by Brother Mike 34 Replies latest jw experiences
Welcome to the forum, Brother Mike.
It is good that you are using your brain and weighing in on things. One thing I would caution you about though-these are big things you are thinking about, and deserve time to mull over.
The fact that you would find it necessary to ask others-people on this forum-what you should do means that nothing is settled. You have time. When you are young, you aren't able to see what's down the road, and the ramifications for decisions made today.
What you must concentrate on right now is your education. I can tell you that it is your key to the future. If leaving the WT organization means trouble with your parents and perhaps the loss of funds for further education, I would urge you to step back and look at all options. Will they be financially able to send you to college? Will they do this if you leave the teachings of the WTS?
I was "in" for over thirty years. I was determined, however, that my daughter would get an education and be able to support herself, as I had worked so many menial jobs and struggled to make ends meet. She really applied herself at school, went to a local college, and got a degree in Biology with highest honors.
I left the Witnesses, and went back to school. I got a degree in History, a subject that I enjoy and find fascinating, and just this year got a job teaching school. I am sixty-two years old. Yes, education IS the key to the future, and I understand that now.
Please don't make rash breaks with your family or deprive yourself of an enjoyable future through bad decisions made today. Make goals for your life, then be determined to meet them.
If your family is determined that you will not get an education due to the WT directives, then you must look at different avenues. I worked full time and went to school on the week-ends and took distance ed classes on line. It can be done-it just takes lots of hard work and determination.
Wish you the best.
Hi Brother Mike, Do your own independent research of the WTBTS and your beliefs to convince yourself. Then, make a plan how to live the rest of your life the way that you want to and not the way that other people want you to.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
As others have said, keep researching the religion using resources independent of the WT materials. Only you can decide what is best for you, but should you decide to step away, please have an exit plan in place so you are not left without the financial means to support yourself, or without friends. There are many good people out there! Your young, you have your whole life ahead of you. All the best to you on your journey.
My biggest regret in life is not walking away until I was 42.
Perhaps what is weakening your faith is that your brain is still growing and while that ends at age 25 or so your brain will continue to accumulate knowledge. Understanding that....... is it right and/or fair to ask 10 year olds and teens to make a life time committment, with penalies if one wants to leave to the religion that is notorious for it's flip flops?
Do JW's understand that the founders of this religion........Pastor Russell, who wasn't a Pastor and Judge Rutherford who wasn't a judge, led this man made organization up one blind alley after another. Today their teachings are not taught and their books are no longer in print.
The modern WTBTS is now selling expensive property left and right around the world and reinvesting the profits in a portfolio of investments none of which are related to the JW message. And this is going on as they lay off Bethel brothers and sisters who have given them free labor for decades and who never paid taxes or contributed to Social Security.
Having acguired vast wealth through donations and free labor it has become their money. There are no pensions retraining programs, senior facilites or elder care. This is one of the reasons everone has been encouraging you to get an education.
While they demand world wide unquestioning obedience their human resources are treated like it's still 1879'.
Dear Bro Mike, I recall the post when you "left" the group and yet I felt quite confident that you'd be back. Nice to see you here again.
As many have expressed already, you are at a critical fork in the road here & now. Many (maybe most) of us have been at that same point. As you are already experiencing, it is an emotional roller-coaster!
You seem to be a very sensitive and intelligent young man. There is good and bad to that.
Good: It's good that you are questioning things at an early point in your life. Many of us, including me, didn't wake up until we spent (I won't say wasted as that's too negative) most of our good years in the Truth(TM) and it limited our life and our choices in many (damaging) ways. The WTS rules particularly stifle and stunt young people who have the most potential and opportunity. Esp concerning education.
Bad: Your inexperience in life may increase some risks. You may trust your JW friends or those in high position in the Cong too much. Hopefully, you already know that you CANNOT go blabbing everything you learn of TTATT to your best JW friends, nor can you go to the elders with the hope of sincerely finding answers to your questions. Your best friends or you closest family member may turn you in to the Cong Gestapo thinking that they are "snatching you out of the fire". Instead, you will find out that they took the first step to having you burned at the stake. (Read the experiences posted here!) WTS cannot tolerate anyone asking "those" questions! (I'm assuming you are baptized.)
Be cautious. Think long and hard before you start talking. At this point you are able to strategize your exit plan. You don't have to do anything immediately. Weigh things out. Every action you take will have some consequences.
First, plan your education. There is absolutely nothing more important for your success in life.
Second, make other friends beyond your JW network. Friends at school. Friends at work. Friends from the gym. Etc.
Go slow about making any life changing decisions. At your age there are huge advantages to living at home.
Good luck,
Doc
Such good advice here.
As a Non jw, but married to someone who was born in and raised as a JW, I must also reiterate how important it is or you to read, study, and find out the history of the organization and come to your conclusions in your own mind. You can not rush these things, but to you must never stop researching and learning. You must MUST come to a conclusion in your mind. My husband left the organization ( unbaptised) as a teen but did not really reseach and come to conclusions. THAT is not a place you want to be in when you marry another person. It is a HORRIBLE place for a marriage to be in when a person has never dealt with something so potentially damaging to the marriage.
I applaud your good head upon your shoulders, your thinking mind. It is a wonderful gift to have a true thinking mind. It is so admireable to see you wanting to use that gift to determine where you are in your beliefs. You are way ahead of so many.
Hey Brother Mike!
Losing your belief in religion is one of the greatest opportunities that will ever come your way.
It opens the door to the highest level of consciousness and intelligence, described in scripture as "faith" which is granted as a "free gift".
Hidden in plain sight in scripture is a free map to this priceless treasure.
The map has at least 30 key markers.
At least 29 of these markers are removed from the Watchtower version of this map.
That is why deceived Watchtower followers call themselves "publishers of the Good News" but are unfamiliar with the "Good News" according to Paul, Moses, Isaiah and Psalms.
Best wishes on your journey away from deception and darkness to enlightenment.
Greetings
Fernando
PS - I'm sure you will follow the great advice by others above and make wise use of your powerful (God given) necktop computer.
Well, when I believed it, I did actually stumble across this site when I Googled 'Jehovah's Witnesses', but I didn't read much of it at the time. I wasn't really thinking about those issues, apart from the sense that the WT wasn't telling the truth about some stuff. I buried it. What prompted me to consider the other side of things was frustration on a more personal level with rules that I knew were not scriptural. When a breaking point was reached, I suddenly recalled that the Society said not to talk to ex-JWs [insert loaded language word here if you so desire], and I asked myself, what are they so afraid of? What if these ex-JWs actually know something the WT doesn't want us to know? Something is clearly wrong, but I can't figure out what. Are our beliefs as unassailable as they appear on the surface?
1914 seemed the most obvious place to start, and the rest is history.
You're at an age where finding out something like this, like what you may learn if you continue to read and reason, can be both blessing and curse. You need to be able to support yourself and be on your own or else the pressure on you will be hard indeed.
I would advise avoiding any kind of dating stuff for the foreseeable future. What you learn could make you more vulnerable than ever to potentially irrational decisions. There is a lot of work to do in order to get your mind free enough to function in the outside world. Right now, no one can be trusted not to manipulate you in the same way JWs do. You have to be careful not to end up enslaved to someone or something else. What you learn will set you free to an extent, but for a time, you will only think you are free. You have more to learn before you can be well-rounded enough to truly be free.
So, my advice is to read as much as you can on all subjects that concern you. You'll be ready to leave, of course, long before you exhaust all the matters you might wish to learn more about. But don't be content with what you know today. Learn more about as much as you can. I'm sure anyone here could give you a good reading list as you make your decision.
You'll be fine, but you need to keep reading and find someone you can trust on the outside to talk to about it.
--sd-7
