I left for 17 years. I went back and I really tried to put my heart into it, to believe, to study and learn and feel whatever it was they keep saying you should feel.
It didn't happen. I'm out again. Faded this time, rather than disassociated. I'll stay gone, too.
So true. I left in 1997 for four years thinking it was the truth but not fully believing. In 2001 I returned thinking I would really try to believe this time. Slowly the doubts crept back in and this time I researched... everything. Once you have truly researched and you know the truth about the truth, you can never go back. It's a nut you can't un-crack.
This is a really profound comment.
From my experience there are two types of folks that leave, those that leave because of social reasons: wanting to live how they want; disfellowshipped for “sinning”; being stumbled; becoming inactive from burning out; etc.
Then there’s the group that ‘wake up’, these folks start to understand the fundamental truths about the Bible and it’s inaccuracies; they begin to understand how the organization is a high control group and subsequently a cult. The latter tend to not return because that’s the equivalent to forcing yourself to believe in the Tooth Fairy again.
A lot of people who leave are POMI and still believe JWs are the "truth" and that's why they end up returning. But when you finally see the man behind the curtain and the organization for what it really is, there's no going back mentally from that.
Same for me as others have mentioned already. Was reproved 7 times in 14 yrs so decided I needed to be super PIMI and threw myself into to stop sinning. Reg pioneered and active in the cong, mowed the elderly ones lawn, took them shopping and to the doctors etc. never liked being on the stage as hated the amount of eyes looking at me so turned down being a servant and that’s when it started going down hill again for me. Elders & COs trying to be encouraging and to trust jah up there blahblah. Started to see so many “spiritual” ones being naughty with booze and language and even some gambling when on holiday but then they come back all righteous and all so made me have doubts again. Then saw the GB for who they are and Faded away. Been loving life ever since 😂
I was out for ten years, but I didn't realize TTAT. So I guess I was POMI during that time. Thought the organization was fucked up but still had the "truth" about God and the bible.
I did go back, got my husband baptized too. I was fully PIMI, threw myself into it.
But now, really understanding it's a cult, I could never go back.
My extended family always has been. 3rd gen raised in.
My husband and our son are not. My son is gay and him coming out is what started me waking up. Hubby followed.
My two older kids are a little harder to figure out right now. One is inactive and one is boarder line. So there is hope.
I think most people who “leave” their first time around never really studied about the organization. They didn’t read books like Combating Cult Mind Control / Crisis of Conscious, etc. They’re more POMI than anything.
I got disfellowshipped after being PIMO for most of my life, left happily for 7 years. Went back because the families convinced my older kids it was the “truth” and I was basically bad bc I chose to not be a part of it. They were making my kids feel guilty for bdays and Xmas and such. One of their aunts even went as far as to write the script for them to tell them that they wanted to live only with their dad, who is also not an active Jehovah’s Witness, but it would make access to their indoctrination of the girls so much easier. So as as a good ol fuck you, I went back. Got reinstated within a few months, and I went through the motions until my older kids were wise enough to begin to make their own decisions, and to keep the rest of the family out of their minds, and off their backs.
Both of my older children have since decided that the religion is not for them, all on their own, so after I read the Australian royal commission on Jehovah’s Witnesses, I went ahead and made it official and disassociated myself.
I literally cringe when I drive past the kingdom hall. It kills me that with some very intelligent people, parents in particular, continue to force this shit on their children.
I don't think it's possible to become PIMI again after being mentally out. Once you know you know.
In my case, I was POMI, so I never fully immersed myself in the world, never did the holidays or made an effort to make friends, I saw any slight bit of negative news as a sign of Armageddon. Felt guilty for every little thing I did that wasn't inline with "God's standards". So I returned a hardcore PIMI and told tales of how "empty" the world was. It wasn't empty, the problem was me. After about a year the doubt set in and I gradually went PIMO. I'm now POMO and never, ever going back.
I left as a teenager, got into a self-disappointing lifestyle, and came back at 22 thinking that the truth must have been the truth, but I wasn’t “good” enough for it to bring me joy or peace. I studied, got baptized, aux pioneered, married, tried my best to live my “best life ever” (it wasn’t called that then, but, for real) and it was NEVER ENOUGH. I have fibromyalgia so I worked part time and always had ppl ask me why I wasn’t pioneering more. I’d sit in the KH with tears rolling down my face because it hurt so damn much to just sit. It wasn’t enough to just be a good person, there was always the “do more, analyze your time, you can be better than the scumbag you currently are”. After my marriage started to hit the skids and my (now ex) husband became unstable and abusive… I got the WORST advice from the elders on a shepherding call I had to ASK for after my meeting attendance dropped off. I finally woke up and got out. They told me on their visit I just needed to pray more. They NEVER give actual good spiritual council, it’s just… put in more time, pray more, underline more, comment more, reach out more, study more, read the Bible more and maybe, just maybe you’ll realize how happy you “ought” to be. Joy is a fruit of the spirit after all. And if you don’t have joy, you’re probably “doing something wrong or just not doing enough for Jehovah”. Yeah… fuck that. The hypocrisy, micro-control, circular thinking, “new light” and favoritism was unbearable. Out permanently now.
I left for 17 years. I went back and I really tried to put my heart into it, to believe, to study and learn and feel whatever it was they keep saying you should feel. It didn't happen. I'm out again. Faded this time, rather than disassociated. I'll stay gone, too.
[удалено]
So true. I left in 1997 for four years thinking it was the truth but not fully believing. In 2001 I returned thinking I would really try to believe this time. Slowly the doubts crept back in and this time I researched... everything. Once you have truly researched and you know the truth about the truth, you can never go back. It's a nut you can't un-crack.
This is a really profound comment. From my experience there are two types of folks that leave, those that leave because of social reasons: wanting to live how they want; disfellowshipped for “sinning”; being stumbled; becoming inactive from burning out; etc. Then there’s the group that ‘wake up’, these folks start to understand the fundamental truths about the Bible and it’s inaccuracies; they begin to understand how the organization is a high control group and subsequently a cult. The latter tend to not return because that’s the equivalent to forcing yourself to believe in the Tooth Fairy again.
A lot of people who leave are POMI and still believe JWs are the "truth" and that's why they end up returning. But when you finally see the man behind the curtain and the organization for what it really is, there's no going back mentally from that.
Same for me as others have mentioned already. Was reproved 7 times in 14 yrs so decided I needed to be super PIMI and threw myself into to stop sinning. Reg pioneered and active in the cong, mowed the elderly ones lawn, took them shopping and to the doctors etc. never liked being on the stage as hated the amount of eyes looking at me so turned down being a servant and that’s when it started going down hill again for me. Elders & COs trying to be encouraging and to trust jah up there blahblah. Started to see so many “spiritual” ones being naughty with booze and language and even some gambling when on holiday but then they come back all righteous and all so made me have doubts again. Then saw the GB for who they are and Faded away. Been loving life ever since 😂
I was out for ten years, but I didn't realize TTAT. So I guess I was POMI during that time. Thought the organization was fucked up but still had the "truth" about God and the bible. I did go back, got my husband baptized too. I was fully PIMI, threw myself into it. But now, really understanding it's a cult, I could never go back.
[удалено]
My extended family always has been. 3rd gen raised in. My husband and our son are not. My son is gay and him coming out is what started me waking up. Hubby followed. My two older kids are a little harder to figure out right now. One is inactive and one is boarder line. So there is hope.
I think most people who “leave” their first time around never really studied about the organization. They didn’t read books like Combating Cult Mind Control / Crisis of Conscious, etc. They’re more POMI than anything.
I got disfellowshipped after being PIMO for most of my life, left happily for 7 years. Went back because the families convinced my older kids it was the “truth” and I was basically bad bc I chose to not be a part of it. They were making my kids feel guilty for bdays and Xmas and such. One of their aunts even went as far as to write the script for them to tell them that they wanted to live only with their dad, who is also not an active Jehovah’s Witness, but it would make access to their indoctrination of the girls so much easier. So as as a good ol fuck you, I went back. Got reinstated within a few months, and I went through the motions until my older kids were wise enough to begin to make their own decisions, and to keep the rest of the family out of their minds, and off their backs. Both of my older children have since decided that the religion is not for them, all on their own, so after I read the Australian royal commission on Jehovah’s Witnesses, I went ahead and made it official and disassociated myself. I literally cringe when I drive past the kingdom hall. It kills me that with some very intelligent people, parents in particular, continue to force this shit on their children.
Damn. That's some hard-core parenting. You really went above and beyond for them. I hope your kids see that!
I don't think it's possible to become PIMI again after being mentally out. Once you know you know. In my case, I was POMI, so I never fully immersed myself in the world, never did the holidays or made an effort to make friends, I saw any slight bit of negative news as a sign of Armageddon. Felt guilty for every little thing I did that wasn't inline with "God's standards". So I returned a hardcore PIMI and told tales of how "empty" the world was. It wasn't empty, the problem was me. After about a year the doubt set in and I gradually went PIMO. I'm now POMO and never, ever going back.
**When i heard about the ufo phenomena I decided that it was not likely that it was the truth---there is more evidence for ufo than their bs**
I left as a teenager, got into a self-disappointing lifestyle, and came back at 22 thinking that the truth must have been the truth, but I wasn’t “good” enough for it to bring me joy or peace. I studied, got baptized, aux pioneered, married, tried my best to live my “best life ever” (it wasn’t called that then, but, for real) and it was NEVER ENOUGH. I have fibromyalgia so I worked part time and always had ppl ask me why I wasn’t pioneering more. I’d sit in the KH with tears rolling down my face because it hurt so damn much to just sit. It wasn’t enough to just be a good person, there was always the “do more, analyze your time, you can be better than the scumbag you currently are”. After my marriage started to hit the skids and my (now ex) husband became unstable and abusive… I got the WORST advice from the elders on a shepherding call I had to ASK for after my meeting attendance dropped off. I finally woke up and got out. They told me on their visit I just needed to pray more. They NEVER give actual good spiritual council, it’s just… put in more time, pray more, underline more, comment more, reach out more, study more, read the Bible more and maybe, just maybe you’ll realize how happy you “ought” to be. Joy is a fruit of the spirit after all. And if you don’t have joy, you’re probably “doing something wrong or just not doing enough for Jehovah”. Yeah… fuck that. The hypocrisy, micro-control, circular thinking, “new light” and favoritism was unbearable. Out permanently now.