Ex Jehovah's Witnesses

[Fullofquestions1]

If you used to be a Jehovah's Witness what was it that made you leave? Was something you were brought up to believe in or did you choose to join then leave.
a lady at work has just joined our team and started sharing her beliefs. I personally don’t understand it but each to their own.

Would be interested to read any replies

My mum left because she was a teenager who couldn't deal with the rules.

Dad (who joined as an adult) left because his sister in law showed him JW Facts.com https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/watchtower-scandal.php

I've still loads of family in there, and the scandals remain. But hey, men have just been given permission to wear beards lol.

It's more than one thing. It kind of started with shunning and conditional relationships. No friendships were genuine. But years after leaving and doing research I learnt it was all a load of bollocks anyway.
I'm a very happy atheist with genuine friendships. This one life can be fantastic.
The JWs are a cult who break up families.
That's why I left.

A person close me me left. He calls is a cult. He says he has concerns over SA scandals due to the "two witness" rule. I do know more details but not sure it's fair to add here

I've mentioned it here many times but soon the apologists will be along explaining how they've recently updated the rules so it's all good.
😬

I have a lovely friend who is a JW. I don't get it, but each to their own.

Just worried she has 3 beautiful young daughters and she married some guy who I fear will just be a paedophile basically.

It's a creepy religion with stupid old white men who decided to take power over people and enough documentaries have been about it. Check Youtube.

America was built on religious nuttery. Trump followers still following. Crazy!

I bless my parents that they were not religious, but had a spiritual way of recognising right from wrong which they instilled into us. (WW2).

A person close me me left. He calls is a cult. He says he has concerns over SA scandals

He's right.

I hope he found his way out and into "normal society" because they absolutely dismiss you. It's a very cruel and sinister cult.

What, she's banging on about it at work? Terribly unprofessional.

I don't really understand why you're asking why people left the JWs though?

I don't really understand why you're asking why people left the JWs though?

It's a good thing. They've been brainwashed. Those people need all the friends they can get in order to see it for what it is.

What's the two witness rule mentioned upthread please?

What's the two witness rule mentioned upthread please?

Just google it. No idea. i don't want to know anything about their religion or their beliefs. - No birthdays, or Christmas, etc.--

They believe the world is doomed and they are the only ones going to go to heaven, all a pile of shite.

Documentary I saw on telly last week talked about incestuous children being born. Now THAT IS FUCKED UP!!

I have had quite a few people who were bought up as children then left when they became adults themselves .
I’ve read a number of posts saying similar on here and I went to school with a jw and he was never allowed in assemblies etc and he left as soon as he could .

I imagine when someone has kids it can change their view and how they want them to be bought up so you’re a jw and want your children to be bought up into the religion or you leave and protect your children from it .
Depending on your views of the religion .

DH's childhood best mate joined when they were in their early 20's. He was looking for answers & his religion couldn't give them, so a JW saw their opening & fed them some BS & the 'community' feel drew them in.

He & his DW started preaching & refused to take part in certain aspects of our wedding (he was best man), so DH backed off & the friendship fell apart.

Friend was so brainwashed he told everyone I was a b*tch who stopped DH seeing them.

Truth is DH hates organised religion, so backed off. A more mainstream religion turned his DM nasty & zealous every time she became involved with a church or KYB group. (Ironically she passed & her KYB bestie rapidly married FIL, lol .)

There have to be two material witnesses to the abuse (or anything that is considered serious wrongdoing) if the perpetrator doesn't confess. It's viewed as an internal matter to be dealt with by the congregational elders. There is no requirement within the religion to report abuse to the police.

I left because of a lot of things. Umpteen failed prophesies, ridiculous rules like not being allowed to clink glasses in a toast, control of women, the "disciplinary" procedures that had teenagers being interrogated by elders about whether they masturbated, a friend being shoved to the edges of the congregation for divorcing a child abusing, adulterous, drug using alcoholic- didn't she realise that he had "repented", the lack of genuine relationships, the utter control the governing body had over every aspect of your life from haircuts to the sexual positions married couples could use and from the music you could listen to to the clothes you could wear. The CSA scandal wasn't a thing on those days, that came out a bit later.
They are most definitely a cult and the members need all the help they can get to realise that and get deprogrammed.

I never believed even as a child. By the time I was a young teenger the hypocrisy, misogyny, politics, and cover-ups were blatantly obvious. There was a two-tier system; those related to the elders, and those not.
I was 14 when I started refusing to go the meetings, although it had been brewing for years.
I still hate my mother for fucking up my childhood, my schooling, and for all the things she denied me.

@PartyGoose i have never really paid too much attention to it as a religion but something she was telling us really shocked me.
“my brother is a non believer so we no longer have contact”
she reasoned it have to treat it like he has a contiguous disease it’s like a cancer that could spread.
I just can’t understand how you could believe that. So I was just interested what could have happened/changed others opinions to make them leave

Not personal experience just via people I've known over the years but abuse from the husbands seems to prompt a few women to distance themselves and their children from the 'religion'.

Hi iv been out of the Jehovah’s witnesses for almost 2 years now, was in the religion for 5 years. I was never baptised but an unbaptised publisher, It’s taken me a lot of courage to post this as I have not really opened up about it to anyone and have trouble talking about my feelings to people as I’m shy of what they will think. I have been feeling constant fear everyday ever since leaving it, so maybe I could get some responses here and I’m glad I found this site (sorry if it’s long). I live with my pets, when I was told that Jehovah didn’t put souls into animals I was devastated and just really turned me off religion all together, him being the ‘loving’ god I just didnt see any logic as to why he won’t even compensate me on my animals. They have been meeting up with me to get me to come back to the meeting so I don’t know how to tell them how that upsets me and my animals mean the world to me. Second of all I’m in my mid 30s I would literally look around and realise there is no one left for me (not that I went in looking for a dating service) but for a woman hitting that age you really just start to wonder why nothing is happening and you feel like your the problem. They are all taken or too young and if I were to get baptised it’s not guaranteed I’ll meet someone so I would have to stay single until I did as witnesses only marry witnesses and if I didn’t meet anyone well then too bad for me, because Jehovah wants you to marry within the lord and stay single if you don’t meet someone for the rest of your life and don’t have sex. I don’t see how that’s normal as we all have emotional and sexual needs. Armageddon has been predicted how many times for decades on end and there’s no doubt in my mind the witnesses that have been in this 20+ years are fucking over it, I mean how much longer are we going to be sitting at Kingdom Halls waiting for paradise on earth??? I also got over the hypocrisy, not being invited to events and it being plastered all over instagram, or when I provide a service with my job and they don’t come back they can’t even be upfront with me about it and is pisses me off I put them on a pedestal when coming in the religion and now I realise not to and they should practise what they preach. Thanks for reading ✌️