Comments on: Jehovah's Witnesses Hate the Smurfs

By: bonnie

bonnie — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:23:29 +0000

i left the jw's 25 years ago and have gone from being a devout jw to an atheist. i found the only way to break free from them and the bible was to go back to the beginning and debunk all that was indoctrinated into me. this is a step i find those who remain believers even after leaving the jw's or switch to another faith have not done. this is very scary to do when you first leave as you have thoughts of satan has won you over, disloyalty to jehovah and the organization, your weak,your being weeded out and a whole slew of other self loathing thoughts about your self. one day a light bulb went on and i seen it wasn't me but what i tried to make my self swallow all those years. the deliberate lies of the organization, the myths of the bible and its cruelty etc. the one positive thing that came out of leaving the jw's was critical thinking. to have a mind free to question and let the chips fall where they made is such a gift after you have been controlled all those years. of course they make independent thinking a bad thing how else would they be able to control you. my heart breaks for those still trapped and abused...to frightened and beaten down to leave. when i left there was no internet you felt alone thank goodness for the internet where you can share and learn your not alone. there is help out there.

By: Sarah Braasch

Sarah Braasch — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:35:51 +0000

Elizabeth,

Even if your mom doesn't love you, I do.

Write, please write. It is such a release. It feels so good to refuse to be ashamed and guilty and fearful and secretive anymore.

And, I think it is so important to let people know that it is not ok to turn away. It is not ok that we are condoning the horrific abuse of millions of children in the name of freedom of religion.

If every ex JW wrote his or her story, no one would be able to ignore the real Truth.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:05:48 +0000

Dear Sara, I found your blog by mere chance, sometimes, when I'm bored with work, I google the words Jehovah's Witness... as you shall see, I feel, too, that rush of adrenaline, of momentary psychotic breakdown, when the demons, and satan, and the world, will come rushing through the door (heck, through the walls ) to take over me, and all those warnings will become true. I also grew up as a JW, I remember feeling very proud in the congregation because I had been born a JW, never entered a church, never celebrated a xmas, a birthday; and, living in a very Catholic country (Mexico), I felt specially proud for not being baptized as a Catholic, unlike my older brother, whom I would mock and scorn incessantly for being so tainted, and touched by the "whore". As I read your post, I went from laughter to tears, I remember too the whole smurfs scare, and Michael Jackson. I remember reading an article in an Awake magazine that quote him saying something like he "didn't believe in occultism... some time later, when I saw the video in a cousin's house (we were not allowed to watch TV alone), I felt I had been possessed, I had nightmares for years after that, the zombies getting from under my bed, reaching for me, and I was unable to cry the name Jehovah, and thus, he could not save me; when I told this to my brother, he told me that god was not going to hear my cries for help until I talked to mom and dad and told them what had I done, I couldn't do it, I was too scared that I had committed a "sin against the holy spirit", and they would tell me I could never be forgiven. After that, I developed migraines that would leave me in bed for days, my nose would bleed nonstop for hours, the doctors had no idea what was wrong with me, then, one day, I started having nightmares about insects, I still have them sometimes, when I'm over stressed because of work. I knew that was my punishment for leaving the door open for the demons, just like the plagues for Egypt, millions of insects swarming my body... I was five or six years old. To this day, I too feel the sudden rush of anxiety, the sudden jolt, the endless insomnia at nights... I pop pills in the morning to wake up, and at night to go to sleep... Every time I hear the name MJ, I feel uncomfortable, uneasy, and the whole media frenzy around his death was... just too much for me, I would refuse to participate in the talks with friends about it. It was too close to home. My mom and brother are still active JWs, and my brother is an Elder... I haven't seen them in years, my dad and I managed to somehow get away and have a wonderful relationship, but we never talk about "it". A few months ago I received a call from my mother, every once in a while she calls to ask how I'm doing, and to tell me she loves me very much even though I have "forsaken everything that is good and holy", and that she hopes that one day i shall return home "as the prodigal... etc". This time, however, was different, first we talked for a few minutes, I told her about my garden and my cats, about a book I'm writing... and then she blurted "I just called to say that I am never going to talk to you again, since it is never a "spiritual" conversation"... I said fine and we hung up. Then I found out about the big paranoia JWs developed around the whole swine flu thing... I guess she was thinking Armageddon was next week or something. I love my mom, and wish she could love me too, but I am content with the fact that she has something in her life that gives her more love and personal satisfaction that her daughter. Sorry for leaving such a long comment, your post stirred many memories and emotions I rarely ever revisit; but this has given me the final push to do something I have been wanting to do for over ten years, ever since I got away; I'll start writing about the craziness that goes on in JWs families. The only thing that had stopped me was the thought that it could end up hurting my mom, and our already estranged relationship. I guess now that has become irrelevant. Thanks for your courageous post.

By: GaryK

GaryK — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:24:39 +0000

Sarah, wow, incredible story. I found this site because I am a Christian and was looking for a way to speak to my sister, a JW. The events you have suffered give you every reason to come to the place that you have. I'm not sure how to encourage you. Just saying, "Jesus will never abandon you," isn't enough to fully give an acknowledgement to what you have been through. The "parent" "child" relationship is supposed to be representative of the unconditional love God has for His children. That torn, through a circumstance like yours, it is an amazing hurdle, maybe. But, your instincts were right all along, and your insights very well on the mark. If you would allow it, my prayers would be for you, and those who are praying for others, too, that the Lord would help, and that He would protect and save. Your experience is distrubing, and you have come far. My care is simply, "Lord, please help this one. In Jesus name."

By: OMGF

OMGF — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:22:33 +0000

Very few atheists (here at least) would contend that there certainly is no god. So, there's no requirement, Tom, that you believe that there is no god in order to be atheist. Most of us here will tell you that there is a possibility for god or gods to exist - we simply disbelieve that any evidence has been provided for them and see no reason to believe such gods exist. If you don't believe a god exists, then you too are an atheist, whether you have doubts or not.

By: Thumpalumpacus

Thumpalumpacus — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:53:07 +0000

So I could no longer be atheist, I saw I had no proof there is no God.

The burden of evidence is on the claimant. The "evidence" you cited is not evidence; it is merely a concatenation of personal claims which, again, require evidence.

Also, are you seriously agnostic about fairies? Really?

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:15:56 +0000

As someone who was an atheist in my childhood, I know what it means to leave atheism, it is similar to leaving Jehovah's Witnesses (who were my first in-depth introduction to Christianity), or any other religion. Simply, suddenly one day you realize that your previous beliefs are unproven. So I could no longer be atheist, I saw I had no proof there is no God. And later I saw I had no proof there are no gods, leprechauns or other supernatural beings. And I might even add the unicorns that some mention here. Who knows what we will find in some remote jungle one day. Simply speaking, there is no evidence at all for the nonexistence of God or gods or fairies or sprites etc. There is some evidence some of these could exist. Some people claim to have seen them. Also some think they experienced miracles. And some have had near death experiences, including seeing some kind of a God, and seeing details of doctors operating on them, details that they could not have known otherwise. Maybe all can be explained scientifically, but we cannot know that. So I continue to consider myself an agnostic.

By: OMGF

OMGF — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:55:49 +0000

Thank you, and may I mention that I love your writing as well (I don't think I've said that yet).

By: Sarah Braasch

Sarah Braasch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:38:06 +0000

OMGF, I just visited your blog, and I love it.

By: Sarah Braasch

Sarah Braasch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:31:52 +0000

OMGF, you are probably right. I just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, because I went thru many different years long phases while tearing myself away from the JWs, and I recognized his position and arguments as mine from a bygone era of my personal development.

By: OMGF

OMGF — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:25:07 +0000

Not that it matters, but the conception I have of most deistic thought is of a god that started the universe in motion (perhaps setting up the physical laws) and then sitting back and watching it unfold. Yet, I still find that to be unjustifiable in that we have no evidence for some entity being outside of the universe and having a hand in shaping our universal laws and constants.

It's moot at this point though, because Frank the sock is gone. And, yes, I'm convinced it was a sock puppet we were talking to. Smelled like a sock, argued like a sock, used the catch-phrases like a sock, ignored objections like a sock, and all the while projected all of those things onto others...just like a sock. Then, the final flurry was precious, after Ebon explained what a few of us had been saying already (albeit certainly more precisely and in better language than I could come up with!) and it all fell on deaf ears. Oh well. Anyone who blasphemes Raptor Jesus needs to re-evaluate his life, stat.

By: Steve Bowen

Steve Bowen — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:32:23 +0000

I thought we were being very civil to Frank in the main. Although I agree with OMGF, there was a definite whiff of "sock" about.

And OMGF, we are not very far apart on the rationality of Deism. You have to define God in a very loose and ephemeral way to make any logical leap to belief and at that point why bother?