Rebel said-
Some do exactly that, I'm sure.
But not all of us. I've repeatedly posted over the years that all adults are responsible for their own actions. That includes people who brainwashed or misled others. They are responsible for their acts.
Yeah, I guess that's my broader point: we need to be careful when painting a large group of diverse people who MAY share certain traits with overly-broad brush-strokes, since people are individuals, and it's easy to fall into the trap of stereotyping (attributing a characteristic to ALL members of a group, whether JWs or ex-JWs).
Those who wake up to find TTATT typically ARE experiencing SOME sense of loss, whether it's a loss of belief in God, their sense of prestige/power/control (esp elders), their family relationships, their support/social network, etc. Hence they're going to experience the classic stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) and often will cycle between stages, the depths of which will likely depend on how emotionally-invested they were in the belief, in the first place, eg someone who's got a strong ego (i.e. someone who has a strong sense of their self-worth and confidence in their decision-making capabilities) will likely rebound quicker than someone who is emotionally-dependent on others (i.e. seen as needy, clingy; those who are dealing with trauma/emotional and/or physical abuse/neglect issues).
Of course, a literalist religion like the JWs is hell-bent on breaking the will of the individual (just like the military strips down recruits in boot camp) and the Old Testament is TOXIC to one's ego, since it's permeated with the diatribes against the sins of man's haughtiness and the foolish pride of men, the need to rely on God for direction of one's own footsteps, etc. Those who didn't take all of that as seriously likely will rebound quicker than someone who actually "believed" and accepted it without question. And to some with mental/psychological issues (like OCD, bipolar, schizophrenia) will likely be deeply effected by the horror-filled imagery of the Bible, which seems all too real to them; inviting readers to "enter the story" is absolutely psycholoigcal abuse to them, and the JW famously cuts them loose to deal with the addition burden of shunning, and you'd better believe some end up commiting suicide after receiving untrained "counseling" that's dispensed by plumbers and window washers.
Adam
