Was There ANYTHING Positive That You Experienced Because of Being a JW?

by minimus 66 Replies latest jw friends

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  scratchme1010

  Public speaking I think is the one thing that I have to give the WT credit for. Also, as a JW I was very good at preaching house to house. I would talk to anyone and would not take no for an answer. I would talk to people some other JWs shied away from.

  My process of surviving such horrible experience of so many people trying to make me fit a mold I am not made for gave me strength, resiliency, and confidence in who/how I am.

  The fact that the WT is so full of phonies claiming that their magic Jehovah does wonders, seeing the hypocrisy of so many JWs, including many in positions of authority, and growing up with double-faced abusive JW parents, has given me a great way of not buying into people's bs. I think that's the biggest gift, seeing through so much hypocrisy and nonsense and people pretending to be happy. God, did I hate those stupid glazed happy faces!
  
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  waton

  Love bombing me, giving me recognition, and an outlet for natural communication skills. making me on object, undeservedly, of the desires of truly gorgeous ladies, who, without that religious aura , would not have given me a second look, in other words, my happy family lives.
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  smiddy

  I have to say yes ,somethings.

  1. I gave up smoking ( was a chain smoker all through my teens)

  2.I learnt to be more tolerant with people I would not normally have associated with.

  3. I also learnt to control my out of control drinking as a teenager without having to give it up altogether .

  Of course on the downside their were far more negative experiences being a Jehovahs witness like 3% positive and 97% negative.
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  Ucantnome

  Positive.

  I joined the School in the congregation in 1966 and gave a bunch of bible readings and small talks, I have also read the Watchtower on the platform at the meeting in the 70's, said prayers at the meetings and taken the arrangement for field service and done the opening part in the service meeting been in demonstrations on the platform at the circuit assembly and spent hundreds of hours in field service talking to a variety of people.

  20+ years later I was no better than when I started in 1966, probably worse. I got a couple of G's for my talk in 1966 and W's for the last few. I always hated getting on the platform and wasn't too keen on going into the Kingdom Hall. I don't like crowds. I am supposed to meet some friends and relatives at a pub later today before seeing a play and it's 50/50 as to whether I will actually make it into the pub.

  One time my brother and I had a discussion with my parents about the benefits we felt the 'Truth' had made for us growing up and not getting in bad ways and bad association etc, My father and mother felt there was some input from the 'Truth' but also felt it was more their parenting as he could point to some who had even though raised in the 'Truth' had fallen into bad ways and I have to admit my father was never going to be easy 'Truth' or no 'Truth' He was a fascist before the 'Truth'

  So on those two things I can't cite them as examples of how I had benefited positively.

  The one thing I can say I feel that I benefited in a positive way is my praying. I am positive with it and I think that relates to being a Witness.
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  JeffT

  I quit smoking when I became a JW. I met my wife through the Witnesses. We've been together for 42 years, only fifteen of that was as JW's.

  lt taught me what life would be like in a jail.

  Either you've been in really nice jails or really bad kingdom halls.
  
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  cofty

  1 - I met my wife

  2 - ................ ?
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  Half banana

  I was always nervous of public speaking as a JW, partly because it was the speaker’s job to persuade the audience that the Watchtower was divinely inspired. (LOL!) Subconsciously I think my unease was because I had big reservations about the honesty of doing this.

  When I woke up and left I was actually grateful for that particular JW experience and now I’m fairly confident speaking in public and I enjoy it. The reason is because now I choose to say what I know to be true from evidence. (Prehistory, horticulture, landscape design and art history-- offers welcome!)

  In no way could any possible benefit justify belief in the paranoid false hopes and downright delusions of the JW organisation nor does it compensate for the lack of proper education, the years of wasted life, being emotionally and mentally constrained and in thrall to a worthless money grabbing cult. Pause for vomit...

  And A Watcher you just wait until one of your “very close friends” also wakes up to TTATT and you too can learn just how conditional your very close friendship is then.
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  cofty

  I have thriving relationships with Jehovah and Jesus. - a watcher

  Delusional and proud of it.
  
  
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  Amelia Ashton

  I had to give up smoking to join so that was a positive.

  Without that false sense of security of a sky daddy looking after me I would never have left UK with 2 children to live in Spain.

  Two things.
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  Dagney

  I don't think there is any positive experience from being a JW that I could not have experienced just as positive or more so by not being one. One can easily learn speaking skills, actually better speaking skills by fully using the school system, taking part in speaking and debates...and being actually counseled by an educated counselor not a window washer.

  I can't think of anything positive about being raised in a high control environment/cult...it is achingly suppressive. There were rewarding personal relationships along the way, but that happens anywhere or never...it's not a result of jw.org.

  I just spent a fabulous weekend with 3 other ladies who I knew when we were all teenagers and JW, and just recently reunited from FB after 45 years. They were pioneers and one Belthelite. They left way before me and are leading happy successful lives without any hint of JW. But I will tell you...the scars of the cult are deep. Maybe it was living through the 70's and the 1975 debaucle...I don't know. But being raised a JW gives you a special sort of club membership.

  So...no.