Posts by OnTheWayOut

27

Asking for help with wife

by Are you serious in

hello everyone, my wife wants nothing to do with my awakening.

every time i try explaining something she tells me she doesn't want to hear it.

i believe she's afraid of learning something she's not ready for.

OnTheWayOut

There are so many of us in your situation- the mate who woke up trying/hoping for change in the other mate.

I had to let it go and just lightly hit at the doctrine now and again. Mostly, I point out things in daily life and politics where people choose to close their eyes to the clear and obvious truth of matters. Mostly, I help tug at my wife's emotions about doing the right thing and how it would be wrong to "shun" family over petty differences. Hugely, I point out problems in the news with Muslims, Mormons, Christian groups, the like- without directly mentioning JW's.

7

ANECDOTE of the DAY (a Rabbi on God's slaying of humans)

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

anecdote of the day.

_________i spoke with a certain rabbi every morning for over a year and a half.we were at a starbucks along with a table filled with all sorts of fellows.

they were mostly immigrants.

OnTheWayOut

So I woulda said, "We are not each just a worthless canvas. Parents do not have the right to slaughter their children. If you think it's more than that, then I would have to say the creator of something more than feelingless canvas has some responsibility to reveal himself to the ones he is about to slaughter in order for them to defend their actions or change them if that were proper."

64

Why is there such a 'high turnover' within the Jehovahs Witnesses?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i happened to come across a time article in 2008. it was basically talking about the high turnover in american faiths.

it mentioned the jdubs and highlighted the following point.. an even more extreme example of what might be called "masked churn" is the relatively tiny jehovah's witnesses, with a turnover rate of about two-thirds.

that means that two-thirds of the people who told pew they were raised jehovah's witnesses no longer are — yet the group attracts roughly the same number of converts.

OnTheWayOut

LongHairGal:
OTWO:
Actually, it was me who said that. I was responding to Starry Night.

I stand corrected. Well said.

64

Why is there such a 'high turnover' within the Jehovahs Witnesses?

by UnshackleTheChains in

i happened to come across a time article in 2008. it was basically talking about the high turnover in american faiths.

it mentioned the jdubs and highlighted the following point.. an even more extreme example of what might be called "masked churn" is the relatively tiny jehovah's witnesses, with a turnover rate of about two-thirds.

that means that two-thirds of the people who told pew they were raised jehovah's witnesses no longer are — yet the group attracts roughly the same number of converts.

OnTheWayOut

On p. 2, STARRY NIGHT said:
I was led to believe that the Witnesses had some special knowledge about the Bible. I was into end-times prophecy. Of course, in time, I learned that they knew nothing that the other religions didn't know.

Same for me. So much has been said, but the answer is the same whether someone figured it out or left to pursue a love affair or got hooked on drugs- they did not find what they needed abd started looking elsewhere.

12

Learning To Believe Again

by The_Seeker in

i was raised a jw and left the organization when i was 18 years old.

many thought i left because i wanted to live a life full of drugs, sex, and rock and roll, which was not true at all.

i left because i realized that these people had no idea what they were talking about and were simply parroting what the, " society " , told them to believe.

OnTheWayOut

You told us your story very well. Thanks, and sorry about your JW family stull in bondage. Most of us can relate in many ways.

I am confident that Watchtower and its men only have the power over us that we give them, so we must learn not to give them any.

Most here are seekers on their own path. My path, which includes atheism, is also a spiritual one. I see some religions as pacifiers. The good "in" them is really from good people.

24

My story and what I'm trying to do with it

by Ft2188 in

my dad was an elder my entire life and my sister a regular pioneer for most of my life, along with my mother.

ill never forget being 4 years old and staring up at the stars outside and my dad leaning over to and saying "look what jehovah made for you".

my response, "but how do you know god is real"?

OnTheWayOut

I dunno if this is the stuff you really want. I will post the links to my posted story of my JW best friend and how I was treated in my fade from Watchtower, then the second link is the letter I never sent, but kinda wish I had, as I never heard from him again.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/183665/1/My-JW-Best-Friend

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/207474/am-thinking-sending-this-letter-jw-former-best-friend

24

My story and what I'm trying to do with it

by Ft2188 in

my dad was an elder my entire life and my sister a regular pioneer for most of my life, along with my mother.

ill never forget being 4 years old and staring up at the stars outside and my dad leaning over to and saying "look what jehovah made for you".

my response, "but how do you know god is real"?

OnTheWayOut

Tell me if I understand what you are looking for- you hope to read our letters to our loved ones that we wrote because we left the religion, to demonstrate the pain and loss.

I don't have such a letter.

89

Do you believe in god?

by freakyAL in

i used to be a staunch believer in god.

maybe its technology and science advancing so much thats got me doubting idk.

do you believe in god?

OnTheWayOut

I am a very confirmed atheist. There are probably other intelligent creatures "out there" but not anything like a God or gods that created it all.

When I left JW's, I thought Christendom had it right. But I wasn't interested in attending.
But as I studied why Watchtower was wrong, I further studied why the Bible was wrong and how science was striving to find correct answers. I dabbled in learning a bit about Buddhism also.

The biggest thing for me was that I turned myself over to God and I wound up in a mind-control cult, so I wondered if he wasn't there, then there was the terrible 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. I thought about God letting innocent children be torn away from family by the tens of thousands.

So, the science tells me why so much of Genesis is wrong, and the heart and head tell me why I should listen to science. And the greatest thing about eastern thought is that you can take the wisdom and the nice stuff and not have to believe in any of the gods.

24

My story and what I'm trying to do with it

by Ft2188 in

my dad was an elder my entire life and my sister a regular pioneer for most of my life, along with my mother.

ill never forget being 4 years old and staring up at the stars outside and my dad leaning over to and saying "look what jehovah made for you".

my response, "but how do you know god is real"?

OnTheWayOut

Great of you to share your story. It sounded like rough going, but also that you will find a way to keep going.
I wrote a book for therapy of my story and it helped self healing immensely. I "slightly" fictionalized it by changing the city and the names, published it on Amazon and many have read it. It's called FADE FROM THE TRUTH.

Hey, no matter what, get your GED or high school diploma. Doesn't matter when, but get it. It will help your self esteem and you may need it for jobs in the future. I became a JW as an adult, but was a drop out and knew I might need a GED one day. My current career required it, so I am glad I got that in-between knocking on doors for Jehovah.

37

Science may answer the question: Is there a God?

by Old Navy in

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9qkdv6yg3s.

OnTheWayOut

The video is just mumbo jumbo for believers to say "Yeah, that's right."

It implies the Bible got it right when it said "Let there be light" first, before all other things. But the Bible actually said "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" before mentioning light. It just gets worse after that.