by UnshackleTheChains 40 Replies latest jw experiences
I'm interested in finding out what it was that finally enabled you to open your eyes to the real truth of watchtower.
What started me thinking, was the Societys very own book...' 'Revelation..It's grand climax at hand'. I found that book farcicle. I found myself saying eh! numerous times
For me, the book 'Crisis of Conscience' completely opened my eyes.
What tipped me off was their self-aggrandizing behavior. They were continuously praising themselves as God's organization and his sole channel of communication. That to me spelled arrogance and arrogance of a type that would preclude them from being used by God.
Two things.........at age 16 I was introduced to The True Believer by Eric Hoffer this was a book about Mass movements and basically how a movement motivated and controlled it's followers. This was written in 1951 and he never mentioned the JW's....... I doubt if he even knew about the WTBTS and their followers. I read it years later. I never looked at the Society in the same way again.
I was more concerned with the people who were in so my wife and I pioneered where the need was great. The little congregation we served in was very kind.
We got out in the mid 1960's because of the blood doctrine and Armageddon. As a 'people come first' person those two horrible and reckless doctrines unraveled the entire beliefs. We lost family members and friends who could not get a life saving operation without blood. Just think about how many procedures depended on blood back in the day.
VI
Yes, the self aggrandazing behaviour is most certainly a factor. I also find their arrogance incredible. The Australian Royal Commissions investigation of Watchtower policy on safeguarding lays bare that arrogance.
Giordano
As someone who has had to face the blood issue twice, I completely agree with you. This issue is one of the Main reasons why I disagree with WT. This should be a matter of an individual's conscience. I find it astounding that members are put under pressure to avoid blood (ie pressure from family, pressure from HLC, fear of putting yourself in a position of disassociating yourself). What did Jesus say....I want mercy..Not sacrifice...
Their irresponsible behavior around people who need professional help. The last congregation I belonged to was full of people with all kinds of issues, waiting for magic Jehovah to make them all go away, while getting horrible advice and guidance from the elders.
It's a long story. Basically, "generation" always bothered me. But I didn't peek behind the curtain.
Double standards finally got to me. A friend was involved in looking at pornography and masturbation and was disfellowshipped. I knew that they generally said that elders involved could say it happened only a few times and they stopped, then they can even remain elders and nobody is the wiser.
On top of that, I was asked to go down to Hurricane Katrina Relief (months after the storm) and then the Regional Building Committee (RBC) cancelled me at the last minute, saying they had "no more room on the bus unless I was a plumber, electrician, or carpenter." They would not let me drive down and join saying "We don't do it that way, all things according to order and procedure." Then later, I find out that the same bus held the wife of the RBC chairman and his little kids, and they did no plumbing, electrical work, carpentry. They had a huge picnic on the last day instead of doing more work that day. So much bullshit. I was going to break my back and help people.
So finally, I said that research for JW talks made me pretty much an expert at "googling" everything- even without Google before it existed. So I said I would google "Jehovah's Witnesses" and figure out what's wrong and take a look at every single link no matter how I feel about it. That was the beginning of the end for me.
Being told our "implied invitation" to attend the kingdom hall would be revoked if we moved froward with legal action with a molestor in the cong.
A guy who I worked with questioned me about the quality of marriages with jws. I went home that night to find some statistics about the jw success in the mags. I looked for a couple of weeks unable to find anything. It raised the question of why wouldn't an organisation that puts Jeh 1st place their lives want to publish statistics to back it up the quality of their relationships. I sincerely looked and turned ever Wt article over to find this info. I then realized that there wasn't anything published. So I thought " well I have a reasonable question which deserves an answer. If Wt won't give it to me then I'll google it, and if this info is negative or apostate then so be it. If Wt dosnt want me looking at apostate stuff then they should have told me." I google it and I was absolutly flawed where with one click of the mouse jw.facts came up and my question was answered. I was just flawed. From there the flood gates just opened. 18 months later I walked out of the Hall for good.
Shorty after my father died from not taking a blood transfusion, a JW friend sent me an email that talked about Beth Sarim and she thought it was really wonderful how far Jehovah's Organization had progressed over the years.
It had the opposite effect for me. I was floored that even as a former Bethelite, I had never heard of Beth Sarim or the crazy fanatical idea to actually deed it to the Bible Patriarchs to use after the resurection. I investigated further and suddenly all the suspicions and doubts about the Organization that I had been sweeping under the rug, came to life. Then the new light about the 1914 Generation came along as well as the news reports about the pedophile issue within the organization.
There was a life altering family situation that was botched by the local elders that happened at that time as well so it was a perfect storm of events that lead me to dare to look behind the curtain and once I did, I didn't like what I saw there.
Over many years
I noticed many many holes in the fabric
And especially with the "patching"
There wasn't much left of the original curtain
And over time
Because of the holes
I was able to see through the curtain
And behold
I was able see the Emperor
Dancing Naked
To simplify
I pioneered through 1975
Actually heard Governing Body apologize for making that year
more of a probability for the end in their writings
Yes they said that
But I listened to their apology and stayed in
But I knew that if the end did not come by the end of "this generation"
Well
In 1995
I was officially mentally out
This was before the internet
That was icing
tepidpoultry
:0)
