This month marks the one year anniversary of this blog and along with that, one year after I finally found the courage to vocalize my feelings about my experiences as a child raised to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This year, 2009, also marks my 10 year anniversary of my leaving the organization. My purpose in writing about past experiences has never been to dwell on the past but rather the opposite, I had hoped to write away my pain and put the past to rest. The humble beginnings of …

Yesterday I had a conversation with my Mom on the phone. It’s been a very long time since we last spoke. Every conversation brings mixed feelings. On one hand there is the joy of speaking with someone you miss and care about very deeply, and, on the other hand there is the frustration that comes from our separation.
I know my mother agonizes over ‘losing’ her children (since 2 out of 3 of us have left the religion) and yet she has a firm resolve and stubborn devotion to this organization, …

I’ll get to my point in a round about way here… Here’s a little bit of back story first for those of you who may be new to this blog:  I have two brothers, both younger. I was the first to move away from home, years and years ago. Recently my youngest brother, Chris, left the society and my parent’s house and has moved in with me. That leaves my other brother (we’ll call him Joe), the golden-child Ministerial Servant who has lived at home for 24 years. He’s finally …

Leaving the Watchtower
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how fortunate I am to have escaped religion in its truest sense. This isn’t just about leaving the Watchtower behind, it’s about being free of religion as a whole; escaping the guilt and the fear - and all relatively unscathed. I’ve said before that it takes a long time to become indoctrinated and I feel it’s true that it can sometimes take just as long, if not a lifetime to un-indoctrinate yourself; in my own …

A Study of Comparative Religions…
This week I was approached by an anthropologist who is doing a study of comparative religions. The study is specifically focusing on religions founded in the United States and on a broader scale - the New World. The intent is to take an in-depth look at three prominent religions founded recently in the New World: Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The goal is to discover the principle cultural motives that people have for affiliating with these organizations.
I was asked to participate in this study and …

Ask the right question…
I’ve been asked many times why I am an Atheist. Often that question is phrased as ‘why do you believe in Atheism?’  I first have to correct the question before I can answer it. As I will go on to explain, Atheism is not a belief in and of itself, rather it is a lack of belief in a god or divine creator. You see, Atheism is not organized; it is not a club or a group. Atheists are individuals who use their faculties of reason and …

I’ve been so moved by all the heartfelt responses I’ve received over the last couple of months; others who have shared their own stories, offered advice from experience, asked questions and have just shared their thoughts with someone who can relate…
I started writing about my experiences as a former Jehovah’s Witness a few months ago. At first no one knew about my blog, no one else read it; it remained a hidden forum for me to vent about my experiences, release long-held frustrations, just express things that I had no …

Download audio podcast (right click + save target as): PODCAST
Listen to the audio version: [audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1423791_6ykdp/move_on.mp3]
Just Move On Already!
…I often hear comments like this. “You should just move on and let the past be the past.” I have to agree that in many cases that is often the very best advice. So why is it that former Jehovah’s Witnesses have such a difficult time moving on with their lives? Why can they never seem to completely let go, even years or decades after they have left the Watchtower …

Recently I’ve been asked: “What religions did you study?” and  “What made you become an Atheist?” The answers are: many and science, respectively.
Religious Study
I began many years ago by studying and/or looking into several Christian religions: the Catholic Church, the United Church, the Lutheran Church, the Pentecostal Church, to name a few - I really wanted to compare Christianity based on my knowledge and understanding of the bible. I wanted to consider Christian faiths and their individual perspectives. What I found in every case was that there were the typical …

I was recently asked a very interesting question by a non Jehovah’s Witness. It seems he has a friend who is either a current Jehovah’s Witness or has just recently left the Society. He asked me:

What helped you leave the Jehovah’s Witness Organization? and
How do you witness to a Jehovah’s Witness? [How do you help someone who has is thinking of or has left the society]

I think this is a question that is asked often, but I’m sure that the answer is different for different people. I wanted to present …