Remembering the Truth

ScoobySnax

I have no argument left in me, and no desire to fight really. When I was inactive I used to look at ex-jws with placard boards outside assemblies or conventions, I knew these people existed even if they were a bit "wacky". I always used to wonder why these people did this, and to be honest I didn't like them, they looked creepy stood there with their flip charts outside a stadium. Of course I was a "regular" then attending meetings/conventions, I used to wonder why they had lost their love for the Truth and turned against their brothers. Forward 14 years and here I am, no longer "active", too busy enjoying the present as I have done so much in the past, all that I used to hear at the meetings I convieniently forgot, after all it was so much easier that way. So here I find myself now. posting on this board with many good people reading I'm sure. I haven't altogether "forgot" though as I said, many posts I find here painful, the majority are filled with scorn or ridicule about JWs or what is printed in their Watchtower magazine, Kingdom Hall, infact anything that was once a part of them as it was in me. I don't feel anything of the negative felt, only good times, with good people, in a faith that I found but lost, yet still believe in so much. I could just let it go, yet something I think will always just "click" in me about this one.

DanTheMan

OK...and your point is?

gumby

Forward 14 years and here I am, no longer "active", too busy enjoying the present as I have done so much in the past.

So you are a wayward dub........but still a dub at heart. Is that correct?

If you are then you need to learn more, and when you learn more you will not feel so bad about abandoning them.

All of us here went thru or are going thru the loss of what we once thought we had. Your entire outlook on life was hinged on what this Organisation had to say. When you find out they are not God's special people when you are STILL convinced he has a special people, .......you mourn. Stop mourning.....he has no special people. He is smart enough to" know who is naughty and who is nice".

Take care and cheer up

Gumby

OUTLAW

Hey ScoobySnax,don`t confuse the ridicule for WBTS,with ridicule for JW`s..Most here care about dubs(even though we make fun of what dubs do),we still have friends and family at the Kingdom Hall....WBTS has nothing to do with the people who help line their pockets(As the WBTS considers itself elite,and dubs expendable.),most of the time innocently..Learn to seperate the two,you will understand us better if you do...OUTLAW

RAYZORBLADE

Scoobz - I recall feeling similarly to you.

My first ever encounter with a visible placard carrying apostate was in the fall of 1981 in Bangor, Maine, USA.

I recall this bearded gentleman with glasses standing outside of the auditorium where the assembly was being held. At first I did not know what or who he was on about. Soon as I saw the sign, then it dawned on me.

Volunteers monitoring the area were encouraging people to not speak with the 'apostate'.

At that time, I was heavily entrenched in the WTBTS. I could not, for the life of me figure out why anyone would do that.

22 years later, I am able to see things far differently.

I do not MISS it. It has been far more liberating and lucid as time has gone on.

Everyone has their own process to go through after leaving or fading away from the JWs. It's an individual thing with varying circumstances.

I do recall feeling some of what you have commented upon Scoobz, but only from my memory of when I was an 'active' JW.

22 years later, most of all that has subsided and disappeared.

The process of leaving, is not an overnight affair. For some it takes little time, others many years to relinquish our 'once then' feelings for what we once held on to, so dearly.

Takes time Scoobz.

Dansk

Scooby,

Surely the only TRUTH you should be faithful to is that to yourself! The WTS has promulgated more lies than Pinocchio - and its nose is STILL growing!

As Outlaw said, we all know JWs and many of us still have family within the ranks. We DON'T wish THEM any harm. At the end of the day, however, you are going to have to decide whether to stay with the WTS and live a lie (a fact that is incontrovertible - start with 607BCE, or 1874, or 1925 to 1975 to "the generation", etc).

Many, many people here have suffered terribly at the hands of the WTS. Many were loyal pioneers, elders, ministerial servants, sisters and regular publishers. I believe you KNOW the truth about the WTS. So what are you dillydallying for?!

Show some guts and come and join some REAL friends. You will be made incredibly welcome. Seriously!

Dansk

FreeFallin

Dear ScoobySnax,

I remember an assembly in Grantville, Pa. a number of years ago, when an "Apostate" infiltrated the auditorium in meeting clothes and carrying a brief case. He shouted from the back of the hall, "Brothers and Sisters, you've been lied to." He didn't get any further, as 3 or 4 attendents jumped on him and hustled him out the door. I remember my feelings; fear that something "bad" would happen, having been made so paranoid about persecution, relief at the big strong men who protected us and kept the congregation clean, and finally puzzlement. Why would anyone who didn't agree with the witnesses do this? What had we done to make people so bitter? If someone disagreed why not just walk away? After all, only murders, adulterers and fornicators were ever disfellowshipped. Right?

Fast forward to August/September 2001. I was first learning the truth about the "truth." And I mean no disrespect for all the lost souls at 9/11, but the UN scandal sent me reeling far more than any national tragedy. I was a zombie for a week or more. This after six years spend living in guilt and fear that I had turned my back on Jehovah and brought shame to the organization for not living up to my dedication. After that awakening, I understand the need to tell others what lies beneath the mask of the WTBS.

I guess what I'm trying to say, Scooby, is what every one else had told you--learn the truth about the truth. Educate yourself, free yourself from the chains of remorse and guilt.

FreeFallin

Sangdigger

Scoob, i can sympathize with you. My brother is much the same way. I have taken an ardent stand, and have lost most of my family, while he still lives at home, chews tobbacco, dates "worldly girls" and such.(he was never baptised, but was raised from birth in it) But i do not pressure him. It is entirely up to him what to do with his life. Every now and then, he brings up some doctrine, to see what i think, then compares it to what the folks tell him, and quickly dismisses it all from his brain.

If you want to remain loosley attatched to the org, i think that is entirely up to you. The reason most people on this board are bitter (in my opinion) is due to the severe stress in loosing family and friends caused by WT policy. As i told the cong. overseer, when he called me to get me to write a da letter, i told him that i still consider most if not all of my former JW aquaintences as friends. And i think most on this board feel the same way. However, most of them do not make it possible for us to remain friends, because they are following man. Man made rules. There is ONE mediator between God and man, and it's not the WTS. It's Jesus Christ. Anyway, have a good one.

artful

Well said Sanddigger!

SS: Your fondness for the 'Truth' reminds me of myself many years ago. A time, when I wasn't active in the congregation, but I knew that someday I should, and would come back into the 'Truth'. I had fond memories of the friends I had made throughout my teenage years, and all of my family were in the 'Truth'. In my mind, it was really inevitable that I would return. So eventually, I did. As my dear Mum was fond of saying "You can leave the 'Truth' but the 'Truth' never really leaves you."

Of course when I did return, armed with my 'Truth' mentality, I never really investigated what I was learning. It had already been drilled into my head for many years that this was the 'Truth'. After my baptism, over time, the more I studied the Bible with the WTS, the more I found I could not just 'wait on Jehovah' (read: WTS) to answer the many questions that I had. The answers I received were just not scriptural. Eventually, I had to ask myself who I was following? What was this 'Truth' that I was so fond of. Was it the 'truth' about Christ, or was it my family, my friends, and the feeling of acceptance that I got when I went along with the masses?

Gumby said it very well (to paraphrase): "If you are still a dub at heart, then you need to learn more."

Maybe I'm wrong in saying this SS, but from your comments it sounds like you have never experienced the 'ugliness' that results from the Watchtower Societies' teachings. Things like shunning, marking, disfellowshiping, the cold treatment of people who are inactive, irregular, unbalanced, etc. If you had, you may understand the serious damage that has been inflicted on so many people by the WTS, and you may not be as quick to remember the 'Truth' so fondly.

I hope you find peace.
Cheers
Artful

Skeptic

ScoobySnax,

I am glad you have pleasant memories of the JWs; cherish those. I have many pleasant memories as well, along with some that are not so pleasant. However, I was spared many of the terrible situations some here have endured. When I left, it was only because I was an atheist.

Outlaw's post is right on the money. There is a huge difference between the WTBS and the average JDub.

Richard

Remembering the Truth

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