Hello my American friends, and those from other places
I was a Witness for almost 20 years, and have been through a lot to offer my story today.
My mother was conned by the Jehovah's Witnesses when she was just forteen years old after sitting in with a schoolfriend on a bible study back in England. She would never forget the pictures of death and destruction in the various publications of the Watchtower Society, such as the Paradise book double page spread. These images stayed with her for a long time and she was baptized in a small town in England when she was still quite young.
By then I was born and so my mother began to indoctrinate me with Watchtower doctrine as she thought this was to save my life. My father was never interested in religion but only politics so he never fell victim to the charms of living forever in the wonderful paradise earth with all nationalities living together, maybe he was more of a realist than a dreamer.
However as I grew up I gained more strength to go on as a Witness and gave over seventy five talks at the local Kingdom Hall as well as various Bible studies and calls.
As a witness, I began to notice the plain hypocrisy of those inside the walls of this religious group. I witnessed elders swapping wives, homosexual acts and even armed robbery where a member of the congregation was sentenced for stealing thousands worth of Jewlry from a merchant. But most of all I noticed the false nature of the Witnesses, the lies behind the truth and the cover ups within the organization and even the congregation. I was once threatened with disfellowshipping if I mentioned that I had witnessed the service overseer and the accounts overseer engaging in a homosexual act when I arrived out of the blue one day for Kingdom Hall cleaning. I kept my mouth shut for the sake of my mother who was very into the 'truth' as she called it and couldn't bare to see me have to leave.
After walking home 6 miiles from the meeting one night, I was attacked by a group of young men who singled me out as a Witness as I carried the identifying mark of the wild beast my briefcase and that tight driplike appearance of a Jehovah's Witness. It made me more determined to carry on 'serving Jehovah'.
I cant believe that I put up with so much to actually be a Witness. Now that I have left, it all seems so futile. I even sold my business, which was doing really well, to pioneer. 3 years later, I had left. I wish I could have added more, but some experiences are too painful to state.
I wanted you to know that I am so grateful for the information on the internet regarding the true identity of Jehovahs Witnesses and their past.
Dosvedanya