RE: Ask a Former Jehovah's Witness
June 18, 2019 at 5:56 pm
(This post was last modified: June 18, 2019 at 5:56 pm by awty.)
The friend I mentioned in your intro thread went through some awful things when she left the JWs. Her mother and that whole side of the family were really deep in that faith. Her dad was not but tolerated it as far as the my friend and her siblings being forced to follow it. When my friend left she also left her JW husband and, because of the indoctrination, left her young daughter because she didn't think she had the right to take her from the JWs. She was publicly dis-fellowed. For several years she had very minimal contact with her daughter because the ex didn't allow her to be exposed to worldly things and people. When the daughter reached her early teens she spoke her mind in the courts and moved in with her mom and has since had a normal life with college, a photography business, and being part of a musical duo that performs around SC.
When my friend's grandmother was at the end of life and quite deeply into dementia my friend said that she was glad of the mental impairment because her grandmother didn't remember she had been dis-fellowed. Had the grandmother remembered my friend would not have been welcome to visit. That was one of the saddest things I have ever heard.
Early in her breaking away from the JWs she told me she didn't know what she would do if her daughter ever needed a transfusion. She still hadn't shaken off all the old 'rules'. Her younger brother had been involved in a horrible accident when he was about 19 and a transfusion was the only thing that saved him. Since their dad wasn't JW he gave his permission for the transfusion to be done. I reminded her of this and her response was that if he hadn't had that transfusion he probably wouldn't have HepC. Well, no, he'd be dead. I think that was the moment I realized how deeply ingrained the teachings were.
I watched her go through so much pain in those first few years. She had a great job and later met and married a great guy and they blended their families together and all's well in her world...but she went through hell getting to where she is now.
When my friend's grandmother was at the end of life and quite deeply into dementia my friend said that she was glad of the mental impairment because her grandmother didn't remember she had been dis-fellowed. Had the grandmother remembered my friend would not have been welcome to visit. That was one of the saddest things I have ever heard.
Early in her breaking away from the JWs she told me she didn't know what she would do if her daughter ever needed a transfusion. She still hadn't shaken off all the old 'rules'. Her younger brother had been involved in a horrible accident when he was about 19 and a transfusion was the only thing that saved him. Since their dad wasn't JW he gave his permission for the transfusion to be done. I reminded her of this and her response was that if he hadn't had that transfusion he probably wouldn't have HepC. Well, no, he'd be dead. I think that was the moment I realized how deeply ingrained the teachings were.
I watched her go through so much pain in those first few years. She had a great job and later met and married a great guy and they blended their families together and all's well in her world...but she went through hell getting to where she is now.
I'm your huckleberry.
