff. Even as a child, I thought never my parents. They would spit ont he ground and never, ever even think or mention the person's name. I think both were gratefu that their children were too young to know much.
They would then hunt out other special people at the convention for more info. They were always extremely interested. Too interested. The kids were dragged all around the grounds in haste. It was hard to keep us the adult steps. I never saw my parents more engaged. They would listen in great detail to the finer points of the splinter group's theological difference. They seemed very impressed. Sometimes they want to speak the disfellowshiped outcast themselves. This was the only time I saw them as a couple working together.
Sadly, the person moved to the Midwest or CA. They were very upset and not b/c someone lost the truth. My parents had few networking skills. A lot of people did not even have phone numbers back then. They would address the children that the Society may be wrong sometimes, on very rare occasions, but it was our only option. My kid inner sense told me that had they been able to get in touch with a once valued friend, we might no longer be in the mainstream of Witnesses.
Did anyone else have similar experiences? It was traumatic for them. I was too young to process it. It made no sense to me.
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Oubliette
Phizzy: Interesting that all the reasons listed are simply emotional ones, which is why we are often reminded on here not to debate doctrine with JW's.
Exactly. Don't debate doctrine, because ultimately it's not even about doctrine: Listen, Obey and Be Blessed!
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EndofMysteries
If it's a JW who was raised and lived according to the rules and they practiced what they preached then they would not really have worldly friends, and if all of their family and friends are so called strong jws, then first it's complete isolation and having to start a life from scratch. All associates from childhood and up may get erased. So aside from the beliefs, socially and mentally may be too hard to do.
JW's are also taught they can't possibly understand the bible, it needs to be taught to them. Their house is built on sand, not on 'the rock'. The elders and the WT tell them every little detail of what is right and wrong. So a transition to the bible alone with holy spirit may be quite difficult, especially if that is not what begins their awakening.
The older they get, the harder it may be to think if they wasted their whole life on a wrong belief. Being certain even if they die will be resurrected on paraside earth, if they think some of the beliefs might be wrong, too much mental overload to try to find the 'new truth'.
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SAHS
“ProfCNJ”:
FOR MY FAMILY:
B. 40 years old and above
1) Concern about Family's Reaction - 10%
2) Friends & social connections/well-being
(and the fear of losing them all because of shunning) - 10%
3) Love of Jehovah God and His Son - 60%
4) Love of the worldwide brotherhood - 5%
5) Fear of destruction in Armageddon - 15%
6) Discomfort in moving to another religion/sect - 0%
7) Others __________________________ 0%
Total 100%
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FOR MYSELF:
B. 40 years old and above
1) Concern about Family's Reaction - 100%
2) Friends & social connections/well-being
(and the fear of losing them all because of shunning) - 0%
3) Love of Jehovah God and His Son - 0%
4) Love of the worldwide brotherhood - 0%
5) Fear of destruction in Armageddon - 0%*
*[used to be more like 90%, until I investigated matters]
6) Discomfort in moving to another religion/sect - 0%
7) Others __________________________ 0%
Total 100%
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jhine
Thank you Blondie , however I am still a bit confused , are you saying that only JW's will be ressurected after Armageddon ? So they are the only people who will be given a chance to have eternal life (on paradise EArth )
It was explained to me as if all people can have a second bite of the cherry and make up their mind to turn to Jehovah or not , which as I said did not make sense . Also as a child I can remember JWs coming to our door saying quite catagorically that only JWs would servive Armageddon , they would have a VERY big rock to hide behind . This was a long time ago so I did not know if noo lite had been shone on this .
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Miss.Fit
Bttt for new comers who might like to share.
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SecretHeart11
Group A:
reason 1 80%
reason 2 20%