Feeling Guilty

naazira

i am feeling gulity because i will not be going to the summer convention. i just can not sit through the talks they are sooo boring. im cutting off all contact with the witnesses. i woke up one morning and saidd enough is enough. how did you friends get over the guilt of missing your first covention. the beginning of the end

lost

I struggled with guilt in the beginning.

Learnt more from this site, did research, no guilt no more.

i think a lot depends onthe individual, what one thinks/believes/accepts.

We can make it easy, or we can make it hard

crmsicl

I never had an ounce of guilt once I took the blinders off. My husband wanted us to go once week for awhile. I said no I couldn't do it. I hated being there the two times we went after waking up. I couldn't even do it for our son's sake. He didn't really want us there anyway, his pain was so great. He had to leave the meeting while we were sitting next to him because he was sick to his stomach.

So the feeling of lightness and freedom outside felt so good, so right.

I hope you get there soon.

Londo111

Reading Combatting Cult Mind Control, along with In Search of Christain Freedom, helped alleviate the latent guilts and fears I had.

High control groups operate mainly through guilt and fear--once you recognize this, it is easier to leave behind.

naazira

im still in awe because i cant believe i joined a cult. im sure the feelings of guilt will pass. i just have to stand my ground.

nugget

There was no guilt just relief. The talks are of no value or merit and serve no purpose there is no need to attend it is rather a positive action not to attend and to draw a line in the sand. Take pride in your decision.

Pickler

There's no guilt just such a relief in not having to sit through that boredom. There is such a sense of freedom in walking away from attendance. It's amazing. Week nights, weekends they all open up for you.....free time!

The hard part I found is, that if you have been raised as a JW it is actually hard to adapt to having free time, being able to do what you want. You are not used to it. You don't have hobbies, or friends (they were all JW) no history of socialising, because your social life came from the JW. That's what is hard to establish.

No guilt though, when you leave JW, you leave guilt behind as well!

sd-7

Missing my first convention was AWESOME. I thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet. I watched 'Matrix' and 'Terminator' movies, drank frozen coffee drinks, played arcade games, ate magnificent seafood, and did whatever I wanted. It was such a relief. It helped me to see that despite how they say 'there's nothing out there', the truth is there's nothing in their religion that is worth holding onto. I felt more peace being out than I ever felt at their conventions.

These events (conventions/assemblies) are designed to rewrite your thinking. By the time it's over, your true self is suppressed and wound up tight. Did you ever take note of the extreme things they said at these conventions? Your true self could easily identify that, I hope, and when you realize that they want you to be extreme, to be closed-minded and to give up all that you are in exchange for a neverending stream of empty promises, you'll understand you're making the right choice.

Honestly, it's three days of your life. You don't want to waste it on something you don't believe in. Your life belongs to you now. Live it.

--sd-7

mrsjones5

It was a relief to not go to my first convention. There are better things to do with one's time in the summer months.

Tahoe anyone?

Xanthippe

Guilt originally was a survival trait according to my research. In primitive societies people needed to stick together to find or grow food, for protection from wild animals and other tribes etc. Appeasing the group and fitting in was necessary for survival and loners could get themselves killed. Therefore breaking one of the rules of the group was such a taboo because it endangered everyone, hence the need to instill the importance of obedience into the group. Guilt was a good tool to prevent individuals letting down and possibly bringing harm to others.

It just doesn't apply to a religion or a philosophy though does it? Guilt has been hijacked by this religion so therefore it's a good idea whenever we feel guilty to ask ourselves, am I endangering myself or others by my actions or is it just that they disapprove of my different point of view? Are they just being intolerant?

Feeling Guilty

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