thanks for checking! I hope all these posts are of some encouragement to you. I know that in the society anyone who isnt a JW or has left is not considered good asssociation and maybe in some cases thats wise judgement but most of us are normal people who have a lot of unaswered questions and feelings...I wouldnt class myself as Apostate or anything because mum and dad are so strong in it that to completely diss the religion would be a personal attack on my family and Im not quite at that stage yet! I have 'issues'!!!!!!
Ironically I think youll find that a good 85% on here have issues surrounding the child abuse either by personal experience or a close friend etc and the stories are sadly all the same so the fact that you are now at the point where you are thinking for yourself and not just accepting what you've been told is something to be proud of.
I think some have assumed that because you've posted on here, you must be close to leaving and that may not be the case. You may decided not to leave and that really is your decision, noone should try and persuade you to do anything but obviously we feel that we didnt have much choice in being JW's in the first place as the tight way it is run pretty much leaves no room for doubting.
I did say to another person on here before who had a conscience about these doubts that in some ways its just like you've gone back to being a Bible Study. You are told that Bible studies still get the Holy Spirit etc simply for being there but obviously they still have questions about it all. Just because you're questioning some things just means that you are allowing yourself to be yourself..should you decide to remain in the WTS, you havent done anything to feel guilty of. These are serious issues that have been raised lately and everyone is probably asking some questions.
Once again, thank you for having the courage to post here and keep it coming!
LOVE AND HUGS (purely scriptural!)