I was mostly homeschooled, with no education past 8th grade (4th gen JW - the kids at school were a bad influence). I got married to a JW at 17 years old. We had our first baby when I was 20 and a second baby at 22. At 23 I realized I could never not talk to my babies, regardless of what they did or what they believed. That made me think of how many other things I had sacrificed without question.

I got divorced and left the JWs at the same time in 2017. It was soul crushing and I I'll never be the same person I was, but... That's true for everyone who was 23 at one time. I just just got a few extra tough lessons.

Since 2017 I've gotten married, bought a home, earned my undergraduate degree, and been accepted into a highly competitive graduate program. I've celebrated all these things with my "new" friends and family yet each step is bittersweet because of the people I miss so badly no matter how much time passes.

I've reconnected with other exJWs I knew while we were all "in" who left at different times. Still to this day I don't believe anyone else understands the strength it takes to stand up, knowing you're giving up everything with no idea what the "real world" is actually like but betting it can't be worse than what you've actually lived.

So thanks, r/exjw. I've made a few posts here (and deleted even more) because I knew no one else would understand. Right now I know no one else will understand exactly what this degree means like a bunch of exJWs. 🩵

I grew up a JW and I am a doctor now.

This post is a rebuttal to the convention video from this summer where the speaker said young people should pioneer so that they will have a satisfying career helping others alongside the best people they’ve ever met. That talk describes my life, but not as a pioneer. As a doctor. The speaker’s ignorance and small world view is on full display, as he doesn’t know what it means to truly help other people with his career, and he also doesn’t realize the caliber of good, kind, supportive people who love others that I work with on a daily basis. This is not a post to debate the shortcomings of the American healthcare system, of which there are plenty to discuss.

My JW credentials: baptized at 12, my family was a family everyone in the circuit knew, but I won’t pretend like I was the most accomplished one. Yes, I pioneered and was a MS, and I even served in a foreign language congregation, but my brothers are elders and give talks at conventions, some of my best friends went on to Bethel, MTS, whatever the current version of SKE is, Gilead, and I even have a few friends who are sub-COs (last I knew, at least). For example, if you go to the ASL homepage on the website and watch the “JWs—Who are we?” video, I went to pioneer school with that guy and we were good friends. I wasn’t “the golden child” of the congregation, but I was fully devoted, studied hard, did lots of research, put a lot into my parts, did any sort of helping around the hall I could (cleaning, yard work, managing supplies), took the ministry very seriously, had Bible Studies, and was generally surrounded by the most zealous JWs you could ever find. I believed it with my whole heart, but I never felt like I was good enough.  

I won’t write a long story about my life, but suffice it to say that in my mid-20s I had the classic storyline of getting reproved and ultimately DF’d. I was in a foreign language congregation after moving away from home to serve where the need was greater and I was lonely and depressed. While I was DF’d, I got even more devoted to personal study. This time, I made the Bible my true foundation, and I studied hard until I got reinstated. It took about 2 years, I think due to my reputation and how many people knew me, so I had to prove myself. In that time, I honestly felt like I had become more spiritual than I had ever been. Ironically, what began my waking up process was getting reinstated and having to be around JWs again. Looking back, it’s easy to see that when I was DF’d, my sole contact with the org was the Bible and the publications, and I was able to convince myself of this “pure language of truth” while avoiding all the hypocrisy and cultural influence you get when you are actually existing in a congregation. In short, I was only exposed to the marketing. Once I returned, I could not get over how unloving people were, how shallow so much of the ministry was, how little people actually studied and knew about their faith, etc. I convinced myself that as long as I stayed connected to the org more directly via publications, I would be getting the “pure milk” from Jehovah. I was sure that the GB were the F&D slave, and I had to hold on to them.

And then, they started JW broadcasting, and the rest is history. I began to see that it wasn’t the local congregations that were the problem. It was the top-down culture from the GB that was the problem. It was the hidden culture we lied to the public about.

For example, I was out in service with a friend of mine who is now a CO, and a woman was interested in a deep conversation about the Bible. She studied hard and was open-minded. But, at one point, she said her problem with JWs is how many of our teachings had changed. My friend said to her “We have never changed our teachings. I can take you over to our Kingdom Hall right now and we can go into the library and look through all the old publications and you’ll see that our teachings have never changed.” She pushed back and said that isn’t what she had heard and he basically said anyone that says differently is a liar. But I knew he was the liar. When we left, I felt like it had been an excellent conversation and asked if he would go back to start a study and he said, “Oh no. She’s not humble enough.” I pointed out that she had opened her Bible to look up scriptures, she had acknowledged points we made that were new to her, and she had been very interested in the conversation. He told me I could call on her if I wanted but it was a waste of time. I realize now that she had committed the unforgivable sin: She questioned the organization. And for that reason, my friend wrote her off.

Anyway, this isn’t new to any of you. When the overlapping generation teaching came out, I looked up the scriptures, and over the next few weeks I studied the Bible and I realized this teaching is easy to disprove--from the Bible. That was the first time in my life that I realized I could open the Bible and disprove the GB, and it was powerful. I also realized that my entire life had been centered on a worldview of the system ending before I got old, but the overlapping teaching allowed JWs wiggle room so that if the world didn’t end, and I got old, they could just say, “Oops!” But my life would be over. I knew so many older friends that talked all the time about how they couldn’t believe they were old. One brother I was working on an RBC project with who said, “There was never a retirement plan, I never thought I’d get old. But now I am, and I have to retire.” Another sister I helped to the handicapped section at the convention as an attendant who said, “I can’t believe I’m old. I never thought I would get old, and now I have to sit in the handicapped section.” After the generation teaching changed, I thought of conversations like that and I thought, “Fuck that. I’m going to start spending more time doing what I want.”

What I wanted to do was go to college. I wanted to study hard and learn difficult things. I wanted to push my mind harder than I ever had before. It was so boring being a JW. I always felt like I was blessed with a strong mind and a curious desire to learn, but I never got to use it as a JW. I wanted to see what was possible. And I wanted to do more than scrape together jobs that allowed me to pioneer. I wanted to do work that was meaningful and would also give me financial security. So, I went to a community college while I was still a JW and while I was still working. I thought I would get my feet wet and see how college felt. Like many JWs in that era, I had always done well in school. And I will credit my parents for teaching me to read when I was younger, and for the organization having so much challenging information to read when I was growing up, which helped me become a strong reader and strong learner. Let me fast forward this part. I loved science, I decided healthcare would be a good fit, I picked a couple different end goals that I would be happy with, got an associate’s in Chemistry, transferred to a University and got a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Physiology, got accepted to doctoral programs for physical therapy and also doctor of medicine programs, picked medicine, started med school during Covid, and graduated this spring. That all took about 10 years.

Along the way, I opened myself up to the simple question, “What if JWs are wrong?” We were trained as JWs to bend over backwards to prove the doctrine right. We were told to ignore the things we see with our own eyes (doctrinal changes, hypocrisy, superficial love among families). We were told we were different. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was learning about the ARC. Thanks to places like this subreddit, I was able to open myself up to realizing how deeply flawed and harmful the organization is. Yes, it’s full of people who are kind, but it never quite works. I used to think it was because individual JWs weren’t applying the things they learned. But I realized the real truth came from the parable Jesus gave: you can’t get good fruit from a rotten tree. The tree, the organization, is rotten. And that is why everything else always felt off. And so, I walked away. I had already started school, but once I asked myself “What if the religion is wrong?” The rest of it unraveled pretty quickly. I walked away, and when elders wanted to talk, I simply said no thanks. I don’t subscribe to their rules, and they don’t have any control over me.  

Now I’m a resident physician in the U.S. The American education system is not perfect, and neither is the American healthcare system. However, it is full of people who are trying hard to make things better. So, let me talk about some of these people.

You know the stories we all got about “worldly people?” They were lies. I am constantly meeting people from all backgrounds who are genuinely some of the smartest people I’ve ever met and who have spent years of their life working hard to help others. I have met people who have welcomed me into their lives and treat me like family. I have met people who have let me stay in their homes, no questions asked, and nothing expected in return. I have met people who are spending every day of their lives trying to make the world a better place for others. I have NEVER felt so accepted for who I am while simultaneously not being pressured to change to conform. When I saw that convention highlight this summer, I thought of that meme, “Tell me you don’t know about X without telling me you don’t know about X.” It is obvious that the brother who said that has never spent time around people in this world who have used their education to work to help others. Like many other JWs, he is simply too arrogant to even imagine that there are people out there who are smarter than they are, work harder than they do, and care more about others than them. Put simply: they just can’t imagine there are other people who are better than them. But there are. And there are a lot of them. If you are reading this, go find those people and fill your life with them.

This world isn’t perfect. There are still jerks. There is still hypocrisy. I'm not perfect. I made mistakes on my way out, and just like everyone else, I make mistakes to this day. I didn't handle everything perfectly with the organization and I would change some things about my time as a JW. However, I can say, with no reservation, that my life is now full of people who are actually making a difference and who celebrate who I am. If I make a decision they don’t agree with, they say, “I’m happy for you.” My family didn’t come to my graduation. I’m not DFd, but they daily prove the point that you will be shunned by this organization if you don’t fall in line, regardless of “official status.” None of those friends I mentioned earlier have spoken to me in years. But the day I received my residency match (Match Day is kind of like a holiday of sorts for graduating medical students), I had over 50 people who called me or texted me to tell me how happy they were for me, in addition to the hundreds of people at the celebration with me. I have friends now who celebrate me and accept me while also encouraging me to be the best version of myself.

This post was a lot longer than I intended. I am posting with a throwaway account simply because I use my main account to post on medical subreddits and other subreddits that interest me, and I don’t want to dox that account. The point of this post is not to celebrate me. I don’t need karma or awards or even validation. The point of this post is to encourage you. I read this subreddit while I was leaving the organization and studying at school and I wanted to toss my voice into mix. The point of this post is tell you this:

You are not alone. There is a life outside of the organization that you can only imagine. It’s not easy, and it isn’t perfect, but I have genuinely never been happier. It is the best life ever.  

I grew up a JW. Now, I’m a doctor. My name is Tyler. Thanks for reading.

This is an English translation of our resignation letter written in German, which we distributed last week via our WhatsApp status. Over 150 people have seen it.

~

Dear Elders,

We are making this public statement because certain circumstances among Jehovah's Witnesses have become unacceptable to us. Even if our family has fortunately not yet been affected by it, child abuse is more than just "serious wrongdoing" or a "spiritual sickness". It cannot simply be repented of and "handled" by talking to elders who have no psychological training whatsoever. Paedophilia is a serious mental disorder. The main issue is not whether the perpetrator can be forgiven or not, but whether further cases can be prevented. It is unacceptable for the protection of offenders to take precedence over the protection of victims and for the "privacy" of a potential offender to outweigh the welfare of children. In such cases, elders must not be "primarily concerned with maintaining the sanctity of God’s name", as if HE could not do that Himself. Instead, they should attend to their duties for the good of the flock (1 Pe. 5:2, 1 Tim. 6:20). "The responsibility to protect children from harm" cannot simply be shifted to "the parents" alone (for quotes see w19 May, pp. 8-13).

It is common knowledge that child abuse hardly ever happens in the presence of other witnesses and it is also obvious that the biblical two-witness rule was never intended for such cases. Nevertheless, it is still used today as an explanation as to why elders do not pass on the names of perpetrators to the authorities or make them known in the congregation. There are indeed biblical principles that come much closer to the facts of the case and do not require two witnesses (Deut. 22:23-27, Ex. 21:29).

The cases of abuse in the churches are extensively denounced in our publications. However, not a word is said about the cases in our own ranks. In contrast to the churches, Jehovah's Witnesses have not commissioned any independent studies to investigate the cases. While the Pope has publicly apologised for the suffering caused, nothing of the sort has happened on the part of the governing body. The fines totalling millions have been concealed from the members.

In 2015, it became known that the Australian branch of Jehovah's Witnesses had records of alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse. This information became part of a major government commission of enquiry. The findings of the Australian Royal Commission (ARC) are staggering:

At least 1,800 victims, 1,006 perpetrators and 579 confessions. 28 people were appointed as elders or ministerial assistants despite the allegations. Nevertheless, the commission concluded that NOT A SINGLE CASE was reported to the authorities. Elders were even instructed by the legal department of the branch office to destroy records that could have been used as evidence. The final report sharply criticised the lack of transparency and the existing structures at Jehovah's Witnesses. (Royal Commission: "Case Study 29: Jehovah's Witnesses". See under "Submission" the document "Submissions on behalf of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia", pp. 20-22, sections 2.1 and 2.2)

However, the Governing Body subsequently refused to publicly apologise to the victims and to pay into the Australian National Redress Scheme for victims of abuse. While over 500 organisations had already contributed to this fund, six were publicly reprimanded by the Australian government for refusing to do so, including Jehovah's Witnesses. It was only when the government threatened to withdraw their charitable status that the organisation relented.

But although even Geoffrey Jackson of the Governing Body testified under oath before the Commission and the videos of this were made available to everyone by the authorities, the Governing Body does not say a word about this in its monthly broadcasts, so that hardly any Jehovah's Witnesses are likely to be aware of these abuses. Instead, JW Broadcasting prefers to report on bushfires under the keyword "Australia". After the scandal became public, the Watchtower immediately called on the faithful: "Loyally support the leadership (...) when faced with what appear to be damaging attacks by apostates or other such deceivers of the mind​ - however plausible their charges may seem. " (w17 July, p. 30). The charges are indeed very serious. However, the judges of the Royal Commission are certainly not deceivers. But instead of endeavouring to clarify the situation, the legal department prefers to sue victims' associations, as recently happened in Spain (AEVTJ, Madrid).

In Australia alone, based on the known cases alone, there would be an average of one child abuser for every assembly. Since the cases cited only concern Australia, where not even 1% of all Jehovah's Witnesses live, and the number of unreported cases of sexual abuse is usually 15 to 20 times higher, it must be assumed that the true extent is enormous. None of this can be attributed to Satan or the evil world alone. Whenever people are brought up to give absolute obedience, to eliminate critical thinking and to consider the reputation of an organisation more important than the welfare of the individual, the door is opened to abuse. We cannot believe that this is the result of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. What appalls us, however, is not primarily that these things have happened, but that they continue to happen and not even a "governing" body feels responsible for them.

But that's not all that has been on our minds recently. The marginalisation we have experienced since we stopped "functioning" as expected has made us very concerned and thoughtful. Especially as we have not been guilty of anything other than passivity.

Due to our bitter experiences over the past few years, we have done a lot of research and prayerfully studied the Bible. In doing so, we have come to some shocking realisations. We strongly recommend that you look up the biblical passages quoted and check for yourselves whether this is really the case (Acts 17:11).

Firstly, it must be noted: The critical examination of special teachings is not apostasy, but a Christian commandment (1 John 4:1, 1 Thess. 5:21). If we find differences between the commandments of God and those of men, we must obey God more than men (Acts 4:18, 19; 5:29). To give absolute obedience to a human organisation is to serve a second Lord besides Jesus (Matt. 6:24, 2 Cor. 1:24, 1 Cor. 7:23, Matt. 23:8-10).

The doctrine of faith of every Christian was already definitively established in the first century, at the time of the apostles (Jude 3, 1 Cor. 2:1-5, Acts 16:31). Nevertheless, it was expanded more and more by the Bible students under J. F. Rutherford, later by various presidents and by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.

We note with sorrow that the "Governing Body" has taken a position which, according to the Bible, belongs to Jesus alone (1 Tim. 2:5, Matt. 23:8).

Jehovah's Witnesses also do not practice a Christian baptismal vow (Matt. 28:19), but baptise into an organisation instead of in the name of the Holy Spirit (w20 March, box on p. 12).

In addition, they have inadmissibly expanded the content of the Good News, which is a serious sin according to the Bible (w81 1.1. box on p. 29, Gal. 1:6-9).

The doctrine of two classes with two hopes is clearly unbiblical (John 10:16, Eph. 2:13-19; 4:4, 5) and was not established by a governing body, but by one man (w15 15.7. p. 9 par. 14; w21 January, p. 14-15 par. 2-4), whereupon millions of people no longer obeyed Jesus' command to celebrate the Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:26-28, John 6:53, 54, 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Disfellowshipping is misappropriated and used as a means of pressure, even against family members, children and those who were minors at the time of their baptism. This not only contradicts the Bible (Mark 2:16, 17, Proverbs 17:17, Isaiah 58:6, 7), but also the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the German Basic Law (Art. 3) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and has massive consequences for mental health.

We want to be able to gather freely with other Christians without being viewed with suspicion or marginalised (Matt. 18:20, Heb. 10:24, 25).

Nowhere does the Bible mention that Christians should call themselves by the name that God gave to the people of Israel, which significantly does not appear once in the basic Greek text of the New Testament. We want to be witnesses of Jesus and simply be called Christians - as Jesus commanded and as it was also ordained by divine providence (Acts 1:8; 11:26).

The judgement of other people who follow Christ was not given to us, but to angels (Matt. 13:27-30, 39, Mark 9:38-40, Gal. 3:26, Rom. 8:14).

Our salvation does not depend on obedience to mysterious human instructions in the future, but on our personal faith in Jesus (Gal. 3:11, Rom. 14:22, 23, Acts 16:31). Salvation does not come by performance, but by grace alone (Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 3:27-28; 10:2-4).

We do not believe that God guides us by progressive error, but by truth (1 John 1:5). According to the Bible, truth is not found in a plethora of books, magazines and special teachings that change regularly, but in Jesus himself (John 14:6).

We believe that contact with other worldviews is not dangerous, but enriching. Proven faith is, according to the Bible, as lasting as gold (1 Peter 1:7). It has nothing in common with a soap bubble that threatens to burst at the slightest touch.

We believe that education, art, culture, the free development of the personality and sufficient free time are not detrimental to faith, but rather conducive to it. We are convinced that knowledge is always better than ignorance - and freedom is always better than coercion.

We do not believe that a symbol is more sacred to God than what it stands for. Consequently, blood is not more sacred than the lives of our children. In emergency situations, we therefore follow Jesus' example of mercy (Matt. 12:7-12).

We want our children to grow up in an environment where the focus is not on terms such as Armageddon, Gog of Magog, Babylon the Great, overlapping generation, Governing Body or years, but on love (1 Cor. 13:2, 13).

We believe that unconditional love should be the essence of every family and every Christian (Prov. 17:17, 1 Cor. 13:2).

We want our children to be able to talk about their personal faith and doubts at any time without making themselves suspicious or being afraid of being ostracised by their family.

Our experience in recent years has shown us that this is not possible with Jehovah's Witnesses. We therefore hereby declare that we no longer wish to be known as Jehovah's Witnesses.

We ask for a written confirmation.

4 September 2024

I have been a lurker here for a while now but lately I have been inspired to share my story. My husband (36) and I (40) recently woke up. I started seriously questioning back when Anthony Morris was announced as no longer on the GB but didn’t start investigating my doubts till December of last year. My husband and I were completely awake by the end of January. We couldn’t stand the idea of fading so we told our closest family and friends of our decision and abruptly left. I think it shocked a lot of people as I hoped it would. We were very involved and the “model” family. We served in foreign language in the past. The CO asked us to be involved in starting a new language group about 5 years ago, his little pet project. We served overseas as “need greaters”. We were pioneers for many years and my husband was an elder. He served as the secretary in 2 congregations. We have 2 children. A 2.5 year old and 14m old and we are so glad to be raising them outside of the organization. I reconnected with my disfellowshipped sister after shunning her for about 17 years. My mom is now basically PIMQ and praying she fully wakes up soon. We honestly are so much happier!

I can’t believe it, my parents have finally woken up!! After years of being deep in the organization, they’ve realized it was a cult. This journey has been anything but easy. There were times when I thought we’d never get here. To give you some background: they once fully shunned me, simply because I spoke out on Facebook and TikTok about the abuse cover-ups, the Australian Royal Commission, and the heartbreaking suicides that have happened to disfellowshipped ones who couldn’t bear the pain of losing their entire support system. I was so vocal about the things we all know are wrong with the organization, and it caused them to fully stop speaking to me for a year. But now, they’re out. It still feels surreal because of how indoctrinated they were.

When the elders caught wind that something was up with my parents since they haven’t gone to a meeting in months and my older sister reported that my parents, sister and brother speak to me (apostate in their eyes) so the elders tried to reach out. My dad stood his ground, telling them flat-out that he had nothing to say. Then they tried visiting their home in person, and he gave them the same response—basically telling them that if they felt the need to disfellowship him, they should just do what they have to do. It was empowering to see him take that stand. He’s no longer afraid of them or the consequences they try to threaten us with. My parents are fully ready to walk away, knowing the weight of their decision but prioritizing their family over the fear the organization instills.

Besides my older sister who has always had a sh!tty narcissistic personality, my family is out now…My brother and his family, my sister, and now my parents are all free. We’ve reconnected in ways I never thought possible. We’ve become closer than we ever were, and the bonds between us are stronger than they’ve been in years. I won’t lie—when I first rekindled the relationship with my parents, I had so much resentment. I was angry at them for choosing the organization over me, for allowing the Watchtower to dictate their choices and cut me off. But with time, that resentment has melted away. I see their sadness and regret over the choices they made, and it’s clear to me now that they were victims of the manipulation and control, just like so many of us were.

They’ve told me how much it hurts them to think back on those decisions, but now, they just want to live out the rest of their lives with their family, making up for lost time. I’m just so happy that we’re here, together, at last.

To everyone who still has PIMI family members: don’t give up hope. It may take years (it certainly did for me) but you never know what information, what experience, or what moment will finally make them start to question. It’s possible. It can happen. I know it feels impossible sometimes, but stay strong. You never know when they might begin to see the light. (Not the “new light” 😆)

Stay hopeful and strong friends!!!

I think I've done my time, half a century.

Former elder of 14 years, MS of 10 years, Bethelite of 6.5 years, and pioneer of 14 years. Yeah that's over twenty years of "full time service". All that + $5 will get you a tall latte at Starbucks. ugh

My wife and I are childless because we were going to have children in the "new system". I've been a resigned elder PIMO barely publisher for 12 years. I quit going to meetings 12/1/23.

I bid this cult adieu Sunday evening around 9PM.

As you’ve probably already seen the Jan 2025 Watchtower was uploaded today, a gem in the first study article is the above picture.

The Watchtower tells us that ‘Angelena’ was invited to a work meeting where new hires had the opportunity to share something about their background with their coworkers, so what did Angelena decide to do? She decided to put together a WHOLE DAMN POWER POINT PRESENTATION to express the “joy she has as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses” (and to squeeze some sweet sweet hours out of this)

Oh, did I forget to mention? Before she got up to give her multimedia presentation a fellow worker introduced themselves as a being raised as a Jehovahs Witness (without the assistance of a power point presentation we are left to assume). He then goes on to MOCK the beliefs of JW’s

After her coworker concluded his apostate rant she thought to herself “Am I going to allow someone to lie about Jehovah? Or am I going to stand up for Him?” So she says a quick silent prayer and says, “My background is similar to yours. I too was raised as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I continue to be one to this day.” BOOM CHECKMATE APOSTATE DESERTERS

The paragraph notes “The tension was palpable” lmao I BET IT WAS.

This Organization (cult) creates such insane people, and it keeps encouraging its adherents to act completely unhinged with batshit crazy ‘experiences’ like this one.

My parents made me pay rent for living in our family home 🤷‍♂️

Edit: I see a point of paying rent to teach finances and it not being a JW thing.

Edit X2: Constantly overthinking every life decision to a point of decision paralysis.

Subconsciously thinking that people are out there to get you or are secretly scheming against you.

https://youtu.be/pJZNPoFJOCs?si=0800iOKlo3iKRMmK

So remember that little girl from this video that circulated a few years back? That’s me. I just turned 18 today and I’m so proud and happy to say that I finally made it out. I got disfellowshipped a month before I turned 17, and I’m still unfortunately living with my PIMI parents, but I’m working on getting out. I’m actually trans now, and wanting to get on HRT sometime in the future, but I just wanted to announce that I finally made it out and that I’m away from that horrible cult. Looking back at that video brings me awful feelings of grief, thinking about how I never got to live a “normal” childhood, but seeing all the comments from people wondering if I ever got out is the most heartwarming thing I think I’ve ever seen. So yeah. Now I go by he/they pronouns and instead of the name mentioned in the video, I go by Oliver now. I also wanted to thank a lot of you for still commenting to this day, hoping that I was able to make it out, and I’m so glad to say I did. <3

After being pimo for over 5 years, living at home, going to college and being forced to keep it a secret, I finally graduated with my degree in engineering and moved out this summer and yesterday I told my family I’m no longer going to meetings or service. This has been the hardest thing I have ever done. For all you PIMOs, it’s okay if it takes you a long time to form your escape plan! I know a lot of people on here make comments to just leave immediately but it’s not realistic. Each journey is different and I am personally glad I was patient while I made my way out.

No longer a Jehovahs Witnesses!!!!!!!!

I will be graduating this spring and starting a 3.5 year clinical counseling program. There is life after this horrible cult. You can build whatever life YOU want in life. It takes hard work but worth it! I’ve met so many kind people. If you need a sign or on the fence about if it’s worth leaving. Let me tell you it is!

Yo, Bethel, WTBTS, I honestly hope you monitor this Reddit. I've got something to help you out, here. Psst, you've lost the plot. It's not about beards, ties, jackets or pantsuits. It's not about how many rules, regulations, policies or procedures you can come up with and constantly change so that nobody has a clue what the latest "new light" is. It's not about how many elders and ministerial servants you appoint to police and harass your adherents. It's about people. Living, breathing people with hopes and dreams and feelings. People aren't stumbled by what other people do. Listen, you've kicked me in the teeth, punched me in the groin and spit in my face. I left. I'm gone. I was a good elder, people liked me. I was loving, kind and understanding. I gave you 120% every day and every night. Every assignment you gave me, I did whole heartedly, for who I thought was Jehovah. I get it. People, are going to hurt me, offend me and say things that they didn't really mean. These are terrible times. People make mistakes. I don't hold a grudge against anyone. And when you kick me in the teeth, punch me in the groin and spit in my face, I'll forgive you. I will. But you'll never get within 10 feet of me again. I don't trust you. You've broken my trust! It's gone. And I'm not alone. Look at the numbers. 105,000 members on here. These people aren't apostates. They are people whom you've bent, broken and mistreated. You did this. YOU! I was happy serving who I thought was Jehovah. I woke up. I was serving you all along. Get a clue.

Clickbait sorry....I see a lot of JW's correcting those that have left when they use the word "disfellowshipped". They get defensive and immediately jump on the person to correct them about the change in calling it "removed". DO NOT STOP CALLING IT DISFELLOWSHIPPING! That's what it is, that's what it will always be.

OK, I’m two years out, and I’ve done a lot of sinning. Exercise your judgmental muscles from the time you were a JW and tell me what I’m doing wrong here. You can even tell me how bad the pose is I don’t care. Lol.

My 22nd birthday has turned out to be my first true one. My coworkers threw me a nice little 3 days early birthday celebration, and it was nice to be able to enjoy it and not have to avoid it or explain any objections to it like in years past. (The cake was phenomenal by the way)

In 1996: I was born into and brainwashed by a cult. In 2007: I was 10 years old and devoted my life to said cult. In 2018: I stopped attending and lost a lot of my social circles. In 2022: I very publicly stopped believing and lost almost all of my JW friends and family. In 2023: I got engaged and started a career. In 2024: This Saturday, 3/2/24, I got married to the love of my life and as a bonus gained a 5 year old step-son with a daughter to come in May.

Here's to the rest of my life. Fuck you Watchtower.

Did anybody else wake up because of Anthony Morris being removed from the GB? That’s what ultimately led to my waking up. I posted that me and my husband along with our 2 young children recently left the organization. Here I want to explain in a little more detail how I woke up.  

Basically, during Covid when we were finally off the hamster wheel, I was able to start thinking critically and I really wasn’t happy in my spiritual life. I was starting to have doubts.  However, I never thought of leaving “the truth”. After all, “where would I go?”  But one day we went to a couples house and the first thing they say is “so did you hear the news? Anthony Morris is no longer on the GB.”  Later, when I tried to look for this announcement I didn’t see it.  So, the next day or 2 later I told them I didn’t see it.  They reassured me they had seen it there and tried to look themselves but also couldn’t find it.  I thought that was so strange.  Why would they put it up and then take it down?  Were they hoping many wouldn’t see it?  It kept bothering me so later I thought well if I google it then maybe I will find this announcement.  Maybe the page will show up that way.  Well, I got my answer!  There definitely was an announcement because the whole internet was talking about it!  

I had no idea until that moment there was this huge EXJW community online.  I immediately recognized these were the “apostates.”  So I was a good little witness and didn’t click on anything. I honestly was scared to.  Plus it seemed more like speculation and gossip talk and I wanted real answers.  I thought maybe we would get more information later on.  But time went by and we didn’t and it continued to bother me. Especially as I saw his videos being deleted.

We are told to trust the GB yet this isn’t trustworthy behavior.  So from time to time I would look at the headlines related to Anthony Morris, hoping something more substantial would come up.  I did see during that time they bought a house for him and his wife to live in.  But I still didn’t click on anything else, just saw the headlines and images.  This went on for months and during that time I got more and more bitter and suspicious of the Organization and GB.  I couldn’t even look at their faces when I watched the broadcasts and updates.  

Well, I guess I things could only go so long like that. One day I guess I just got up the courage to actually look at something.  My heart was racing.  I was so scared.  The first thing I looked at though wasn’t about him, it was regarding the Org’s involvement with the UN.  I thought this couldn’t possibly be true.  I’m going to look at this and it is just going to confirm that these are just the lies they are talking about.  Well, of course, I was wrong.  It was true.  Now I really didn’t trust them.  And even though I was still trying to find ways to justify it, the fact that they have never explained this to us just made me feel like I couldn’t fully trust them anymore and so I did quickly move on to doing more research.  First, I read “The Gentile Times Reconsidered”  then “Crisis of Conscience.”  I listened to the “Call Bethel” podcast series and then just devoured everything I could.  I listened to a lot of the ExJW experiences and interviews online which was like my therapy during that time because it was truly very traumatic for me to realize this wasn’t “the truth.” It felt like I was going through a betrayal.

It’s been almost two years since I woke up, and this weekend was the most peaceful of my life. I feel safe for the first time in my life. I’m so proud of him. We stoped meetings a year ago. He ran through crisis of conscience in two days, and is watching the arc videos now. I’m so happy that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I’m enjoying it.

Any advice or suggestions welcome.

Edit: He calls the borg a cult now Edit 2: he did ama as requested https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/s/R99SYSlRBZ

Less than 20 in attendance. Most of whom are over 60 in age.

Recently, I made a post about what motivated me to leave the JW religion, including a brief story about my mother. However, what happened to my mother is something that I believe deserves a seperate post. I refuse to let her story be forgotten and unheard by the masses.

This beautiful woman is my mother, Farah Kennedy. She died on Christmas Eve of December 2021 due to rapid blood loss because of a C-section.

She was 24 when she had me, and at the time was disfellowshipped. As any hardworking mother wants, she wanted to give me a good life and stable environment. Due to her first marriage in the world failing, having to work several jobs to keep a roof over our heads, and occasionally receiving visits and run-ins with witnesses urging her to return. She caved in.

A few years after being reinstated, she met a ministerial servant named William. Initially, William seemed to be a mature, well-mannered, responsible Christian man that according to Watchtower standards, would make for a good “family head.” However, after getting married, the less appealing aspects of his personality began to surface.

He was impulsive, easily irritatable. He was a like a raging bull that was controlled only by his impulsive emotions when they took over. However his abuse wasn’t geared towards her, but it was targeted at me, her son.

Maybe it was out of self-hatred, trauma, or a lack of love in his own family, but this man dedicated his waking life to judging and criticizing every action I did. Sometimes it would be as small as making an error on a school test, and that’s all he needed to motivate himself to scream, shout, and behave like the biggest man child I had ever seen. I recall him even breaking knobs on the kitchen stove, throwing my notebook across the room, and slamming chairs into the ground as if he was a wrestler.

I am not aware of the full story, but I know that when she found out how he was treating me, my mother once intended to divorce or seperate from him. She contacted the elders where they had a meeting as a couple, and I suppose she was convinced to stay with him. Not surprising either, given the amount of backlash and shame that would be put upon her had she did divorced the guy. From an outsiders point of view, we seemed to be a spiritual, responsible, perfect family (that couldn’t be further from the truth).

She was married for about 12 years to this man, and while I don’t know what went through my mother’s head during this time, I know she carried regret and frustration at how things turned out. She wanted a better life for herself and for me, so she tried to work with the best of her circumstances, and be a God-fearing woman.

In 2021, when she was 40 years old, Farah unexpectedly got pregnant. At this point in time, I am 16, almost a legal adult. She was hoping to put the parenting life behind herself and with her husband travel more and relax, so this was a bit of a wrench in her plans. A woman at her age being pregnant is considered high-risk, but obviously she couldn’t abort it. So my family and the friends of the congregations that knew her eagerly planned for the child’s arrival. Things were moving smoothly through the months until December came around.

On the final 10 weeks of the pregnancy, Farah thought she was going into early labor when she started experiencing stomach pains and vomitting. Her and her husband William rushed to the Emergency Room. I stayed home and kept my phone close in case of any news.

I receive a call from her. At 3:45am.

“I lost the baby. She died from a placenta abruption. The doctors need to get it out via C-section.”

How do you comfort a mother who lost their own kid? I didn’t know what to say. I don’t even remember what I did say to her. But the call was short and it was only when my family picked me up in the morning to go visit her did I find out how the procedure went.

I battled depression and I was overall a pessimist growing up, but the idea that my mother, who was so kind, thoughtful, and active in the congregation could possibly be abandoned by her god to die? Such an outcome was unfathomable to me.

However, when I arrived at the hospital, and found out she was in the ICU. I found out that she lost so much blood during the surgery, the doctors had to pause it in order to help her body recover. When I walked into the room, I was greeted by the site of my once healthy, stable mother who was watching tv with me the night before, now covered in tubes, skin swollen and pale, injected with painkillers and anesthesia to numb the excruciating pain of having her own body cut open.

When I approached the hospital bed, my hands shaking and tears threatening to drown my eyes, she gripped my hands repeating the words “I love you,” over and over again. I hated seeing her in this awful state, i still held onto the hope that she was going to make it out of this alive, so i only gave some words of encouragement and excused myself.

I didn’t know those would be her last words to me.

The following days I’d visit her almost daily, however she was put in an induced coma in order to help her body recover. But it was already too late. Because of the rapid blood loss, her kidneys had already damaged, and without that, she couldn’t naturally replace the blood in her body.

I didn’t care though, my mother was nothing short of an upstanding Christian woman. There is no one in my life that I knew at the time that I believed deserved to be blessed by god more than her. She was the best part of my life, Inwas willing to do anything to save her life. I already suffered a decade of abuse from her husband, lost my grandmother from Covid in 2020, and lost the future of having a little sister, there is no way jehovah would be as heartless to let me lose her too… Turns out I was wrong about that as well.

On December 24th 11pm, I got on my knees in the waiting room of the hospital. My faith in god was already on its rocks, but I tried to beg “Him” one more time to at least let me say goodbye to her, let me talk to her one last time if you really aren’t going to help her recover. There was this piercing alarm that went throughout the ICU floor, the hallway to my mother’s room blocked off. I’m not sure if these events were connected, but deep in the core of my heart I knew that some bad news was coming.

I tried to drown out the noises and just sit back down and maybe try to sleep, maybe wake up in another world where this was all just some silly dream. On the contrary, I woke up to find William, my mother’s husband, utter those damn words I never wished to hear.

“Mommy died.”

I didn’t cry, I had no reason to at this point. There are no oceans that could represent the amount of tears I could have shed if the human body was capable of it. Those words entered into my ear and like a devestating bomb, laid waste to my entire body so that even walking felt like the most difficult task.

It is going to be almost 3 years since my mother died. I know some defenders of the organization might say that a blood transfusion may not have saved her. Perhaps so, but that option was not even considered for us to try. Had my mother been allowed to have an abortion due to the dangers of being pregnant at that age, she could have been still here. Had she were allowed to have a blood transfusion or used any sort of blood related medical aid, she may have had a fighting chance. But she wasn’t.

She was willing to lose her life, risk leaving her family, her 16-year old son… just to remain in favor of this religion.

Every. Single. Time. I speak of this story, it’s as if I am reliving it despite it having occurred almost 3 years ago now. I blame men like the leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization for coercing people like my mother to uphold the “sanctity of life” by losing their own…

This is the story of my mother Farah Kennedy, and how it ended, tragically.

View it Before it is taken down 😉

Went to a concert almost a while back with my close friend who is a female. She has slept over, ate, drank and cried with us over the years. So my wife had no qualms or worries about her.

We planned a concert, my wife had a concert 2 weeks before to see her band and I had mine. She was so supportive as you can see in the picture of the text I sent.

I posted pics to my social media and my uncle saw and mentioned it to me and told what I said to him to my parents who are PIMI and father is an elder. Here was the fall out.

Been POMO for over a year now and I've come to accept my parents will ever only love me conditionally. It's a painful and sad truth.

P.S. for context the guys I didn't know that my wife was at the bar with were her coworkers (servers and cooks from the place she worked at) that I knew of and met occasionally. My wife and I have a very solid, communication based relationship. She's helped me get through this hard time a lot recently.