How Did You Discover This Site?

by minimus 40 Replies latest jw friends

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  minimus

  I’ve been here a long time. I saw this site JWD/JWN. I thought it was very lively and interesting. I didn’t join for a while because I was afraid that somehow my identity would be exposed. Eventually I took a chance and am glad I did! It’s been one of the most informative sites I’ve seen.

  I used to voraciously read Kent’s Watchtower site and I loved it because he simply used the Watchtower’s own words to decimate The Witnesses. Randy’s site was also very informative and gave you a peek of what Bethel really was like.

  So, how did you find this place??
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  DesirousOfChange

  I think my first contact was to download the KM when they set up the restriction that non-publishers could not receive it (or some dumb rule like that).

  Even after reading a lot here, I too hesitated to "join" for fear of giving up too much information about me. I'm sure I opened a separate email account to register and have no idea what it is now.

  Being a JW for so many years causes you to think that everyone is "out to get ya".
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  jp1692

  DNCall told me about this forum 10ish years ago when I first left the cult.

  It was a very different place then.
• 

  LongHairGal

  MINIMUS:

  I discovered this site years ago by accident surfing the internet when I began my ‘fade’ from the JW religion.

  I had a voracious appetite for information on the Jehovah’s Witness religion. Everything was so secret and hush-hush. I had nobody to talk to or confide in about my doubts about the religion. I found a mountain of information that validated my feelings and experience. I came across several sites or testimonials from former Witnesses. I can’t remember them and not sure the sites exist anymore.

  People say this forum has changed and certain posters are gone...Some people move on. Some stick around...I remember some angry individuals back then who were defending the religion. I wonder what they think now.
• 

  minimus

  The site has gone through changes. Do you remember when Simon was pro JW?

  Yes, times have changed!
• 

  road to nowhere

  Because the elders were lax in getting kingdom ministries out, then ran out when I complained I had to find one online. The jw org didnt have the "special" stuff for download. i spent a long time just looking before joining
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  stan livedeath

  i first looked in about 11 years ago..and a quick look suggested it was an official jw site!

  i was on a UK ex jw site--and one of the members ( cantleave ) suggested i take a longer look. i joined as bigmac--and quickly got a less than nice welcome from some of the brawlers that were on here back then. they have all gone now.
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  Beth Sarim

  It was back around 2006-07. After learning about the JW affiliation with the UN.

  The internet piqued my interest.

  I decide to research on reachouttrust.org and Cal Lehman's site towerwatch.com. It was there on Cal's forum page where posters would drop links to this site. & There you go. Decided to join this site a couple of years later.

  I don't know if Cal Lehman's towerwatch.com forum was ever reactivated.
  
• 

  RubaDub

  How Did You Discover This Site?

  Min ...

  Many here may not believe in destiny but now I do.

  It was a difficult time in my life, having gotten divorced from my JW wife who wanted out of the Borg. I was driving down I-95 through Baltimore and needed to stop for gas. I can still point to the exact rest stop on the highway. I had eaten some food at some greasy spoon restaurant earlier in the day and just needed to get to a bathroom.

  I pulled into the rest stop and saw the sign for "Rest Rooms". I walked in, bent over to look for one of the stalls that appeared no one was using and found an empty stall. Naturally, I put some toilet paper on the seat before I sat down to be safe, not knowing who had sat there earlier. I had heard that cooties can jump from a dirty toilet seat.

  When I was inside doing my business, I noticed that some people had used magic markers on the inside of the stalls to advertise their businesses. I could see that some were questionable since there was a lot of "do you want to have a good time" and stuff about BJ's and other activities.

  Just to confirm that they were legitimate, I took a pen from my pocket and began to write down some of the phone numbers. I still remember that some guy named "Big Rod" even had a toll-free 800 number.

  But then I noticed the diamond in the rough. This website. I quickly wrote it down. I said to myself, "Self, this is what I am looking for."

  19 years later, I look back and making that stop on the highway may have been one of the most fortunate events of my life. I am truly grateful.
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  slimboyfat

  It’s so long ago I can’t remember—late 2000 or early 2001—it was probably a google search. It had only been going a few months. At the time there was a pro JW alternative called greatcrowd dot com. The Great Crowd forum included the cute disclaimer that members of the anointed were also welcome to join. I think the owner eventually turned apostate and joined this forum.