What a Massive Relief! Thank God I have just found this site the other day! I don't know where to begin! I am a Jehovah's Witness. I live in the UK.
My name is Do Dah! I'm 27 years old. I started studying with the witnesses when I was 22 and got baptised into the Organisation when I was 25, which was in 2012. I came into it on my own, though I already have a wonderful loving family which I was born into right outside the Org.
I can no longer put my feelings aside. I was afraid of everything inside the organisation.
After reading the amazing JW-Studies-Pamphlet PDF over on JWFacts.com I have been amazed to learn some of the things the Watchtower has published. This has been so disturbing that I felt the urge to share my own experience.
The pamphlet really shocked me. Making false predictions about the end of the world is terrible. I didn't know they did this 5 times. The bible says that no one knows when. How damaging is that though to a person's life and his faith!
They told people not to bother with higher education too, which, as I have been reading has scarred people's lives because now they can’t get good work. I can't believe that.
They also went back against their own teachings on the famous blood issue costing people's lives. OMG. WTF.
Well I am glad to have found you because I have for too long a time bottled up all my unanswered questions in my mind, keeping them to myself. I couldn't talk to my parents because I wanted to defend the organisation, and I couldn’t talk to anyone in the congregation because I was afraid of being labelled 'spiritually weak'. I worried about outward appearances to both parties.
So I've been getting quite depressed as of lately. I told the elders I'm finding it all a bit too much.
Why do we have to record our ministry hours? King David of Israel was scourged for recording the size of his Army because it wasn't necessary. This it is today. It just seems a matter of pride who has recorded the most hours in the ministry. Who appears to be doing well.
Why do we shun and disfellowship? It's not Christian. I've blown the lid off this yesterday; I finally told my Dad what I'm thinking. He and my Mum have both said they can see how bad I look and how this religion stuff is affecting me. It's not helping me at all.
My dad instinctively told me why it’s not right to disfellowship when I spoke to him about it.
"God is all loving," he said.
I thought "he's right," God hasn't shunned humanity even though most people don't listen to him.
My dad never once shunned me when I rebelled as a teenager, when I deliberately did all the wrong things against him and myself. If he never showed the endless love he did, then how would I have ever changed my ways.
What's wrong with these people! Not too long ago when I thought about trying to help others, the witnesses discouraged me not to do other volunteer work, when I thought about Saint John's Ambulance, or the Samaritans, or the Salvation Army. (These are well known charities in Britain).
I have to share what I think. For I couldn't hold it much longer and I feel like I'm going insane with this 'channel' of information.
I'm not afraid.