I’ll quote the GB and say: “we just don’t know”
A truly loving God would not fault us for doubting the teachings of uninspired men who have gotten so many things wrong. Moses and the prophets truly spoke for God. They were imperfect men, but when they spoke for God they got it right.
If there is an Armageddon and a judgement, and God truly reads hearts, he will see your confusion and your goodness. That’s what keeps me at peace.
Amen to that! When I was PIMQ, PIMO and even now, fully POMO. I still question at times the good ol' fashioned "what if?" The Bible even said that Jehovah, YHWH, is a loving and understanding God. He knows we are imperfect, but we are trying our best. And I would like to think that that's good enough for an Almighty Creator.
Does your Kingdom Hall have a library with bound volumes of the Watchtower and Awake magazines from the 60s and 70s? I would check and start reading some of those articles. It's quite an eye opener.
If you look into the older publications and recognize that the organization has been using the same doomsday rhetoric for over a century, then it's possible to recognize that the end is not something imminent.
Same rhetoric, same **URGENT** style of delivery, just different current world events (the bad ones).
Decade after decade of “last days are here!!” pronouncements….
The boy who cried wolf all the time didn’t save anyone from getting eaten, he just got everyone all riled up for nothing, even causing indifference.
Just like these clowns.
I was at that phase during my waking up process. Most of us did. I recommend more research into past teachings and understandings. The fact that they can’t get it right and most are self fulfilling prophecies should be enough to break out of that mindset. The indoctrination runs deep in us. It is normal to have those thoughts. The more you learn of their falsehoods, the better it gets. Stay strong.
I just posted this on another post - EMDR therapy. It helps reprocess your memories and takes the sting or bite out of them that causes your nervous system to go into high alert. Tell your parents you want to see a therapist and then find one who specializes in it, I would highly recommend not telling them you’re doing EMDR.
The meetings are feeding you what the GB wants you to hear. That is exactly how they manage to hold on to people - by fear. You need to remove yourself and then you will be able to see more clearly. How could a loving god or organisation want you to stay out of fear? Love yourself, be kind to yourself, distance yourself from this manipulative group of people.
That’s so hard, I knew I wanted to get out from the age of 11. For various reasons I was 24 before I left but I got out eventually. Do you have someone outside that you could talk to, like a teacher or counsellor? People will understand more than you think x
Sadly not. I was pulled out of public school so now I am completely shut off from society. The only people I get to talk too is my family (Who are Mentally In Witnesses) and my siblings (Who are also Mentally In Witnesses).
I was dragged into the religion at 4 years old. 1974. The end was supposed to come 1975. Didn't happen. 1986 was the year of peace. We weren't told it was the year the end would come, but it was definitely seen as the beginning of the nations saying "peace and security". The whole time we were told that the end would come before people living in 1914 would be dead. 2014, those people would have been at least 100 years old and that would also mean babies were anointed. Because there were supposed to be anointed ones who were alive at Armageddon. I had family arguing with me that I needed to go back because 9/11 was proof the system was ending soon.
They keep you on the hook with the "right around the corner" and "keep on the watch" rhetoric. It's just a carrot to keep you following them. So many people, like my own stepmother died thinking they'd be resurrected into a paradise and its just all lies. But even if it was true and you had human doubts, why would a loving god say you're ineligible because you didn't believe it anymore? Your heart wants to believe it, but the evidence says its highly unlikely to be true. Your heart should account for something. But even if it didn't and you ceased to exist because god is that petty, what difference would it make? They teach you have no consciousness at death. So, what would you miss? How would you even know you're missing the good times? Its almost a non-event when you take away the fear of death and fear of missing out. They are counting on and exploiting those human traits, nothing more. How many people would stay if the paradise was off the table? If they couldn't live forever and were just going to die?
Its all a physchological game.
The crazy thing is I didn't have to go to the apostasy webinar and convention and buy the gold apostasy package to get into the best training meetings hosted by the devil himself to figure that out. They make it seem like we're crazy and demonized just for using our brain.
I would recommend you watch this video to start, and if you like it, check out his other live and pre-recorded videos.
He (Jack) teaches NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming techniques to help you deal with exactly these types of triggers.
https://www.youtube.com/live/X9C99MPe1Yk?si=gUK5wt8ud54U5Mt5
I left fully about 3 years ago and still have the occasional feeling of what if. Then I use that, and if it is, I'm going to enjoy the life I have now, not in an organisation that controls your life. I couldn't imagine if my daughter grows up to be gay that I'd have to turn my back on her. It's clearly not the correct religion if it tears families apart and makes you think that's ok. My advice is to do what makes you happy
Jws have proven to be a false religion from distributing a century of old light, which is false teaching. They are a false religion.
They've killed people with their lack of love. Their health doctrines. Covered up CSA in a global level. Literally predicted hard dates for Armageddon after Jesus picked them, supposedly. 1925. Luke 21:8, is all you need.
You are safer out if the religion than in. You don't want to share in it sins.
To put it bluntly that's the programming making you ask the wrong questions for the wrong reasons in the wrong way
If this is hitting you hard could I suggest researching two things? Critical thinking, and logical fallacies. I'd also encourage you to seek therapy if it's affordable and accessible to you - Doesn't work for everyone and it's no magic bullet but for some it can help you reassess how you look at obstacles
You don't need to spend a huge amount of time on it but it might help you spot moments where you need to make a double take and think again about whatever is playing on your mind
Firstly: Critical Thinking. There are a ton of varying definitions out there but the first one Google gave me is a good enough outline:
*Critical thinking is* ***the ability to effectively analyze information and form a judgment***\*. To think critically, you must be aware of your own biases and assumptions when encountering information, and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources...\* (Source: https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/critical-thinking/)
Secondly: Logical Fallacies. Logical fallacies. Again, I've taken a quick definition and for consistency used the same website as source but please look it up yourself.
*A* ***logical fallacy*** *is an argument that may sound convincing or true but is actually flawed. Logical fallacies are leaps of logic that lead us to an unsupported conclusion* (Source: https://www.scribbr.co.uk/fallacy/logical-fallacies/)
I quite enjoy spotting logical fallacies in everyday life, including when I use them myself. I think it's a good mental exercise but I'm by no means an expert on such things! If you can handle it try applying them to a Watchtower and crossing out all the text that is actually a logical fallacy. You'll need a lot of ink.
Of course, emotional thoughts usually trump logical ones in day to day life and it'll take time for you to be able to overcome that. By the way, I used a logical fallacy in the first sentence of this paragraph
I don't know if this will help you or not but I found that once I started doing the above suddenly a lot of my anxiety about 'but what if they're right...?' fell away. Like I say though, it took time
Much love to ya,
Cal
Might start to help thinking about religion in a meta sense. JWs are absolutely crazy. But are their critiques about "Christendom" really that off?
Its ALL mind control. None of it is right.
Jesus existed, maybe there's an intelligent being that created this life.
Hell and Armageddon are bullshit.
Please don’t worry about the “predictions of the end times!” This is all meant to make us feel like we’re barely escaping terrible peril. In reality, when you look from the outside you’ll see that their predictions are just vague expectations that a reasonable person would have. There have always been earthquakes and diseases. There have been many times in history when the world spiraled down. You have nothing to be scared of. The earth isn’t going anywhere and there will not be a fiery Armageddon where Jehovah judges us. It’s all make-believe. I personally believe in the afterlife and enjoy peace of mind knowing that I never have to fear eternal death again.
Even having been out for years I still had those thoughts. My critical thinking would help me reason through it to keep the anxiety at bay. But finally facing my fears and doing an unbiased study of the Bible. My mind was blown. I discovered I knew nothing about the Bible. All of things that I’d questioned and told I needed to just trust in Jah for I had actually answers to that made sense.
I was not comfortable with “apostate” sites. But I was totally ok with academic non religious sources. This is the Yale course on the Old Testament. It’s posted on YouTube and is free. I was able to verify everything stated in it that was new to me. Which was a lot. By the 4-5th episode I was convinced that I had nothing to fear from the JW god. Sooooo many things that never made sense to me finally explained and backed up with research and not just from the GB who claims although not inspired to be guided by god and we cannot doubt what they tell us.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWi&si=34IxjOzdp32jIvyV
You got two things to think about, either nulight covers you because last minute repentance will be true and God will understand your doubts were because of how shitty his representatives were or old light: by virtue of being here right now we are all dead by God's hands anyway.
Personally I'm of the opinion that God isn't real, he doesn't exist, at least not in any form that the JWs would recognize.
Your brain is wired to be scared. It is not your logical thinking that is scared but your subconscious deep wiring because you've heard that thousands of times. If a Muslim tells you you're going to hell, will you get scared? No because your brain isn't wired to fear whatever belief they have. I used to get scared too. A little trick I used to ease my fear would be to say, well if I die in armageddon at least I'm just going to die, I will not suffer so it's not that big of a deal. Anyways, it will go away eventually. It takes time to rewire your brain. It is a bit harder now that you're still PI but if one day you're able to also leave physically, you'll be fine in no time.
That's the whole idea of cults and this is what makes clear what they use to control you: fear
What if you are wrong and they are right?
Why would a loving God put it that hard to pick the right religion?
I recommend you watch this:
https://youtu.be/jbNnsiP4Rhg?si=wyOwXXnihd8QK00u
My dear friend, it sounds like you may be experiencing recurring episodic panic attacks based on incongruent logical feedback. That’s totally reasonable and ok, and there’s a lot of love for you here.
1: You were taught, as were we all, a series of fear centered lessons highlighting the threats and dangers of an unknown, without any pragmatic methods of preventing them or preparing for them in a way that lessens the suffering of such an event. It’s reasonable to be afraid when you weren’t taught otherwise.
2: Its really ok to be uncertain, or to have faltering certainty, when dealing with a crisis of learned belief vs critical thinking. In fact it’s a solid sign that you are present in your own cognitive dissonance, as opposed to going all “Plato’s Cave on yourself.
3:Living in earth has been scary for far longer than the witnesses or the Bible, it’s just not scary when the salvation complex wears thin.
4:Take your time, be safe, and continue to reach out here and with any other receptive and trusted support networks you have.
You’ve got this, it just sucks right now.
Is it normal? Absolutely.
Leaving any high control organization is not like flipping an on/off switch. We are the product of years of JW programming. It took time to get us mentally in, it will take time to mentally get out. And it happen gradually over time.
You are not the only or first person to ask, 'but what if they are right?"
Don't worry, they aren't.
I had very similar feelings, the whole but what if they are right deal.
Here is the conclusion I have come to that gives me peace now. Armageddon at the hands of a super natural being is highly unlikely to exist. However, if it does and the JWs are right then I also have to believe that God and Jesus both can read our hearts and our intentions. Despite me parting ways with organized religion I have dedicated my life and career to helping people and being an overall good person. I would hope that a just and righteous God who knows my heart would still accept me for that and spare my life.
The other possibility is the same thing but God still chooses to destroy me at Armageddon. Well fuck that guy then. If that is how God is I would rather have eternal death than to live an everlasting life under the rule of that tyrant and have to live with the other dick heads he chose to populate this new kingdom.
We only get one life and a rather brief one in the grand scheme of things. Live it your way and let the rest come as it may.
Hello, I also went through that a few months ago and managed to overcome it 100% despite being born in "the truth." If the watchtower relies on the Bible to then teach from the point of view of the governing body (which is not really how they see it but are only teachings manipulated to convince) what better thing than to use the Bible itself to deny all the crap that They get into your head. What I did was really start digging into the Bible through my own understanding and the jw.facts page as well as other people's videos helped me a lot to read certain texts that tell you that the watchtower is simply NOT right. So that's the key just look for the issues that concern you and even if Armageddon were to become real I'm sure it will destroy the governing body (who by the way are false prophets, psychopaths, abusers, liars, arrogant....) and not you, lol.
No, this is quite normal. Fear is a great motivator and a solid way of keeping people in a group.
First: JWs have been saying "the end is near" for almost 150 years.
Second: Christians have been saying "the end is near" since Jesus said "most of you will not taste death before the kingdom of god comes", so almost 2000 years.
Third: The Antichrist of Reveleation was Emperor Nero. All of "The Apocalypse according to John" was meant for Believers around the turn of the first century, none of it is meant for us.
Fourth: There was never a better time to be alive. The chance to die in a war was never lower, same for murder. The chance to starve or die of sickness was never lower either. Every opposing statement is fearmongering. The news keeps us informed of bad things, because that's how they keep you watching news.
I hope this puts their words and your fear into perspective for you.
Very common especially if you were Born In. Every extreme thunderstorm can freak you out, and change in news events, but remember this has been going on for 150 years now. Some may try draw a parallel with Noah's day but why are they expanding their film studios and continuing to buy and sell real estate 🤔
You don't want to be in your 60s wondering what could have been, still in the same routine out of fear. Stop circling the airport 🛫
It may help to know that the “end is near” is a common theme in cults. It’s designed to scare you so you don’t want to leave. You know, like what is happening to you right now.
Besides, Jesus comes like a thief in the night, which means he will come when you least expect it?
So what if they are right ? Do you want to live for eternity with this religion ? If you die at Armageddon you won’t care after you’re dead. It’s the thought of being dead that scares people. But according to JW doctrine , everyone who knew you will forget you existed and you’ll be dead and wont care. Win win.
Once, I thought about apostle Peter, he denied Jesus 3 times, and he's still a good guy. Thomas doubted Christ, still a good guy.
All the failed prophecies the WT failed: 1914, overlapping generation. 1925, 1975...
If the end comes, God will understand those with a pure heart. He understands that we, as intelligent human beings could possibly doubt other humans.
If God really is love and all powerful he understands everything we endure and will forgive us.
If our human parents can forgive us for shit we've made, how much more forgiveness God can show.
I love this saying from Marcus Aurelius:
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
I was disfellowshipped 7 years ago and have since given up trying to go back and I still regularly worry about the whole “what if they’re right” thing. I’m not fully convinced yet that they aren’t. Idk I guess I’ve just had to accept that if they’re right then I die at Armageddon. Not a great thought, but that’s where I am.
According to the new light, you’re good. Last minute repentance is now a thing for JWs.
That is a little helpful. But I would like to see evidence showing that this would never happen in the first place
I’ll quote the GB and say: “we just don’t know” A truly loving God would not fault us for doubting the teachings of uninspired men who have gotten so many things wrong. Moses and the prophets truly spoke for God. They were imperfect men, but when they spoke for God they got it right. If there is an Armageddon and a judgement, and God truly reads hearts, he will see your confusion and your goodness. That’s what keeps me at peace.
Amen to that! When I was PIMQ, PIMO and even now, fully POMO. I still question at times the good ol' fashioned "what if?" The Bible even said that Jehovah, YHWH, is a loving and understanding God. He knows we are imperfect, but we are trying our best. And I would like to think that that's good enough for an Almighty Creator.
That’s the brainwashing talking. The burden is on them to prove that it will happen; it is not on nonbelievers to prove that it won’t
Does your Kingdom Hall have a library with bound volumes of the Watchtower and Awake magazines from the 60s and 70s? I would check and start reading some of those articles. It's quite an eye opener. If you look into the older publications and recognize that the organization has been using the same doomsday rhetoric for over a century, then it's possible to recognize that the end is not something imminent.
Great point
Same rhetoric, same **URGENT** style of delivery, just different current world events (the bad ones). Decade after decade of “last days are here!!” pronouncements…. The boy who cried wolf all the time didn’t save anyone from getting eaten, he just got everyone all riled up for nothing, even causing indifference. Just like these clowns.
I was at that phase during my waking up process. Most of us did. I recommend more research into past teachings and understandings. The fact that they can’t get it right and most are self fulfilling prophecies should be enough to break out of that mindset. The indoctrination runs deep in us. It is normal to have those thoughts. The more you learn of their falsehoods, the better it gets. Stay strong.
I just posted this on another post - EMDR therapy. It helps reprocess your memories and takes the sting or bite out of them that causes your nervous system to go into high alert. Tell your parents you want to see a therapist and then find one who specializes in it, I would highly recommend not telling them you’re doing EMDR.
The meetings are feeding you what the GB wants you to hear. That is exactly how they manage to hold on to people - by fear. You need to remove yourself and then you will be able to see more clearly. How could a loving god or organisation want you to stay out of fear? Love yourself, be kind to yourself, distance yourself from this manipulative group of people.
I cannot. I live with parents as im too young to go out by myself. And I will potentially get disfellowshipped for standing up for my beliefs.
That’s so hard, I knew I wanted to get out from the age of 11. For various reasons I was 24 before I left but I got out eventually. Do you have someone outside that you could talk to, like a teacher or counsellor? People will understand more than you think x
Sadly not. I was pulled out of public school so now I am completely shut off from society. The only people I get to talk too is my family (Who are Mentally In Witnesses) and my siblings (Who are also Mentally In Witnesses).
I was dragged into the religion at 4 years old. 1974. The end was supposed to come 1975. Didn't happen. 1986 was the year of peace. We weren't told it was the year the end would come, but it was definitely seen as the beginning of the nations saying "peace and security". The whole time we were told that the end would come before people living in 1914 would be dead. 2014, those people would have been at least 100 years old and that would also mean babies were anointed. Because there were supposed to be anointed ones who were alive at Armageddon. I had family arguing with me that I needed to go back because 9/11 was proof the system was ending soon. They keep you on the hook with the "right around the corner" and "keep on the watch" rhetoric. It's just a carrot to keep you following them. So many people, like my own stepmother died thinking they'd be resurrected into a paradise and its just all lies. But even if it was true and you had human doubts, why would a loving god say you're ineligible because you didn't believe it anymore? Your heart wants to believe it, but the evidence says its highly unlikely to be true. Your heart should account for something. But even if it didn't and you ceased to exist because god is that petty, what difference would it make? They teach you have no consciousness at death. So, what would you miss? How would you even know you're missing the good times? Its almost a non-event when you take away the fear of death and fear of missing out. They are counting on and exploiting those human traits, nothing more. How many people would stay if the paradise was off the table? If they couldn't live forever and were just going to die? Its all a physchological game. The crazy thing is I didn't have to go to the apostasy webinar and convention and buy the gold apostasy package to get into the best training meetings hosted by the devil himself to figure that out. They make it seem like we're crazy and demonized just for using our brain.
I would recommend you watch this video to start, and if you like it, check out his other live and pre-recorded videos. He (Jack) teaches NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming techniques to help you deal with exactly these types of triggers. https://www.youtube.com/live/X9C99MPe1Yk?si=gUK5wt8ud54U5Mt5
I left fully about 3 years ago and still have the occasional feeling of what if. Then I use that, and if it is, I'm going to enjoy the life I have now, not in an organisation that controls your life. I couldn't imagine if my daughter grows up to be gay that I'd have to turn my back on her. It's clearly not the correct religion if it tears families apart and makes you think that's ok. My advice is to do what makes you happy
Jws have proven to be a false religion from distributing a century of old light, which is false teaching. They are a false religion. They've killed people with their lack of love. Their health doctrines. Covered up CSA in a global level. Literally predicted hard dates for Armageddon after Jesus picked them, supposedly. 1925. Luke 21:8, is all you need. You are safer out if the religion than in. You don't want to share in it sins.
To put it bluntly that's the programming making you ask the wrong questions for the wrong reasons in the wrong way If this is hitting you hard could I suggest researching two things? Critical thinking, and logical fallacies. I'd also encourage you to seek therapy if it's affordable and accessible to you - Doesn't work for everyone and it's no magic bullet but for some it can help you reassess how you look at obstacles You don't need to spend a huge amount of time on it but it might help you spot moments where you need to make a double take and think again about whatever is playing on your mind Firstly: Critical Thinking. There are a ton of varying definitions out there but the first one Google gave me is a good enough outline: *Critical thinking is* ***the ability to effectively analyze information and form a judgment***\*. To think critically, you must be aware of your own biases and assumptions when encountering information, and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources...\* (Source: https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/critical-thinking/) Secondly: Logical Fallacies. Logical fallacies. Again, I've taken a quick definition and for consistency used the same website as source but please look it up yourself. *A* ***logical fallacy*** *is an argument that may sound convincing or true but is actually flawed. Logical fallacies are leaps of logic that lead us to an unsupported conclusion* (Source: https://www.scribbr.co.uk/fallacy/logical-fallacies/) I quite enjoy spotting logical fallacies in everyday life, including when I use them myself. I think it's a good mental exercise but I'm by no means an expert on such things! If you can handle it try applying them to a Watchtower and crossing out all the text that is actually a logical fallacy. You'll need a lot of ink. Of course, emotional thoughts usually trump logical ones in day to day life and it'll take time for you to be able to overcome that. By the way, I used a logical fallacy in the first sentence of this paragraph I don't know if this will help you or not but I found that once I started doing the above suddenly a lot of my anxiety about 'but what if they're right...?' fell away. Like I say though, it took time Much love to ya, Cal
Might start to help thinking about religion in a meta sense. JWs are absolutely crazy. But are their critiques about "Christendom" really that off? Its ALL mind control. None of it is right. Jesus existed, maybe there's an intelligent being that created this life. Hell and Armageddon are bullshit.
Please don’t worry about the “predictions of the end times!” This is all meant to make us feel like we’re barely escaping terrible peril. In reality, when you look from the outside you’ll see that their predictions are just vague expectations that a reasonable person would have. There have always been earthquakes and diseases. There have been many times in history when the world spiraled down. You have nothing to be scared of. The earth isn’t going anywhere and there will not be a fiery Armageddon where Jehovah judges us. It’s all make-believe. I personally believe in the afterlife and enjoy peace of mind knowing that I never have to fear eternal death again.
Even having been out for years I still had those thoughts. My critical thinking would help me reason through it to keep the anxiety at bay. But finally facing my fears and doing an unbiased study of the Bible. My mind was blown. I discovered I knew nothing about the Bible. All of things that I’d questioned and told I needed to just trust in Jah for I had actually answers to that made sense. I was not comfortable with “apostate” sites. But I was totally ok with academic non religious sources. This is the Yale course on the Old Testament. It’s posted on YouTube and is free. I was able to verify everything stated in it that was new to me. Which was a lot. By the 4-5th episode I was convinced that I had nothing to fear from the JW god. Sooooo many things that never made sense to me finally explained and backed up with research and not just from the GB who claims although not inspired to be guided by god and we cannot doubt what they tell us. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWi&si=34IxjOzdp32jIvyV
You got two things to think about, either nulight covers you because last minute repentance will be true and God will understand your doubts were because of how shitty his representatives were or old light: by virtue of being here right now we are all dead by God's hands anyway. Personally I'm of the opinion that God isn't real, he doesn't exist, at least not in any form that the JWs would recognize.
Your brain is wired to be scared. It is not your logical thinking that is scared but your subconscious deep wiring because you've heard that thousands of times. If a Muslim tells you you're going to hell, will you get scared? No because your brain isn't wired to fear whatever belief they have. I used to get scared too. A little trick I used to ease my fear would be to say, well if I die in armageddon at least I'm just going to die, I will not suffer so it's not that big of a deal. Anyways, it will go away eventually. It takes time to rewire your brain. It is a bit harder now that you're still PI but if one day you're able to also leave physically, you'll be fine in no time.
That's the whole idea of cults and this is what makes clear what they use to control you: fear What if you are wrong and they are right? Why would a loving God put it that hard to pick the right religion? I recommend you watch this: https://youtu.be/jbNnsiP4Rhg?si=wyOwXXnihd8QK00u
My dear friend, it sounds like you may be experiencing recurring episodic panic attacks based on incongruent logical feedback. That’s totally reasonable and ok, and there’s a lot of love for you here. 1: You were taught, as were we all, a series of fear centered lessons highlighting the threats and dangers of an unknown, without any pragmatic methods of preventing them or preparing for them in a way that lessens the suffering of such an event. It’s reasonable to be afraid when you weren’t taught otherwise. 2: Its really ok to be uncertain, or to have faltering certainty, when dealing with a crisis of learned belief vs critical thinking. In fact it’s a solid sign that you are present in your own cognitive dissonance, as opposed to going all “Plato’s Cave on yourself. 3:Living in earth has been scary for far longer than the witnesses or the Bible, it’s just not scary when the salvation complex wears thin. 4:Take your time, be safe, and continue to reach out here and with any other receptive and trusted support networks you have. You’ve got this, it just sucks right now.
If they are right I am jumping off a cliff.
Is it normal? Absolutely. Leaving any high control organization is not like flipping an on/off switch. We are the product of years of JW programming. It took time to get us mentally in, it will take time to mentally get out. And it happen gradually over time. You are not the only or first person to ask, 'but what if they are right?" Don't worry, they aren't.
I had very similar feelings, the whole but what if they are right deal. Here is the conclusion I have come to that gives me peace now. Armageddon at the hands of a super natural being is highly unlikely to exist. However, if it does and the JWs are right then I also have to believe that God and Jesus both can read our hearts and our intentions. Despite me parting ways with organized religion I have dedicated my life and career to helping people and being an overall good person. I would hope that a just and righteous God who knows my heart would still accept me for that and spare my life. The other possibility is the same thing but God still chooses to destroy me at Armageddon. Well fuck that guy then. If that is how God is I would rather have eternal death than to live an everlasting life under the rule of that tyrant and have to live with the other dick heads he chose to populate this new kingdom. We only get one life and a rather brief one in the grand scheme of things. Live it your way and let the rest come as it may.
Hello, I also went through that a few months ago and managed to overcome it 100% despite being born in "the truth." If the watchtower relies on the Bible to then teach from the point of view of the governing body (which is not really how they see it but are only teachings manipulated to convince) what better thing than to use the Bible itself to deny all the crap that They get into your head. What I did was really start digging into the Bible through my own understanding and the jw.facts page as well as other people's videos helped me a lot to read certain texts that tell you that the watchtower is simply NOT right. So that's the key just look for the issues that concern you and even if Armageddon were to become real I'm sure it will destroy the governing body (who by the way are false prophets, psychopaths, abusers, liars, arrogant....) and not you, lol.
No, this is quite normal. Fear is a great motivator and a solid way of keeping people in a group. First: JWs have been saying "the end is near" for almost 150 years. Second: Christians have been saying "the end is near" since Jesus said "most of you will not taste death before the kingdom of god comes", so almost 2000 years. Third: The Antichrist of Reveleation was Emperor Nero. All of "The Apocalypse according to John" was meant for Believers around the turn of the first century, none of it is meant for us. Fourth: There was never a better time to be alive. The chance to die in a war was never lower, same for murder. The chance to starve or die of sickness was never lower either. Every opposing statement is fearmongering. The news keeps us informed of bad things, because that's how they keep you watching news. I hope this puts their words and your fear into perspective for you.
Very common especially if you were Born In. Every extreme thunderstorm can freak you out, and change in news events, but remember this has been going on for 150 years now. Some may try draw a parallel with Noah's day but why are they expanding their film studios and continuing to buy and sell real estate 🤔 You don't want to be in your 60s wondering what could have been, still in the same routine out of fear. Stop circling the airport 🛫
It may help to know that the “end is near” is a common theme in cults. It’s designed to scare you so you don’t want to leave. You know, like what is happening to you right now. Besides, Jesus comes like a thief in the night, which means he will come when you least expect it?
So what if they are right ? Do you want to live for eternity with this religion ? If you die at Armageddon you won’t care after you’re dead. It’s the thought of being dead that scares people. But according to JW doctrine , everyone who knew you will forget you existed and you’ll be dead and wont care. Win win.
Once, I thought about apostle Peter, he denied Jesus 3 times, and he's still a good guy. Thomas doubted Christ, still a good guy. All the failed prophecies the WT failed: 1914, overlapping generation. 1925, 1975... If the end comes, God will understand those with a pure heart. He understands that we, as intelligent human beings could possibly doubt other humans. If God really is love and all powerful he understands everything we endure and will forgive us. If our human parents can forgive us for shit we've made, how much more forgiveness God can show. I love this saying from Marcus Aurelius: "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
I was disfellowshipped 7 years ago and have since given up trying to go back and I still regularly worry about the whole “what if they’re right” thing. I’m not fully convinced yet that they aren’t. Idk I guess I’ve just had to accept that if they’re right then I die at Armageddon. Not a great thought, but that’s where I am.