by neverendingjourney 51 Replies latest jw friends
Group number 2 are the ones that frustate me the most.
They will generally defend the Watchtower organization while on the other hand live with a completely different set of standards ( or none) , and do nothing to obey the organization.
This usually brings a sense of guilt that permates their lives since they feel they are never good enough and that God will surely kill them because of the way they live. Sad...
Neverendingjourney:
I think I am in category No. 3 in that I walked away from the whole charade.
I have some residual anger from time to time when something is recalled and a measure of frustration at not getting real closure or justice (which cannot be gotten because certain people have died and you would be angry at phantoms or an ideology).... I see the pointlessness of this and I manage to deal with these minor things and have moved on.
What is the deciding factor in how I know I have moved on? When I spent time around active JWs and saw their anxiety over how they are viewed or judged by other people in this sad joke of a religion, I felt nothing but contempt.
I have a cousin who would fit in 3, I feel I don't fit in any of these categories... so I would either add more categories or, like some have said, make a spectrum. I really don't know if I am going to end up always resenting the JW's or if I am going to move on... It would be nice if my whole family would come out, that way we can just move on with our lives.
I myself feel that going through something and then NOT helping others would not be right. I feel that I should somehow be involved in the ex-JW community. I want to help. I want to use of my skills, my time, and my energy to help JW's... and then expand it to helping people who are involved in cults... somehow... by spreading the word...
I think that if I could get my whole family to come out of the JW's... I would become a secular humanist. I would love to help people and alleviate some suffering in the world.
ILTTATT
GROUP 4: They feel angry and confused and benefit from talking it out with like-minded people. Others in this group suffered great emotional or physical abuse at the hands of JWs. They realize that the true religion would not treat them this way and they seek the comfort of sharing their experiences with other.
Yep, that's me. The members here (like-minded people) are the only ones who can begin to understand what a person is experiencing emotionally when they first discover TTATT.
Thanks to you all for being here.
Thanks Simon for making it all possible.
Doc
not to start another catagory* but here are the lines on the spectrum for me,
believed in ONE doctrine,studied myself into the truth, got love bombed when entering, even invented "service" by myself, then
realized one doctrine were wacky when "superior authorities" were flipped back,
discovered one flawed doctrine after another,
encountered some dominating , exploitive & deceitful behaviour,
waiting now to see how it plays out as it heads south.
category x: former true believer that stands by as wt entangels itself in the inevitable doctrinal "end" knots.
enjoying the peeling away of layers of the onion to come ever closer to the look at reality. without the tears.
* from the word kata "down" the wt direction.
Or maybe they didn't want to risk the chance that I still have connections to the witnesses and I'd take what I learned about their lives and disseminate it among the nosy active JWs.
THIS.
I am probably group 4 but I do not like to catagorize myself.Honestly I do not talk about my religion too much. I will mention it if someone did ask, I am slowly getting over the bitterness of the religion and have come to terms with it.This religion is not going anywhere.
I have read the post on this site for about three years now and have concluded that the majority of you are confused. I once thought you were spreading truths but have since realized that you would not know what the truth is if it slapped you in the face. You all are no better than the ones you warn others against. I think many of you even regret leaving the organization. I have always been a free thinker and for the ones that say the organization does not allow free thinking you must have lived under a rock. Those “in” do whatever their hearts drive them to do but choose not to share it with everyone. Just as you would not share with you mother what you do in bed with you husband. Out of respect. Or you would not invite an alcoholic to a margarita fiesta. In one particular thread half of you believed in the new system and the other half did not. Yet you say a paradise earth is not biblical. Jwfacts makes you think then once you come to this site and some of you say you believe in the new system it just shows the hypocrisy and confusion that resonates from you. Then you pick and choose verses and attach meanings to them just as the JW’s do to prove a point. You draw conclusions around it even though you could be the ones taking it out of context. I came to this site thinking it would show me that JW’s are false teachers and hippy dreamers. Instead it has done the opposite it has only strengthened my faith. Some on this site want the organization to reform others want it dissolved. The atheists on this site seem lost and angry and the ones with faith seem to have a sense of regret. And for the ones who celebrate Halloween you are still worshiping something and if you are wrong I would hate to be in your shoes. I agree there are problems but to turn against God to think even for a second that we evolved over millions of years is ridiculous. We would have gone extent long before now if evolution was true. I think once people dive into your post they will see that their time could have been better spent working on being a good person and serving God. I am sorry that some of you do not want to live by rules but you know what it is called being an adult. This site is poisonous. Not because it speaks against JW’s but because all of you are not concerned with the truth. Are you all out volunteering you time in support of the orphans, sick, and poor no. You all are focused on internalized anger, regret, and confusion. You harp on what others have done to you and no one is perfect including yourself. So for the ones who think directing JW’s here will wake them up it will but not in the way you would have thought. People are people there is bad in the organization and there is good who you attach yourself to show something about your character too. My time spent here was not uplifting or encouraging. This is not directed to all of you just the majority.
Great thread! I was in Group 4. I'm wondering if your Facebook messages to the two ex-jws went to the mail box that most peole don't know to check. I'm not sure how it works, but I've read FB posts of people apologizing for not responding to mesages, because they just discovered an inbox different than the message inbox.
JudgeJudy70:
This is an open discussion forum with all sorts of people posting their negative experiences in the JW religion. It has had it share of critics, such as yourself, who come and go.
In reading your long post (which you should have broken up to make it easier to read), I see some accusations you have made and some silly, cliche statements: "you would not know what the truth is if it slapped you in the face", etc.I am not going to refute everything you say because I can't be bothered.
You made the statement that "some of you do not want to live by rules". This is not true. I simply don't want to live by some cheap knock-off religion's self-serving rules. However, I do in fact live by rules. Some are bible-based and some are just plain common decency.
You can have the JW religion. Most people here are glad to be done with it.
