by minimus 34 Replies latest jw friends
Its taken me 15 years to tell one of my best friends. And because I've kept it secret and lied for so long (through embarrassment) its now so much harder to come out and tell people after lying for so long.
I've finally told 3 people in work who I class as good friends. One of them said ''that explains your weirdness
no. I tell people if it comes up in conversation. Some people seem to know before i tell them.
Yes..I was embarassed and ashamed of it when I was in, and I am still ashamed of it today after having faded for almost 10 years. I was born in and no, it wasn't my fault but the only thing I have felt and still feel about it is shame. My friends and people I work with don't know. Maybe they view me as weird and knowing that I was a JW would explain that to them.
I belong to an Ex JW meetup group here and they are only ones that I speak freely about my young life. To all others, I leave that significant chunk of my life out.
What is the shame about? Their beliefs are so weird, that I guess I am embarassed to admit that I come from such gullible parents and that I continued to believe it for some time as an adult.
Recently, I meant a young woman who spoke publicly about growing up as a JW...she was comparing how differently people of various religions celebrate the holidays. She spoke of it as just another way to celebrate (or not), much like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, etc. I spoke to her afterwards to say how much I admired how open she is about it.
So, yes, I do feel embarrassment about it.
Minimus -
I used to be somewhat embarassed about my JW past... the degree of my shame depended on who I was telling it to though.
But thanks to this forum and all you folks, I've noticed that I'm now completely free from all that.
Brock Talon
I was SO embarrassed when I was a teenager and for many years before I healed from leaving. Now I actually enjoy telling my story to people who I know are not witnesses, and a lot of people ask questions and find it interesting. I always warn people of how destructive the religious cult is and how it breaks up families.
