"I don't see why one necessitates the other. I forsee no problem with me being an exjw AND going on with the rest of my life. My life as a dub had made me who I am. It will forever be a part of me. If I totally purge a huge part of my past, who am I? I say be an exjw, remember the things that it has taught you. . and lead the best life you can."
I agree. I have my feelings of resentment but I also took with me a huge learning experience that helped shape my thoughts and view today. If it weren't for being in the WT I would've never learned as much as I know about the bible now. I would've never have been able to gain this wealth of biblical knowlege and use that knowlege to compare it against what other religions teach. I would've never been able to see that most every religion is wrong in one way or another. And I would've never have been able to realize that faith is a personal matter between you and your god. Faith needs no public displays to legitimize it. Yes, the Bible says faith without works is dead but what man has the right to tell me exactly what those works should be? I feel those works are supposed to be how you use your faith in your life. Works could be teaching your children about God. Works could be helping your neighbor mow the lawn. Works could be loving your wife. Where in the Bible does it say "Faith without going to meetings and field service is dead." If I never read the Bible with an open mind I would've never learned what I needed to learn to get out of this crackpot religion. But just because you're not a JW anymore doesn't mean that EVERYTHING you ever learned is wrong. You just need to reassimilate that knowlege and put things into a different, more realistic perspective. Your info just needs a little reorganization. Then you won't feel so out of sorts. There was one day that I woke up on Sunday, late for the meeting, feeling bad for not being so spiritually strong, feeling guilty and it hit me all of a sudden: The theif on the cross next to Jesus was saved and he didn't do a damned thing! He lived his life as a sinner and at the last minute he proclaimed his faith to Jesus and he was saved! What works did this man perform? NONE!! It was like a parting of the clouds in my head. That was my moment of clarity. Why should I kill myself every week struggling to EARN salvation, struggling to be perfect when it is impossible when this sinner was saved and didn't do anything?
Your experiences, good and bad, define who you are. To deny them would be like amputating your arm and denying it was ever a part of you. I know if you sit there and think about it you will be able to come up with some positive things that came as a result of your assosiation with the JWs.