Has anyone got anything positive from being a JW?

by diamondblue1974 36 Replies latest jw friends

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  tata

  I never use drug and I am a not alcoholic, although I LIKE IT A LOT.
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  Berean

  I learned how to speak in public which has helped me tremendously in secular life.
  
  I know lots more about the Bible than clergymen/women in local religious organizations. Go ahead and make fun of that statement, however it is true.
  
  It prevented me from falling into the bigoted feelings of my family, even though they were Witnesses.
  
  I learned about true Christianity from the false-Christianity of the WBTS. Sometimes a bad example is better than a good example to teach a lesson.
  
  To have empathy for others. Although the WBTS is able to teach this, they are not able to follow this. How ironic!
  
  Everything about the WBTS is not bad or evil. Even an Authoritarian religion can teach good habits. You just have to cull out the un-Christian, useless chaff. Some people can be damaged from this experience though.
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  Soledad

  I dont think that I benefitted personally from being a JW but there were great things within my own congregation that sometimes moved me and made me feel proud

  for instance

  I mostly attended a Spanish speaking congregation and I really liked it when brothers of very humble origins gave public talks or had talks in TMS.........these are/were the same people who are busboys, deliverymen, yet they were so intelligent and well spoken.....often times they would deviate from the usual WT style pablum and speak directly from the heart. They were so sincere in their words and earnestly believed that what they said mattered. I don't know if any of you understand, when you are not used to anyone listening to anything you have to say and then for 1 night for a couple of minutes you have a stage all to yourself, I just think it's kind of special.
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  kls

  I learned to never be that stupid and gullible again, so i guess they taught me alot.
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  iiz2cool

  I learned that "bad associations spoil useful habits". That means I should not associate with an organization that tries to convince me to hate others.

  Walter
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  CeriseRose

  I had tried to commit suicide twice and prayed to "whatever" God to help me feel better. JWs came along (whether providence or divine intervention or lightning striking, I decline to comment). However, I needed attention and positive reinforcement and I got those...for awhile.

  By the time the next life-shattering crises came along, I was more stable and even though life got tough, suicide wasn't and still wouldn't be an option.

  I also have a couple of very good friends who aren't shunning me in their hearts. They make up for a lot of the idiots I encountered in the KH.

  Brummie said: I noticed that after I left I had a lot of empathy to release. Empathy for those who were disfellowshipped and shunned. Empathy for those I left behind in the movement. Empathy for this and Empathy for that!

  I came into the JWs at 21, and was always an intuitive, compassionate and empathetic person prior. One of the hardest things to reconcile for me (and I never quite managed it) was shutting off that caring side of me to acknowledge that everyone else would die at God's hand. I think I probably cried for 6 months after I left, just releasing all the pent-up and unfulfilled emotion I wasn't allowed to have "in".
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  AK - Jeff

  I learned moral values that did deeply impact me as a person and still do.

  I developed a deep seated appreciation for marriage and committment within marriage - now married for 30 years.

  I learned to love the Bible - not because they had it all right - but because they did respect it [although misapplied severly].

  I learned how to give unconditional love as a result of seeing conditional love in action and the damage it can create.

  Good things can happen as a result of any experience - I think I am a better person for having been a witness. I only regret that I wasted so many of my productive years in the cult.

  As a result of leaving - and thanx to this site - I have been enriched by learning from so many who have left also. If I had never been a witness I would not be aware of the diverse and wonderful population of JWD!

  Jeff