by Quirky1 35 Replies latest jw friends
Seems as though there are two broad categories of responses from JWs when you leave:
1) Never hear or see them
or
2) They hover ever present in the background (knock, knock, ring, ring, prod, prod, pry, pry etc.)
AND sometimes astonishing combinations of 1 and 2, as with Pistoff:
Neither heard nor saw JWs after stopping meetings 10 years ago and no memorial attendance for 2 years and all of a sudden a veritable flood of hoverers. Oh boy! What's that about?
Honestly, I don't see alot of people here whining and complaining. What I see is VENTING.
If you can't speak to others that are "trapped" or the very small sub group of people within a sub group of people that understand your particular challenges.......who can you talk to?
Quirky I don't know you, and while your statement is ultimately true, it reads like the statement of a person who didn't have to give up much to not be a JW anymore.
I left...no longer attend. It wasn't easy but I knew the decision was ultimately mine. Still I took my time, and had I not done that, my wife would not be as close to leaving as she is.
So its simple....and complicated. Know what I mean?
Look, I didn't say it was easy... It took some serious thinking and some kahunas... I still have family inside.. I stuck to my guns... Of course it was tough... The thought of loosing all the so called friends.. The socialism, etc.. Not knowing how people were going to treat me.... Yes, it's damn right scary... But it's worth every damn minute of it... I guarantee you
You sound like someone who converted as an adult, and was not raised in this religion from birth (or a young age). You sound like someone who does not have any family still in. Am I right? If you do still have family in, then I definitely want to know how you were able to leave so easily.
I left many years ago when I was 23 or 24, but it was anything but easy. I agree that if someone is on the fence, that to leave sooner rather than later would be best, but it is not always that easy or cut and dry.
To tell them to just leave trivializes how difficult the journey really is. And it is definitely a journey, not a bridge you just jump off.
Quirky I get your meaning.....but the issue is that you are coloring what you tell others through the lenses of your own experience. Some people kill themselves when they are disfellowshipped.....much less choosing to leave.
The toll, the amount of manipulation, the affect on someones life......it is all very personal and individual.
Even in your own admission.....it isn't simply "just leave".
Some people to be quite honest, once they have been in, do better in that structure than without it. They don't HAVE to.....they just do.
If you have children, grandchildren and Elder husband and 100 JW family it isn't so easy......:(
