End of an Era - JWD will be Shutting Down
Important Update: Added January 2009 - Click Here - JWD Gives Birth to JWN
Yesterday brought with it some sad news. One of the largest ex JW community forums will be closing after more than 8 years. Thousands of former Jehovah’s Witnesses have been active members of JWD over the years, sharing experiences, encouragement and inspiration.
JWD, otherwise known as “Jehovah’s Witness Discussion Forum” holds a very special place in my heart. It was the catalyst which helped me to finally begin addressing my experiences as a child raised in the Watchtower Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Indeed, I spent many hours reading the comments and discussions before I finally worked up the courage to make my own posts. The compassion, understanding and encouragement I received from many of the members there helped me to begin the healing process. For the first time in 8 years after being disfellowshipped I realized that I was not alone; I realized that there are tens of thousands of people out there who have been through the same experiences and understand how I feel.
JWD inspired me to take things one step further and begin writing in more length - this blog is the result. Writing has been the single most important healing mechanism for me in that I have been able to put a voice to my experiences, frustrations and pain, while at the same time I realized that in a few cases this blog has inadvertantly helped others - the same way JWD helped me.
I have met many wonderful people at JWD, individuals who have helped me more than they could possibly know. I hope to stay in touch, you know who you are.
I will miss the touching and heartfelt stories shared by ex witnesses from all around the world - some experiences made me laugh, some made me cry. It has been an up-to-date resource for current events, breaking news stories and an archive of resource material. I will miss the people most of all, their compassion, their honesty and their humor.
I want to express my gratitude to the forum’s creators and mainteners. You have helped so many people over the years, I was one of them - thank you.
***
The following are excerpts from the official closure announcement:
JWD has been running continuously (with only the odd minor outage) for well over 8 years and in that time has seen tens of thousands of members submit 3 million posts and hundreds of thousands of PMs.
We started it ourselves when we were on the way out and intended it as civil, welcoming place where people could meet and discuss beliefs, their concerns and get support through what is a difficult time.
At the same time as wanting to do something good for others I also wanted to do something good for myself. I wanted to channel the hurt caused by the Watchtower society into something positive. I’ve seen people over the years that have allowed themselves to become eaten up by bitterness and desire for some sort of revenge and didn’t want to end up like that.
In hindsight, helping people is the only way to really hurt the WTS. People join the religion largely because of social factors (a few probably like the doctrines but I don’t think most ever really know what they even are!) so providing social assistance is what helps people leave. Seeing people able to leave and live a normal successful life can encourage those trapped to take steps to freedom. It is the best revenge.
I think we have largely accomplished what we set out to.
Along the way JWD has been involved in some major events in the world of JWs – the revelations about UN membership, child abuse settlements, various lawsuits, documentaries by major TV channels around the world and umpteen other causes many of which were made public or announced on here. I remember being on the phone with the producer of BBC Panorama asking about the religion and working with them to keep mention of the programme hidden until they were ready to broadcast!…
Over the years we’ve seen many people come, work through various issues and move on. Some stop around a while to help others and a few pop back to say ‘hi’ from time to time but as I’ve always said it should be the aim of every ex-JW to eventually become an ex-ex-JW. It is healthy and an indication that people are moving on and growing and that the forum is of use.
I think it is now our turn.
That doesn’t mean that it’s been an easy decision to make of course but we have been thinking about it for some time now and recent events have strengthened our resolve and confirmed that we are making the correct decision…
- Simon & Angharad
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I think I missed that part about the reasons for shutting the forum down. I really agree with the fact that it should be the goal of every ex-JW to be an ex-ex-JW. The best healing for a life in the Watchtower society is to LIVE and move on. However, some of us aren’t able to move on right this minute, but this forum was a huge stepping-stone for many.
I’ll miss it, and I’ll keep in touch with some of the others, but I think if Simon feels ready to move on, then he should. He’s been holding the door open for us these past 8 years, and now it’s high time for him to walk through it. I wish the best of luck to everyone.
I’ve visited the forum on occasion but never participated, since it seems most of the ex-JW’s on there are simply moving on to another form of Christianity… effectively going from one delusion to the next. At least that’s what I gathered from reading some of the posts there. But I suspect this is a niche that will be quickly filled by another site.
It is true that many active JW’s may not leave the organization despite their doubts, simply because they have this impression that former members are all depressed, bitter and angry people who are incapable of happiness. Like Brian says, there is a delicate balance needed between debating and helping others to escape, and just plain moving on with your own life.
I just got my computer back up yesterday, and today I’m hit with the bad news. I’ve been on again off again with JWD and linked to it from my own site. It was the only place I ever found where atheist and religious ex-Witnesses managed to play along reasonably well together. I know of nothing else that’s just as good or better.
I hope something else will rise up to take it’s place.
I will definitely miss it.
Hmmm, sad news indeed. Why do they need to remove the website in order to move on? Can they not hand it over to someone who will take care of it for the next generations of ex and questioning JWs?
I have not participated in the large exjw forum in many years. The forum I was on was the predecessor to JWD…known as H2O. It was invaluable to me, though I disliked the flame wars that occasionally erupted. The forum I use most now is a local ExJW-California Yahoo list…and ironically, it is populated mostly by evangelical converts. But we are polite and friends and get along just fine. I try to reign in my atheist side a bit there though.
The jwd shutdown did not come as a great surprise to me. I’m actually amazed it lasted this long, simply because it largely depended on one guy who ran it. Hopefully those who still depend on the board for solace, comfort, and understanding will be able to find it elsewhere.
I guess the website will morph into a “best of” archive of WT information. The forum owner will be able to reap some advertsing money to offset 8 years worth of grief. I too, was amazed at how many anti-religion types and religionists were able to have a rational dialogue on JWD forum. The forum helped me flesh out the fractured ideas I had about religion and god. I was finally able to realize that I identify with secular humanism the most. First I kicked the JW’s 20 years ago, then the Jesus myth 10 years ago and finally the notion that there is a God who is caring about what I do and hears the prayers of mortal humans.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
Thank you, Simon and Angharad for your efforts.
SInce the site is down, I am unable to get in touch with a certain member. Does anyone know how I can get in touch with AVISHAI who used to post on JWD? Thanks!
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