by MrMoe 29 Replies latest jw friends
Thanks everybody for your very interesting answers! I really appreciate it
And AlanF and NathanNatas helped somebody leave, one of my friends. I came to them asking for some advice... they gave me some great stuff and Alan sent me priceless scans. Her daughter had her first Christmas last year! Thanks you guys!
One word................Abuse.
I left at a young age.........15.
I decided at the age of 12 I didn't believe in the JW's anymore. It took me 3 more yrs to figure out how to get out. I got myself df'd on purpose cause I was tired of it all, which later led to my first concussion given to me by my abusive father.
For me it just sealed the deal, I would never return, and I haven't and never would.
This board has been very healing for me, I have learned I am not alone.
Sex got me in trouble. At the same time, my lover told me Russell was a drunk, and I started reading, cuz I realised I knew nothing of Russell.
My doubts grew, I read more, I started getting serious doubts, not to metion a guild-overload for the sex thing. I read COC, Combatting Cult Mindcontrol by Hassan etc. After three weeks I went to the elders with the thought: if this is the truth, they will help me, they will tell me why the stupid things were said like the Pyramids of Russell and all the false prophesies, they will help me if it is the truth....
They kicked me out instead. Three weeks before that, I had been an excellent sister with no blemish on my record, people in the Hall were shocked and baffled, they had not seen this comming. My mum got phonecalls from dozens of people that were in tears and that asked her what had happened and that told her [my mum] how much they would miss me. No one called me, every one shunned me, and I realized this was not love.
I was broken, my image of the world had been shattered, and I felt totally lost. My family saved me, and so did my friends. The weeks/months after that, I learned more and more about the Watchtower, all that confirmed to me that they were a cult, and a destructive cult at that. But knowing how wrong the WTBTS was, did not take the pain away of losing all my so-called friends, for that I simply needed time.
i came in when i left my alcoholic husband and confused the peace from that with thinking the peace was from being with god's people.
as the years went by i noticed sooooooooooo much hypocracy, self-righteousness, judging, and lack of love. but in that time i met my 2nd husband and again it felt like i was being blessed by god.
then all, hell broke loose. my child was sexually abused by a jw and eventually, after much verbal and emotional abuse by the elders and prominent congregation members, i got df'ed. why???????? (false) slander charges to shut me up to protect the reputation of the pedo and his family.
i got reinstated, believing that what happened was a one off and that this kind of situation was rare, after all, god was directing this organisation. then, after panorama, dateline and the sunday show, i realised that the wts was involved in many sexual abuse cover-ups.
so i am out because there is corruption in the borg.
i'm also out because my husband knew there were many wrong prophecies and started looking and researching. he then helped me to see on the internet many things that the wts doesn't want anyone to see. he showed me the silent lambs site and i found out about the un scandal. so with much trust and patience on his part he helped me to start thinking for myself.
he is a blessing, our love and marriage is a blessing and finding freedom and the truth about the borg is a blessing. having my family united and celebrating my kids birthdays is a blessing. finding old xjws on this forum is a blessing.
cheers,
bliss.
This set me off searching: http://www.607v587.com/
Then I read The Gentile Times Reconsidered by Carl Olof Jonsson and Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz.
I guess I started searching initially because I couldn't come to terms with elders being appointed by holy spirit. They were such a bunch of knob-heads, egotistical and such megalomaniacs that I just wasn't having any of it. My problem is, I wonder what took me so long to do something! ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
Felt better after that scream
Dansk
I had a "spiritual experience", started looking at the scriptures with fresh eyes, and my doctrines fell apart. About two months later I decided to leave, but wanted more information. I found this site and regisistered - what an eyeopener!!!
Four months later I left on my own terms, saying goodbye to friends and loved one in my last Public Talk.
Little Toe,
I dare say that your method of departure was a "spiritual experience" and a public talk that will long be remembered by the brothers in attendance. Could even enter jaydud folklore. Like your style.
cheeses - sorry to have missed that talk.
Tink was the first to start reading information on Kents board and later on TR's board. About 3 or 4 months into her reading, I began to do my own as well. I was very concerned about the lies the WTS had made over the years. We were also sick and tired of the hypocrosy within the members, in particular, with Tinks sisters and one of my ex-close friends who still remains an elder. When Tink sent a Xmas card to her sister, who is not a JW, her younger sister's husband read it and turned us in. That started the pressure from the elders to come before a JC. I explained our position and told them it was only a card and we just needed time, that Tink was just trying to recover from her Dad's suicide. They basically said it was time to get over it and to trust in God's Org...blah, blah, blah. They gave us a time and date to meet for a JC..I told them wwould not be there..do what you got to do, which they announced the following week that we DA'ed ourselves. We have no regrets what-so-ever. We are very happy being free from mind-control, head games, and lies.
CC
My husband influenced me. I could leave it at that, but it's a long story. I got on the internet to prove hubby wrong. You all know what that did for me. Finally I read C of C, and told hubby I would never go back. That was 6 years after he knew it was all bunk and 2 years after I knew it. What were we waiting for???????????
The two witness rule forced me to look critically at an organization that I had been turning a blind eye towards for some time. I realized that a rule so evil as this could not possibly co-exist with the level of spirituality that I was searching for. I lost what respect I had for the authority of the elders and the Watchtower. That was 1989.
They say (and you know how "they" are) that an individual will come to believe anything that is told to them continuously by 8 or more people. After leaving, I was told how bad I was and how quickly God would kill me (and how much he would delight in doing so). So that is why this site has meant so much to me. After hearing this stuff from Witnesses for years whilst waiting for my wife to leave, reading of others' experiences and having so much positive reinforcement from the people on this site has been like water in the desert to me.
