Why I Left - Former Elder & Pioneer
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Years ago, Kayleigh and I touched on several reasons we disassociated from the Watchtower organization, but we never went into any detail. This is me describing why an elder and former regular pioneer left the Jehovah's Witnesses. Kayleigh will make a similar video soon.
If you're new to the channel, welcome to the ExJW Family. If you're a returning visitor, welcome back and thank you again for all your support.
Hopefully this gives folks some insight into what it was like waking up as an elder. But most of all, I hope it can help someone who is going through something similar.
Good luck out there!
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Good video. What I see in a lot of exJW videos is that a lot of them have overriding anger issues for having been manipulated and mistreated. It's such an insidious thing.
It's sad that so many exJWs fall away from any faith at all due to their "discouragement" from their lived experience.
I realised not too long ago, that's it's finally time for me to start trusting people again. Don't let the organisation take that peace away from you.
💯 % agree Stephen. The problem with those ExJWs that get on TH-cam before letting go is they often feed into the mentally deranged apostate stereotype and might drive newly awakened folks away. I think faith is something some people have and some people don't, even while they are in the cult. In other words, a lot of people in there don't actually have faith, so when they leave, they stop pretending they do have faith.
This isn't the case for everyone of course, but just an observation we've made.
Unfortunately many ex jws believe that criticism of WTBTS is the same as apostasy, heresy is speaking out against a religions teaching good example would be Martin Luther and the Catholic church, Galileo was a Heretic because he taught that the earth was not the centre of the universe, so in fact the vast majority of jws are decent people who see through the WT. If only these people could realise you can believe or worship God without an organisation setting all the rules over your own lives.
This was over 27 years ago, so times change, or they don’t. I left in 1994.
I was the darling of the congregation because I came in from the world. I was assigned talks, then become a ministerial servant, then was given talks at assemblies etc. I too had to eventually fake being depressed to just get some breathing room to think.
a long time ago they made me an elder , , ha : ) , , it creeped me out , , couldn't take it , , my wife and i left after our 1st son was born , , a long time ago , , back in the 70s , , stay strong and continue to heal , , sharing your story is so important , , thank you and family ☮
Thanks for sharing your story, John. So happy you and your family escaped so long ago. We've got a lot of catching up to do, but we're getting there. Hearing you on being creeped out...that's a REALLY good way of putting it :) Appreciate the kind words!
@@vusimngomezulu2500 The "Followers of the Way", the "Nazarene", which has always been within the h-eart of all who heed the Revelation 18: 4, of getting out of it all! Which you don't get yet. But is sincere, you will, join the club of all the real truth seekers and lovers on eart-h.
Until then, shalom
@@vusimngomezulu2500 since i told you before and you didn't listen... i leave you in His capable hands sir... ask Him. He will be more than happy to show you so that you can accept the fact that He truly dwells within the h-eart of all who love His Way. His living Truth. We are one, cause HE is One!
@@vusimngomezulu2500 that's all we live for. Can't you tell already!?
@@vusimngomezulu2500 You just don't get it! There are other faiths preaching around the world. Why waste your time condemning those who left your particular faith and move on!
As an elder who is still PIMO I am living what you are describing... I really need to be careful about my step-down and exit as my family could (and probably will) make my life absolutely miserable.
I feel for you, bud. For what it's worth, hang in there. Pretending for so long was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I hope you manage to step down with trouble and can quietly slip away...or however you chose to eventually leave. Wishing you the very best on the journey. My thoughts are with you!
@@TheExjwFamily Thanks. I have a lot of support on the Discord server for PIMO and ex elders. You're always welcome to join.
if you're afraid of repercussions, it's a cult.
I am so sorry 🥺
Really important - do send your disassociation letter to as many in the congregation as possible. Biggest mistake I ever made was just sending it to elders and branch.
To be honest, I never thought of that. I shall keep it in mind if we ever speak to anyone thinking of DAing in the future. In our case, we did speak to the people we cared about and gave them a heads up. That was a strange week when a lot of strange visits and phone calls were made.
Thanks for the advice, really clever.
@@TheExjwFamily Do you know if others you have spoken to want to leave too?
That actually sounds like a pretty good strategy.
As a 'faded' baptised person which I wish to remain as my dad is an elderly strong believer and MS, isn't disassociation really just the same as disfellowshipping? I always thought such ones are treated the same way.
Wow! Good luck with everything. My husband left 30 years ago. He says it was the best thing he has ever done.
I have to say, I agree with your husband. Best thing I've ever done for sure :)
607 BCE is what woke me up! I went from a full believer to, “OMG, I’m in a cult!” in 20 min.
What a revelation, right? Talk about irony :)
607 is one thing, but making up a prophecy out of thin air in Daniel chap 4. Daniel tells Nebucadnezzar the entire prophecy, but the JWs take it further 2000 years into the future throwing in some shady math equations that they pulled out of their ass from no way, hell I could spin all kind of prophecies out of thin air...
Why did you ever believe such obvious bullshit??
@@stevem7945 I wish I knew the answer to that question.
@Greg Jacques you like your own comments desperate to score points
I left shortly after my sister left..it did not feel right having to shun her..although at the time I didnt know it was shunning I was just told I could not associate with her and to be that did not feel right...I was also not happy as a JW..I had also started talking to this world guy on line......I had stopped going to the meeting towards the end of 1997 ..the guy I had been talking to online I had been doing so since the early 1998.we met in real life March 6......by the following week we started a relationship...long story short we have been together ever since.got married in 2004 and have a 12 and 14 year old :) no regrets at all about leaving the JWs
I love your story. Thanks for sharing it. So happy you left and found love and built a family! That makes me really happy. No regrets on leaving with us either. Life is wonderful outside the JWs :)
@@TheExjwFamily thank you I am fortunate in that I have no family who are JWS so never really experienced shunning. Ironic thing is I often see JW and she says hi to me I often wonder if she would treat me different if she knew I was no longer a JW.
Love your video. My husband is Irish (Mayo) and we are Catholic although I was a born in JW. I am so glad I left and that I met my husband as he saved my life. Wishing you and your family the best.
Tell your husband we said hell from Antrim. Glad you escaped the cult and have your husband. He sounds awesome :) All the best to you guys too!
I am Catholic too
Lovely video Patrick, thanks again. My experience mirrors yours very closely, even to the extent that I too lasted just 2 years as an elder before I found TTATT. And like many others, it was researching 607 that was the lynchpin of my waking up. Once that's gone the entire house of cards comes tumbling down.
It's so true! And it's a wonder we even laster 2 years. Thank goodness we woke up and smelt the 607 coffee :D
A man made religion, inspired by a man made book, inspired by men with an intent to control.
Both appreciated this video Patrick, and can completely empathise with all if it too.
Your last comment about arriving at the meeting and thinking, “what am I doing here?” struck a resonant cord with me as well, as I’m sure it does with so many that the veil dropped for, and began to see it all for what it really is.
So great to find your channel! I really enjoyed binge-watching all the videos and wanted to thank you for sharing your experiences! I grew up in the org as well, but thankfully escaped at 17yo and the day after my high school graduation. It took more than 20 years after that for my parents to fully wake up even though they’d spent most of that 20 years as POMI. In recent years, they apologized to me for their being so blinded by Watchtower and following the elders advice when I was a child. Listening to your stories, it warms my heart to see your young, beautiful family are out of this destructive cult! It’s especially wonderful to see your children being given the chance to experience a normal childhood! One of my biggest goals I had when I was growing up was that if I ever had children, they’d never know the abusive life of a JW child! I’m thankful to say that my 3 kids, all adults now, have never set foot in a Kingdom Hall!
Anyway, I’m really happy for you and your family!!! Please continue making videos and sharing your motivating story! I wish you all the best! Hope you had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!! 🥰
Thank you for the kind words, Rachelle. I might be a little jealous that you woke up and smelt the coffee so young :) I'm sure that was really tough though, going through that as a teen. I'm glad you're parents eventually woke up too. So happy to hear your kids led lives free of the cult. Our little monsters will never set foot in a Kingdom Hall again if we can help it! Thanks for sharing your inspiring story. Happy Holidays to you and your family too! :)
Rachelle you sound like an intelligent person, I'm a little bit jealous as my wife of nearly 60 years married is still in, I've been out for some 3 years, I'm 81 years young and hope my 4 generations will wake up, but as you realise everyone has to find the TRUTH for themselves. PS. You look beautiful in your picture. Happy new year from Australia.
@@justinthyme5382 😊Thank you! I’m always excited to hear when someone has woken up! So congratulations! But it must be very difficult for you to have your wife still believing. And then four generations of family as well?! But you’re right! Each person has to wake up in their own time. At least now there’s an abundance of resources available at the click of the internet! My hope is that the more the governing body tries to convince them not to look, the more curiosity will take over! And for my youngest sister, (the last of my family still in the org), I just hope by showing her unconditional love that she will begin to see the conditional love around her! In the meantime, we need to enjoy life as much as possible! I hope you have a Happy New Year as well! (From Arizona ☀️🌴)
I wish that loving kindness extended to more than just other Jehovah's witnesses, though I am glad you received the support when you needed it. This is such an interesting story and I'm looking forward to hearing more.
Yeah, it's pity we were conditioned to be kind to other JWs...and to only show kindness to others when you had an ulterior motive...aka to convert them.
Left them 32 years ago with my 2 sons. CAN,T get enough of story,s like yours, because I stil have Loved ones that are in there and hope they will wake up to. YOU GIVE ME Hope xxxx shared it xxxxx
Hopefully your loved ones will one day see reason. We still have people in. For now, we've chosen to move on. But if they should ever leave, we'll be there for them :) Who knows what the future might hold?
Congrats on escaping. I lost everyone... friends and family. But I'm free of their lies and am still learning how to just simply live. I felt so much love toward you and your family watching this. Those who have never been a witness (I got baptized in 1994 @ age 14) don't understand, but those of us who make it out do. Happy for you guys. Peace and Love to you and yours!
I am truly sorry that you’ve lost everyone. It’s a hard path to travel. But, I am glad to hear of your freedom. We’re here for you. Peace and love right back at you friend :)
Really great video! I can't wait to hear more of your story.
Also, I'm so pleased that you all left as a family 👪 It really warms my heart 😊
That means a lot to us, thanks Jexit :) Appreciate your encouragement!
@@TheExjwFamily How are you preaching that Jehovah exist in a world that completely ignores him? How do you think your helping talking wrong against the only ones preaching he exist? You guys are against Jehovah himself, you guys are in a dark trap.
@@meyou5736 You JWs are so ignorant. Claiming that you are the only ones preaching. What a load of bullshit. Christianity has spread to all nations through preaching and started way before the JWs even existed.
@@NeatoboyAus so ignorant that we will be saved from judgement. John 5:24
Who is the Liar & the Antichrist according to John and Jesus?
1 JOHN 2:21 (..) and because no lie originates with THE TRUTH. 22 Who is the LIAR but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?.. This is the antichrist, THE ONE WHO DENIES.. the Father (JAH JEHOVAH YHWH).. and the Son (JESUS YESHUA).
PROVERBS 30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and then descended? (..) Who has established all the ends of the earth?
- WHAT IS HIS NAME - & - THE NAME OF HIS' SON -if you know?
6 Add nothing to his words, Or he will reprove you, And you will be proved a LIAR.
Who TRULY have the son, according to the son Jesus himself?
JOHN 14:24 Jesus said: Whoever does not love me does not observe my words. The word that you are hearing IS.. NOT.. MINE.., but BELONGS.. to the Father.. WHO SENT ME. John 5:24 Most truly I say to you, whoever HEARS my word and BELIEVES THE ONE WHO.. SENT.. ME (JAH YHWH) has everlasting life, and he DOES NOT COME INTO JUDGEMENT but has passed over from death to life.
I've seen a few nice & humble elders but there's a lot of egotistical elders, including my sister husband.
100% I was fortunate to work with mainly nice elders, but there were definitely a few nut jobs in the mix. Got some serious stories about those, that's for sure. Most men can't handle that kind of power. Either they keep it in a box or it goes to their heads.
Many are just as you say egotistical. After 25 years serving I noticed if you had a problem with one eventually you had a problem with all. They will never admit to your being righteous.It is very much a breeding ground for narcissistic men who overlook their own sins while judging others harshly for theirs.HIPPOCRITES!!!!!
Enjoyed hearing your views as an Irishman. My family served there briefly in the late 80's and noticed that most in the congregation weren't Irish. I loved the Irish and their culture - their hospitality and love of life. And yes, the Irish would give you the shirt off their back, even if they were so poor shirt had holes in it. It was quite moving. Proud of my Irish ancestry now that I'm an exJW ;-)
Glad it wasn't just me :D I do think we're a little special people tucked away in the corner of the Atlantic. But then I might be biased haha. Love your Celtic-inspired username! It's great what you can be proud of once the veil is lifted.
@@TheExjwFamily Indeed! Boadicea was a badass. :-) Great to hear your story Brother! I agree with you and your wife's observation, that JWs hate kids. I'm so glad I didn't listen to that rhetoric and had a housefull. Their awakening led to mine and hubby's.
She truly was a badass. I had an artist's rendition of her as my desktop screen for so long. She's one of my inspiration. I was obsessed with the song Enya did about here for a long time ha! Here's to our children! :)
I'm glad the younger Irish are now moving away from Catholicism just a little bit more with each passing year
Boadicea - St. Patrick's Day is coming up, the Irish do have a reputation as fun-loving people.
Thanks for your experience in thats cult is very important to us hear to advice and people knows whats is happening into there... here Gigio From Brazil
Hey Gigio. I appreciate your kind words. Also, I love your name! :)
Thank you for this video and I’m glad you got out and are now free from the cult!
Thank you Danielle :)
Excellent listening to your story.. well presented in a very human manner..I look forward to further such videos from you ..I have subscribed and hit the bell for alerts...
Thanks Ed. I really appreciate the kind words and support! :)
The real underlying problem with any religion like any and the JW`s is the recognition its finally an act of faith whether you actually believe what is written in the Bible is true in the first place and simply cannot verify in a real world ~~ and gives the religion a license to interprete the way it wants ~~ and becomes judgemental
Definitely. And it's very dangerous to let any group hold that kind of power over you.
Just watched your wife & thought that was pretty compelling now I have just watched yours. Wow! You're right, you are good at public speaking! Well condensed, well presented story of your escape from JW. I am an exjw who really gets better from hearing differnt people leaving perspective. Sounds like you have plenty more to say & plenty more help to give! Really useful & enjoyable!
Thanks, Gary. I don't consider myself a good speaker currently. It's been a long time since I've practiced, so I appreciate that. I'm glad you got some use out of our videos. It they help folks even just a tiny bit, that makes us very happy. Thanks for sharing :)
You know you are in a cult when you have to fake depression to cope with the effects of leaving.
So true. It was soul destroying. But glad to leave that and the cult in the past :)
Thank you for sharing your story. I really appreciated how you told your story and I admire you for your bravery. I know it's not easy but you will be better for it!
Thank you, Kelly. We're getting there :)
Thankyou for this share..im at present fading as an xjw now 4 yrs later so relieved i managed to get away from an organisation which causes such damage and rips families apart.
I was introduced to the jw community as being placed by the local authority here in the uk into a back then Jehovah's witness foster family.
My natural family are Irish with strong Catholic roots so to place me as a innocent child of 6 into a back then Jehovah's witness foster family was so detrimental to my life.
As an adult now fading from the cults ideology and damage i realise how i actually lost my true identity in the Irish community this is something i still struggle with these days..no organisation manmade has any right to deny any person this in their life thsts cults ideology and damage is so vile its ripped off families and cost many their life.
Had i not been strong and determined id have never got away yet i did flee domestic violence in the cult eventually in 2018 after 3 previous attempts.
I was also a regular pioneer so now i use my skills to unwitness so as to help prevent further live's being damaged by this vulgarity of 8 imbeciles who are costing countless live's misery globally.
Thankyou for your share as my ex father-in-law is a long standing elder who has committed many vile CRIME'S yet is protected by the so called high society that protects to cover up such vile despicable CRIME'S.
Lifelong atheist here. I watch these type of videos with fascinated horror as I genuinely try to understand how intelligent people can buy in to this bullshit. Interesting that so few JWs in Ireland are Irish.
I used to wonder this too. One of my friends who is still in the cult is one of the smartest people I've ever known. But then I remember, it has nothing to do with intelligence. You can try reasoning with these people all day long but even the best logic will get you nowhere. You have to strike them on an emotional level because that's where they're being controlled.
We've got a video planned on how to wake people up and it discusses this in some detail. But it won't be ready for while.
The so few JW in Ireland being Irish thing always baffled me when I was in the cult.
A lot of JWs, myself included, were born into it so your whole ideological and social framework was built into your mind at a young age. It can take a lot to break through that. It sometimes reminds me of the Matrix movie but it’s tougher than just taking a red pill.
Yeah because atheists don’t have no BS.
LoL. Too funny
Same way you believe the fairy tale that a frog turns into a prince.
I’ve noticed the first thing men who escape the JWs do is grow a beard 🤣
Haha it's all those years of beard suppression! :D
@@TheExjwFamily - Maybe it is like being the classic " Wise Man " who sports a beard & live up on a hill - who everyone seeks for advice!
Yeah, Like EVERY SINGLE Bible character in the magazines. Search out why we (they)stopped. Because we used too. 🤣🤣🤣
Which to me is such a stupid rule. It always felt so totalitarian to me and it was the beginning of my doubts because it was so stupid. How can it be bad if that's how Jehovah MADE men!? Stupid
I had a beautiful beard before I left . I still do
You are right about Irish people being stubborn and wise! My mom Who Is Irish never was interested in knowing about the JW Org. / Bible translation no matter how much I preached to her. She told me that her mom( my Irish grandma) had a bad experience at her door with a male jw preaching to her. He stick his foot between the Door not letting her close It because she wasn't interested. My mom remembered that and I must admit she Is very good at analysing people and revealing the true Person behind the Mask. It took me 28 Years to wake up from this cult! I was groomed very well through the cult's use of fear and manipulation. No religion or cult Will do this to me again! Christ Is the Way and Christ has freed me!
Thanks for sharing your experience Maria, and your mother's story. We have heard many similar stories. Putting one's foot in the door was often worn as a badge of pride. How arrogant and rude, though! Glad you're out :)
Your exactly right Fear and Manipulation..Im glad I left over 40 years ago Stayed in it for 10 years .I have so many regrets even going down that path .but with God's helped I moved along I didn't let this organization shake my faith.
My parents were strong and most important HONEST.
Thanks mom and dad, you were the best.
I have never bought any of the BULLSHIT THAT RELIGION IS COMPOSED OFF.
THANKS MOM AND DAD.
I have grown up to be a good person, hard working, caring and loving and in love with my grandchildren.
WHO NEEDS ANY GODS, GODS ARE WORTHLESS, PILES OF BULLSHIT.
Thanks for sharing some of your story. Interesting to hear a new perspective. Looking forward to hearing more from you. 👋
What a beautiful family you have. Best to you and yours in the new year.
Thank you, Fran. And the same to you :)
Thank you friend you were very honest in you conversation, I agree totally with your opinion, I wish you the best for you and your family and thank you for sharing you experience.
You and your family, have found even more family. Thank-you for sharing your hearts.
I can assure you, we're sharing ours,... right back at you. 😊💞
This is such a kind comment, thank you 🙂
Love hearing your story, Patrick
Thanks, Matt. Hope you're keeping well!
Thanks for making this video, I'm glad you got out!
My hairdresser has been sucked into this cult. She was ripe for harvesting, being widowed at a young age, and having no family.
Oh dear, that's terrible. Further proof that they prey on the vulnerable. Hopefully she wakes up one day. It's sad when folks loose so much of their life to the cult.
@@TheExjwFamily I try to steer her away from it, but she is at the ‘honeymoon’ phase, where she is receiving lots of apparent love and support from them. She shows me pamphlets occasionally. I have never read such puerile crap or seen such dreadful illustrations, and am astonished at the cheap paper they are printed on! I’ve known her for over 20 years and will always listen and be there for her when it all goes belly up. Which it will.
Be HAPPY and REJOICE that you left the Watchtower!
BE HAPPY👍👍😇👍👍
I'm very happy, thank you :)
@@TheExjwFamily ---- I'm HAPPY too!
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Luke 6:22-23
HAPPY are YOU whenever men hate YOU, and whenever they exclude YOU and reproach YOU and cast out YOUR name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man. 23 Rejoice in that day
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[NAME OF PERSON] is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses ---->> cast out YOUR NAME as wicked
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What Jesus Christ said would happen, is really happening!
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Reminds me of that Happy music video the bethalites at Brooklyn and Watchower farms created. If only JWs really were that happy. Take care, buddy.
Did you here of the punch drunk oriental who's Father suffered with dysentery,
HE WAS A SLAP HAPPY JAPPY, WITH A CRAP HAPPY PAPPY. keep smiling folks.
I have family and friends in the organization I sometimes on special occasion go to meeting assembly and do attend the memorial every year but that is as far as I’m willing to go and as much as they are trying I will never CONVERT love my faith and freedom to much
Thanks for sharing your story, glad I found your channel ☺️ and glad I subscribed.
An Irish exjw channel I think I am going to cry. This is a needed channel.
Haha, thanks buddy! We do seem to be few and far between :)
@@TheExjwFamily Amen And Amen ❤
I dont give elders any credit or leeway, they are responsible for perpetuating the lie
I think a little bit of understanding goes a long way when curious eyes "stumble upon" your videos.
Millions Now Living Will Never Die
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You positively will not die
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The operation of Satan!
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2 Thessalonians 2:11
So that is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing THE LIE.
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But hey, all those millions are now dead!
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Isaiah 28:18
And YOUR covenant with Death will certainly be dissolved, and that vision of YOURS with She´ol will not stand.
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I'm glad you could join the apostates on this channel, brother. Keep up the good work!
They are the ones whose minds have somehow been corrupted by Satan!
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2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, YOUR MINDS MIGHT BE CORRUPTED away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ.
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Millions Now Living Will Never Die
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You positively will not die.
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With the overlapping generation doctrine they are now simply carrying on with THE LIE.
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Revelation 21:27
But anything not sacred and anyone that carries on a disgusting thing ** AND A LIE ** will in no way enter into it;
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Projection at its finest.
I,'ve been trying to wake up my beautiful pimi wife Nicole for the last 3 years I don,t want Nicole to lose her friends and family but do want Nicole to know the deceptive nature of the Watch Tower how she's been mislead. I try to show her videos on the 600 year Catholic Inquisition and Scientology how Watch Tower is so similar . I,m a born again atheist auxiliary apostate we still love each other after 24years of marriage. Justin porter ex jw
Sorry to hear your wife is still in, brother. It can be a real tug of war. I hope she wakes up one day soon. We've planned a video on how to wake up loved ones up. Not that we're experts, but maybe some of it will resonate with people and help them wake folks up. Good luck on your journey. Our thoughts are with you, for what it's worth.
Hi Justin, my name is just in time, you see I'm 81 years young, and was a jw for 46 years and woke up by research on the internet, ie. Child sex abuse cover ups, UN hypocrisy, I like you am married (60 years this year)and my wife and 4 generations are still in, I've never been disfellowshiped and obviously don't want to lose any of my family, but over the last 3 years I've slowly been able to open up my wife's eyes you of course know the challenges involved. So hopefully with my remaining time my family will SEE the TRUTH about the truth. I chose the name just in time as it seemed appropriate, PS I have tried to keep my sense of humour in this TIME OF THE END. Bye from Australia 😇😎🦘
The Borg makes its members feel important when given positions like elder, MS, pioneer, which in the real world mean absolutely nothing (dangling a carrot at a cow). It is nothing but a power trip & a cheeky control mechanism. I am glad that you got the guts to leave the cult. Be blessed.
On a light touch, I enjoy your Irish accent.
True. One might say it's even a picture of a carrot and not a real carrot. Thanks for the kind words :) Sometimes I wonder if folks can even understand the accent haha
I haven't answered the front door in over ten years . . . at least not without a gun in my hand. With the advent of cell phones, there's no reason for unannounced visits.
Haha I like your style, Clayton. Cheers. Paddy :)
My family just disassociated ourselves on January 2,2022. We knew that they would announce it as so and so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses, We had done nothing wrong scripturally. We no longer agreed with the inaccurate teachings, and could no longer consider ourselves Jehovah's Witnesses (as well as had many issues with the organization itself). My husband, adult son, and I still consider ourselves followers of Christ who love God and trust the Bible. We sent our letters to the elders on Sunday evening, then sent the same letter to the entire congregation via email on Monday evening. I'm sure not everybody read each of our letters. The elders may have blasted out an email once someone called them about the email they just received, and warned people to not read an email from us. Regardless, enough people will know that we left, not were removed for sin. I'm sure the elders were upset, probably angry, that we sent the letter to everyone. We believe we have the right, as well as the people in the congregation, for the truth of our leaving be known. Others have taken our notices in the newspaper or sent a group text.
Wow, that is so recent Michelle. Well done on leaving and standing up for your beliefs. Good call sending a letter around to everyone beforehand to ensure at least some know your real reason for leaving. Someone mentioned this to us recently, and we hadn't thought about it when we disassociated. But we also didn't really care at that point. We were just happy to leave after having to put up with so much for so long. Happy freedom to you all!
my dad thinks I'm mentally diseased. it's rough...
Sorry to hear, Marv. A lot of people think the same about us. For what it's worth, you're not alone.
@@TheExjwFamily thank you. I appreciate it.
You are certainly not alone. ❤️
My mum thinks same about me for taking a walk, a former examplary and zealous Ministerial Servant. Just hope one day I'll sum up the courage to do a youtube video of my experience.
@@adigboloja so sorry to hear that. it's so hard when family just doesn't see your perspective
A lie for any reason has the same punishment as a habitual liar.
It says over 100 times in his word GOD HATES A LIE. Love you brother
"For One is your Teacher, The Christ" -Jesus.
Good man. I grew up in England (1960s) in a JW household in a working-class industrial city. Frankly, I was never a JW and started to ask a lot of pertinent questions at the age of eight. Even then the teachings seemed simplistic and trite and no one could give me satisfactory answers. I'm sure you can guess what happened from there....... But I was born with a stubborn (nay, obdurate) nature and would not relent. I still bear psychological and physical scars. I met one of my tormenters once when I was 19. We were alone and after our deep theological discussion, he developed a limp and a speech impediment. Yahweh certainly moves in mysterious ways. Flaxen Saxon.
I left 24 years ago what made me leave was the fact they believe that only Jws would get life and the bread and wine not be able to partake and Jesus died for the sins of mankind and said as often as you do this you keep proclaiming my death till i return there was to much false doctrine and i believe the truth is able to withstand scrutinity so why can't we tell each other the reason we left
Hi there Paddy an Katie love your guys story and sharing with us your experience with waking up to the JW watchtower cult I have really enjoyed your videos
Thank you for watching them, Peter.
King David did something similar in feigning madness to escape his enemies. So you are in good company.
Jehovah God loves Us!
We have to respect decision of people..left
Your decision is your Choice..i know the truth..and you❤
If JWs respect why people leave, then why are they treated as dead and shunned? What a disgusting Cult you are part of!
Being an elder is like full time job. It is very tasking. Even worse when you are a family man
I met an English JW woman who told me she moved here to "convert the Irish" . I told her that had been tried before and had been one cause of 800 years of conflict
Ive always wanted to dissociate but i would want every congregation member to know why...sickening that the elders would never be honest with that. So whats the point....
Very true. I think we'll make a video on our decision to DA versus Fade some day. For us, we just wanted to cut all ties permanently. We didn't, and don't, care what anyone still inside thought. It has worked a charm :)
Someone else commented on this video that you should send disassociation letters to everyone in the congregation. I think that’s kind of a brilliant idea. It lets you control the narrative, not them.
@@schleprock000 I think that's an excellent idea I'm sure many have done that. I never thought I would say it's the most dishonest religion out there. The publishers are good people the leaders are wretched
Good candid discussion. I enjoyed listening to your story. I can relate to a lot of what you say. I was an elder and pioneer in Co Armagh. We would know a few people in common. We could have a good gossip about COs abd DOs. Did you ever think that Ewan Watt was the most insincere brother ever? And all those English elders who were missfits in their home congregations and then came to Ireland to sort out the "paddies" I'm looking forward to hearing more from you and your wife.
Insincere. That's one way of putting it. And so true about the English elders coming to sort out the paddies ha! That was very much the feel when I was still in and I'm sure things haven't changed much...apart from all the special pioneers no longer getting paid and moving back to wherever they came from.
@@TheExjwFamily Maybe we could do a Zoom meeting sometime
Cult life. It's real and not good.
Agreed!
thanks for sharing!
Excellent video! Thank you very much!
Thanks for the video.
Thanks for being here, bud!
Most persons on TH-cam who have left the watchtower have admitted they hated the field service. Am I correct to think you enjoyed knocking on peoples doors? If this is true, can you do a video explaining why, with some of your most positive experiences. I think the JWs is a horrible organization but with a few positives and I appreciate hearing and knowing both the bad and the good in everything. If you consider this a bad idea please ignore my request. Anyway I do thank you for this video.
So true buddy! And thank you :)
❤ Thanks again for your video. I’m glad that you are free to serve the living God and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus to the world ❤ I’m from the south east of Ireland and I was born a Catholic but now I’m a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and making other disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ forevermore ❤ I’ve subscribed to your TH-cam channel
You seem like a cool guy! I wish you all the best man!
Three weeks ago a JW called me to have a chat because door to door was prohibited because of the pandemic so 20 minutes into the call he kept saying over and over that no other religion preaches the truth to which i replied i was never interested in joining or attending a service as a guest. I have my own beliefs and no JW was going to make me change sides. I havent heard from him since. The sad part is hes a friend and his wife and i went to school together. I guess in their own mind i wasn't someone who could be swayed.
Great Video, I have strong family ties with this organisation although I'm not a member & never have been as an adult. This is mainly down to my mindset, I don't like people making decisions for me, I use to be a manager & what I enjoyed about that was being sble to make my own rules. Ive always been this way, for instance I don't smoke because I don't like it not because someone requests me not to do it & applies to everything, I'm not a big fan of being dictated to in any way shape or form. On another note my mother's family "Sheerans" descended from Ireland & my mother's told me many times that when she started seeing my father & became involved with the JWs my grandfather found one of the magazines in the house & hit the roof......he instructed her never to bring those magazines into the house again due to his beliefs, principles & Catholic roots.
In my days, it was publicly announced from the platform that I D/A myself.
The shortest letter I've ✉ ever wrote. For the congregation: I was worse than someone who "made" a mistake, I rejected "the truth " being born-in... I was like: no thanks 😒//no return. I know that it is a cult, thanks but I will pass and go 🚶♀️ 😄. I was young and they didn't allow themselves a question. In their heads, they thought that I left to go and be the worst sinner of the world 🌎 🎶... got kicked out the day before I turned 18. Not a dime in my pockets, just a backpack. This was in 1985... Maybe is it different today 🤔 probably internet is a big helper now.!?
Nice to see your family saved 😊
Yeah, at least DF people can come back. DA people have sinned against the Holy Spirit and that's so much worse haha Like it makes any difference :)
"Just get to be their friends," yep, it's weird how WT tries to stay covert, but makes 5 year olds tell their teachers, "I'm a Jehovah's Witness "
They do have a lot of double standards ha
Every time I see a video of a former elder I wonder how many judicial committees they had been on and how many people they had a hand in disfellowshipping
Great video. Thank you
Hey there welcome!! Love your channel
Thank you, Wendi. Welcome to you too :)
New subscriber - Taking Irish Gaelic - excellent analysis!
There is no love when the crunch comes
It's sad but true.
Unfortunately the crunch comes so regularly.
"What Freud said about the "Irish" is that they're the only people impervious to psychoanalysis."
- Collin Sullivan
The Departed
That is such an accurate quote!
Enjoyabe video, please keep making more.
Thank you, Lily. We will try :)
Thank you for your courage God bless you and help you heal.
Thank you, and God bless you too!
Giving that Memorial Talk would of been Brutal Torture.
I left as soon as I learnt the Official Teaching of Watchtower is Jesus is not the Mediator for all men to Jehovah.
Thanks for your video
Thank you for watching, bud.
Congratulations on being able to wake up your wife. That is a really tough balancing act and very hard to pull off. All the best.
Love you and your wife’s videos.
That's very kind, thank you :)
Well said, the lrish are not easily hoodwinked ......
i love your videos your speaking really we on TH-cam ☺👍
I am Irish ☘️ can’t wait to see ur next vid on how to hit them at the heart ❤️ strings
Hey Summer! Great to hear from another Irish person :) We've lined up a few videos in the vein so they should be up in Jan some time :)
Thank you
And thank YOU! :)
♥️♥️
Very interesting inside information. !
What does 607 have to do with anything? Am I missing something? Don’t know if you explained it in the video mate.
It’s been a while for me, but I’ll try to give you the brief overview of what the significance of 607 is;
607 BC, as well as 1914, are cornerstone years for much of the Watchtower’s theology. Firstly , they claim that Jerusalem was destroyed to complete desolation in 607, which is unsupported by any historical evidence. Then they use the “Seven Times” mentioned in Daniel 4, not only as an end times prophecy, but to conclude that seven times is equal to 2520 years. They add that 2520 years to 607 to get to the year 1914.
So 1914 was supposed to be Armageddon or the end of the world. This was later revised it to the “beginning of the end” times. And since the second coming of Christ didn’t happen as expected in 1914, they then claimed that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914. He also began ruling then and examining all the earth’s religions. And in 1918, Jesus chose the Watchtower Society/Jehovah’s Witnesses (actually called the Bible Students at the time) as the sole means of salvation when Armageddon finally comes.
I don’t recall why it took 4 years to choose them though. Many years ago, I studied this in depth to try to make it make sense and I fact-checked their references used for 607 and all the historical records show that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587/586 BC. It was actually impressive to see how many records there are and how carefully detailed the historical records are from that time! All the way down to business/banking records that have no influence in deciphering biblical texts. And still, there’s nothing to point to 607. And then you can decide for yourself if the verses from Daniel are even meant to have meaning beyond what’s written to include end times prophecy. And then somehow connect it with the destruction of Jerusalem? It just didn’t add up for me.
I hope this confusing explanation helps! LOL 😂 There’s an excellent article on jwfacts.com that explains it much better than I can! They also include all the references directly quoted from the Watchtower publications if you’re interested. ☺️
@@rachelle2032 that's an excellent summary, lovely job. This was the lynchpin in my waking up. And as you say, it's a cornerstone belief, so once that's gone much or the rest of it collapses too
I couldn't possibly say it any better than Rachelle. They way I look at it, Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs is like a three-legged stool. Take one of them away and the whole thing falls over. Doctrine is one of those legs. When I realized the truth about 607, that stool leg snapped.
I agree with Truth Seeker. Great summary. And gotta love jwfacts.com What a great site :)
@@rachelle2032 Wow perfect explanation. I don’t think most of jw can even explain about these, they just read from the book and think they understand it, and I was one of um! Ugh!
I’m so glad you mentioned that some of the people were good. I was born and raised JW. My dad was a ministerial servant for decades. I was a full time pioneer and gave many demonstrations at assemblies. It was all I ever knew. There were plenty of wonderful people there so it pains me when others talk about JWs as if they’re all horrible monsters. But even so, it was eye opening to hear how you talked about them. Praising their kindness while also acknowledging how complicit they were in perpetrating lies. I’ve tried to explain the dichotomy to others but couldn’t get it across as succinctly as you did. I haven’t been to a meeting in over 10 years now but I never formally disassociated myself. I think I’m just now really letting go of those last lingering ties to the faith.
Yeah, I think it's easy to forget that we were all Jehovah's Witnesses at one point...and the tendency to conflate the actions of the organization with the actions of its members is real.
It is very tricky to disconnect those things since the members support the horrible directives of the organization whether that be through action or inaction. But the reality is, these people are indoctrinated. They are literally being mind controlled and they don't even know it. That does not make them bad people. It's challenging even for someone who gives this a great deal of thought to process the dichotomy. We still wrestle with it. In some ways, humans are a lot more complex than we would like to admit.
Glad to hear that you're beginning to let go or some of the ties. It can be difficult!
Min 5:50 Remember that Ireland voted for legalized gay marriage, and, ALSO legalization for women to control their own bodies by popular referendum.
Yup. That was in part a result of the flashback against the conservatism of the Catholic Church. How quickly their power ebbed away in Ireland. It's nice to see it has become much more liberal.
Their is an “evil slave” in charge. (Matt 24:48-51) He “beats the other slaves” and gets some to follow him. (Luke 12:45-48) Upon seeing the “disgusting thing” standing in the “holy place” Jesus orders you to leave and head for the mountains. He does not say listen to the “faithful slave” he says “let the reader use discernment.” (Matt 24:15) By saying this Jesus shows he is fully aware of the current situation.
We support you from philippines apostate
Thanks Shasha. We appreciate your support :)
I am guessing that CSA means Child Sexual Abuse. It will make your videos more accessible if you use the words rather than the abbreviation or at least explain the abbreviation when your first use it. Thank you for the video. It is informative.
I appreciate the feedback. It's easy to forget that no everyone has been around the term :)
Out of all the ways to leave I think is good to let that One Big mouth member know up front why and how you choose to leave so when they read you off, that is ground work laid for the others to peer in on it and not be lied to by the Borganization / elders Flags will be raised in curiosity, great vids thanks for them
He was "polishing his rod". That can only upset a disturbed god. But it can also disturb several old people not indulged enough in their youth.
@myexjwfamily I can relate to the part where you mentioned that they would spy on the Disfellowshiped. I have been ostracized, slandered and smeared, and can tell that they’re always spying on me. Can you make a video about the slander, Smear & ostracizing of some of us who leave have to endure. I have been dealing with this for 10yrs. Please help I need Ex elders to validate my experience as proof. There is a sister in Argentina who spoke out & was put in a mental institution by her witness fam & just lost her life recently. Please help. I am ostracized from my witness & non witness family, & anyone I come in contact with soon gets threatened and manipulated somehow and no longer can socialize with me. What is the point?….for me to have no support so I don’t have any other choice but return?……
Congrats on waking up. Enjoy your new found freedom.
I can't say I have any sympathy for adults who dabble in cults and believe in childish gibberish like demons and angels. Even as a child, I found this nonsense pathetic and I lost respect for the adults who truly believed it. A zero tolerance approach is best, I believe.
I appreciate where you're coming from, personally, I think life is more nuances than that. Many adults are actually just overgrown children who don't know any better. We could be here all day arguing the philosophy of that, but that's the beauty in being free of such things. You get to feel/believe what you want to feel/believe :)
@@TheExjwFamily Hell yes, I enjoy a good demon flick but I'm not sure how an educated 21st century adult can believe such mythical figures are at large in the real world. The leprechauns in my garden actually scoffed at me when I asked them if they had ever seen a demon
What's the LDC?
5:06 can you please elaborate on those things ?
I might do that in a future video.
Thank you.
I added no trespassing signs signed by the county sheriff he agreed with me. So I have cameras up. If any of them come to my door they will be id and will be arrested and charged with criminal trespassing.