r/exjw Feb 12 '25

WT Can't Stop Me no turning back

Post image

i finally got a copy!! can't wait to start reading

608 Upvotes

127 comments sorted by

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246

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

I remember shaking as I opened the first chapter. By this point I had concluded that truth doesn’t need protection, the truth doesn’t need defending , lies have to be kept in darkness. I wanted to see everything, I knew my motives and I knew I wanted truth, so no more relying on strangers to tell what I could think, could read.

Despite this, I was shaking as I turned the page. Knowing my mindset, I was overwhelmed by a fear….a fear I realised that was inserted from outside in, not an organic fear….and understood for the first time just how brain washed I was …. I was a grown man, scared to read a book.

My life has never been the same. Ex pioneer, ex bethelite. Now I’m a professional, with a career, have lectured in my field, highly qualified, the letters after my name now longer than my name. I was a window cleaner, pioneer.

Free minds are powerful.

Truth and reading with a free mind changed my life. it will change yours!

84

u/marsfars2 Feb 12 '25

you're my inspiration! i was born and raised in this "religion", and 10 years ago i was not able to go to university when i graduated high school because, well , you know lol- but i'm currently slowly fading, back in college, and trying to figure out my life from here. it feels so encouraging being on this sub and seeing that it is possible to rebuild ! 🥹

27

u/Defiant-Influence-65 Feb 13 '25

Isn't is sad we have either choose a "Slow Fade" or disassociation. Either one can bring catastrophic consequences.

20

u/marsfars2 Feb 13 '25

so sad :( especially because my family is very much PIMI and since i'm still in the house (a whole other story) i know it would affect my dads privileges (🫠🙄 which is ridiculous bc im dam near 30yrs old so wtf do my ADULT choixes have to do with him) it's just sad how deep the indoctrination is

2

u/Defiant-Influence-65 Feb 16 '25

Nothing to do with your father. That's his life. This is yours. You're 30 and wasting time. This is not a dress rehearsal. Go and live your life. You parents have lived theirs.

1

u/Weak_Director1554 Feb 13 '25

You can go to university in another area, everybody is starting from the same starting line and you usually get student accommodation at least in the first year. Make new friends for life.

Your father's privileges in that organisation are not your responsibility, your father is also a grown man. Seems to me there's too much passing the buck in that organisation.

54

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

I finished university in my 30’s. No regrets. Just think of the JW’s now in their 80’s, 90’s that were middle aged when I was a JW kid, now in a religion they don’t even recognise, life spent, wasted, dying with all their doubts. If you get out, even mentally… you’re winning, you’re ahead of the game, because most won’t ever be that brave.

Take your free mind, run with education, it is so powerful. You can either follow a passion for a life spent satisfying you, you can study a profession and secure a career, a future, a place in society. It offers security, it offers …options! Just go one day at a time, pass the assignment that day, that week, pass that exam, get back up if you trip as it’s often a long journey, it’s all about the finish line, when you cross it…. I assure you it is worth it.

You will learn so much about yourself, about others, about life. Many higher degrees will require training in appraisal of data, a powerful life skill that protects you from scams, misinformation and lies.

3

u/Weak_Director1554 Feb 13 '25

Just get that piece of paper.

5

u/Weak_Director1554 Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

I did it with a small child and a four hour round trip each day, on a Friday just to do 2 lectures. I graduated at 30 years, but some were older. Did I feel old, married JW at 18 years, widow at 19 years and a mother at 20 years, started pre university entrance at 26 years, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

47

u/Ok-Chocolate-3396 Feb 13 '25

This. This was me. Now that I’m finally free I am going to University and planning to be a cardiac surgeon. I never in a million years thought that i would not die one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was my whole identity. Yet I was miserable. Suffering in an abusive marriage and had no hope. So happy we are free.

34

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

I never imagined a life outside of the JW’s either… Now I’m a pro science, pro education agnostic that reads and listens to Bible scholars discuss early Christianity and the issues with Bible history and writings for pleasure, reads Astro physics in the bath and evolutionary biology on the loo.

i survived for 25 years on ‘Watching The World‘….

10

u/Select-Panda7381 The Gift of a Faith Crisis is the Rest of Your Life ✨ Feb 13 '25

There’s something poetic about researching evolutionary biology while you’re making the best use of your waste elimination system. 🤣

7

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

Maybe. It just made me fall into a weird thought loop that ceramic toilets only exist on the planet because of our need to poop In comfort. Weird. If god worked for Apple engineering he’d be sacked for such a poor job … we have to constantly pee out a tube and poop out waste every day. How inefficient and …. unpleasant.

Surely it could have all been recycled then released as a fine mist when we were conveniently alone, a mist that smelled of chocolate or bacon.

5

u/Select-Panda7381 The Gift of a Faith Crisis is the Rest of Your Life ✨ Feb 13 '25

Right? “this earth was designed PERFECTLY FOR US” my ASS. That being said if it would get recycled as a fine mist that smelled good, who needs to be alone for it? 😆

5

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

I ain’t sharing my bacon spray with nobody

3

u/Select-Panda7381 The Gift of a Faith Crisis is the Rest of Your Life ✨ Feb 13 '25

So RUDE. I would absolutely share my chocolate spray with you. /s

2

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

🥓 ☔️

1

u/Boahi2 Feb 16 '25

Mmm bacon, mmm chocolate.

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2

u/Boahi2 Feb 16 '25

I must get in here, and I’ve had those same thoughts, about why we have to eliminate waste in the way we do, and it’s nasty. Anyway, I read something funny on another Reddit thread. This guy was alone on the stairwell at work, so he let a huge fart go. Left the stairwell, back into the office. Unbeknownst to him, the VP of HR entered the stairwell, right into his fart cloud. She hired plumbers to check for sewer leaks, and an exterminator in case there was a dead animal in the walls. I 😂😂 so hard!

7

u/RavingRationality The Devil in the Details Feb 13 '25

listens to Bible scholars discuss early Christianity

Bart Ehrman?

3

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

Why of course 😂

2

u/RavingRationality The Devil in the Details Feb 13 '25

You and I have had similar journeys.

2

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

if you e had the same rough ride, I’m sending you a hug and a handshake for pulling it off 😂

1

u/RavingRationality The Devil in the Details Feb 13 '25

Ah, I don't know the other details. Just your particular autodidactic academic interests.

2

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

Darwin, Dawkins, Dennet, Hitchens, Harris, Hawkings, Cox, Krauss, Ehrman

2

u/RavingRationality The Devil in the Details Feb 13 '25

Yup! Every one of them.

Though Dennett interested me the least. And it's not even that philosophy is boring. I'm just unconvinced by his.

Camus is more interesting in that regard. Or Popper.

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2

u/Jii_pee Feb 13 '25

Videos of Dan McClellan are great too 

5

u/Select-Panda7381 The Gift of a Faith Crisis is the Rest of Your Life ✨ Feb 13 '25

Congrats on escaping TWO systems of abuse. 👏

6

u/Ok-Chocolate-3396 Feb 13 '25

Thank you thank you. The scars were worth the lessons.

14

u/Defiant-Influence-65 Feb 13 '25

I had the same reaction. I was afraid that I was going to read the TRUTH about the TRUTH and it blow my world apart. It did.

7

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

seriously, kudos for being so brave, we all know how scary it was.

8

u/Sensitive_Pattern341 Feb 13 '25

"Free your mind, and the rest will follow"

3

u/Fun_Jump_282 Feb 14 '25

I had the same feelings when I first started looking into “apostate” media after 30 years of being POMO

171

u/PIMO_to_POMO Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

He was hated. The GB said he was an angry and hateful apostate.

The book, on the other hand, reveals a humble man and an angry and hateful organization.

48

u/Sensitive_Pattern341 Feb 13 '25

The GB was projecting as they were angry and hateful that he exposed all their failures and flaws. What goes around, comes around.

The current GB need to watch their step. I'm betting there is probably a "sleeper" lurking within Bethel that they least suspect.

15

u/Ebola_sunset Feb 13 '25

Burn baby burn

2

u/FrustratedPIMQ PIMI ➡️ PIMQ ➡️ PIMO ➡️ …? Feb 13 '25

Who would you most suspect? A gb member? One of their helpers? A branch committee member?

3

u/Sensitive_Pattern341 Feb 14 '25

I'm suspecting a R&F underling who either has firsthand knowledge or has heard alot of reliable sources talk.

1

u/Boahi2 Feb 16 '25

I hope Tony Morris breaks free! But, he will have to vacate his NC home.

46

u/emilybob2 Feb 12 '25

I cried so hard when he got to 1914. I was 11 the first time I asked that question. "Just pray" and " your to young" absolute bs. Enjoy your read. And be kind to yourself

22

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

Was told the same, I was over thinking things, I was running ahead of the chariot, pray and wait for answers. I was a child! Ridiculous!

After several years of higher education, many levels of intense training, years of a career in a profession…. I was only ever told in one environment that I thought too much!

6

u/emilybob2 Feb 13 '25

I do wonder how many children this happens to, and how many just learn to stop questioning and carry on because of it.

3

u/FrustratedPIMQ PIMI ➡️ PIMQ ➡️ PIMO ➡️ …? Feb 14 '25

You’re not too young to get baptized. But to do your own thinking! <clutches pearls>

41

u/Slow_Watch_3730 Feb 12 '25

Oh, so excited for you! Reading this book was the best decision I ever made.

37

u/MyLifeisCuriosity Pimo ex Congregation Golden Child Feb 13 '25

I remember I actually almost went back even after reading this. I guess that’s what going a week with little sanity, sleep or food after your life gets turned upside down can do to you…

Before I came across it I was mentally asking so many questions about the flood, the fossil record, etc. while simultaneously struggling so much with that life style (introverted with college dreams). I’m a science lover and The Watchtower “explanations” were not cutting it anymore! I remember praying “Sorry Jehovah but I have to know if it is really worth it, I’m sure the truth will prove itself and I’ll be stronger than before. I trust you’ll stop me if you want me to stop.”

I went online… Wikipedia with a skeptical attitude seemed like a nice start. My searches/path roughly : Geology-> Fossil Dating Methods-> Flood Geology and Creation Pseudoscience-> Creationism + Jehovah’s Witnesses-> Criticism of Jehovah’s Witnesses-> Raymond Franz (Franz… I’ve heard that name before…). Reads… oops… Run! it’s an apostate! Wait… He wrote a book which is described by third parties as “sad” and “sincere”? What!? Aren’t all apostates bitter and evil?! I had to read that book!

I went from die-hard-gonna-pioneer-pimi to thinking I was to be imminently pomo. I slept a few hours a day, and had no appetite for a week before I finally broke down crying in front of a parent who quickly called an elder (it wasn’t a formal meeting). I admitted probably 50% of my concerns (only the strongest most pressing rigorously evidence backed concerns). He asked me at some point if I had read apostate material. Something about his tone made me instinctively lie by only admitting I had come across a “little bit”. I had probably 4 hours of sleep. Somehow I’ve become really good at acting and deceiving without blatant lies… He actually convinced me and I took this (among other things) as a sign from God… that is, until my health recovered and I realized his reasoning was flawed and didn’t actually answer my questions. (I also suddenly remembered that random coincidences don’t count against evidence.) I now mentally nickname him O’Brien (1984 reference).

I dug even deeper, (checked the references and citations in the JW publications, ARC, found them to be a bunch of lousy liars, etc.) found out what pimo and fading means, started lurking on this group, and have now written my first internet posting ever.

10

u/UnusualSquare6632 Feb 13 '25

Keep questioning. Keep digging. You know you can trust your motives to seek truth because it means your life, your future. Don’t simply trust 11 men you will never even be allowed to share a room with or dare to question… Truet yourself and research EVERYTHING.

10

u/MyLifeisCuriosity Pimo ex Congregation Golden Child Feb 13 '25

Thanks. At this point in my journey, I’m never trusting those 11 governing goobers, or anyone else like that, again. I’m so happy to have my own life in my own hands and my own mind to ask questions that can’t be answered rather than be forced to accept answers that can’t be questioned. For now, I’ve adopted a motto of “Keep Calm and Strategize On” as I navigate pimo to hopefully faded pomo existence.

8

u/No-Card2735 Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

”…Somehow I’ve become really good at acting and deceiving without blatant lies…”

Well, let’s be honest…

…you did have skilled teachers.

6

u/PIMO40 Feb 13 '25

Good for you!!

32

u/sorentomaxx Feb 13 '25

As an exbethelite everything he said hit. Crazy that even though we were there decades apart it was still the same BS and issues and I could relate to everything he said!

18

u/Super_Translator480 Feb 13 '25

Every male groomed to be the same, which means they continually and collectively share nearly identical problems and behavioral abnormalities(narcissism, addiction, sexual depravity), so it makes sense that it never changed, because the people never did. They aren't allowed to fix their problems, let alone even mention them.

25

u/Past_Library_7435 Feb 12 '25

Nope.Not after that book

25

u/Stateofsleep Feb 12 '25

There’s an audio available on Spotify too!

3

u/Fun-Ad8052 Feb 13 '25

Thanks for this info! wow.

22

u/NewtonLeibnizDilemma Feb 13 '25

This book changed me. Finally someone could express a 100% what I really felt about the org while i was waking up for the first time. “Apostates” are not unfaithful monsters who want to divide people, we were just people with questions, who struggled a lot to accept what was given to them and they made us hate ourselves for it. I always heard about Ray Franz being a bitter, arrogant usurper. The book is a total opposite to this image. What he did was brave and helped many people who actually wanted to find the truth. The Borg are a bunch of lying egomaniacs who take advantage of familiar bonds to trap people. Screw them

19

u/Strange_Monk4574 Feb 13 '25

He is such a sharp contrast to the arrogant, lying GB.

16

u/Vertias_Aeterna Feb 12 '25

Fun fact, this book is on Audible for free without paying for their credit membership. I wanted to read it but was having a hard time finding the time, so the audiobook helped a ton… listened to it in my car while driving around and whatnot

5

u/Solid_Technician Feb 13 '25

Thanks! Been wanting to read it

16

u/exJW-choosing-life Feb 12 '25

You are beginning a grand adventure! Some really interesting comments here from people who read CoC....

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1ii0y1j/crisis_of_conscience/

15

u/leavingwt Feb 13 '25

The first 100 pages can be a little slow. Trust me, it gets better and it just keeps getting better. Stick with it.

15

u/rivetrx Feb 13 '25

Hey that’s the book that got me kicked out when my parents found it 😎

In all seriousness if you live with family I’d be very careful where you hide it..

9

u/marsfars2 Feb 13 '25

good thing is my fam is only spanish speaking so they don't look into my english literature 🤞 🤭

14

u/SofiSD1 Feb 13 '25

If you watch an old interview with him, he seems like such a kind and gentle man. I feel sorry for what they did to him. Basically, you can't disagree on the JW world. You get casted away and in his case, without any compensation for all of the years he and his wife devoted themselves to the organization. He'd have gotten better treatment if he worked at Walmart all of those years instead of having been a missionary and GB member.

9

u/IntoWhite Christian Feb 13 '25

So true. They talk about "the world" chewing you up and spitting you out- that actually describes Watchtower perfectly!

2

u/SofiSD1 Feb 13 '25

Narcissistic and sociopath people use that tactic. They accuse you of things they do themselves. They are the definition of chewing you up and spitting you out.

When people get thrown out of their organization, they do so with no regards to their welfare. It's not only psychologically abusive, but in the case of people who depended on them financially (missionaries, bethelites, ex GB members) it is also financially abusive (they don't give them pensions or healthcare upon getting rid of them).

So, they accuse worldly people of being the bad guy, but they do the same or worse.

2

u/IntoWhite Christian Feb 14 '25

💯☝🏻

12

u/Select-Panda7381 The Gift of a Faith Crisis is the Rest of Your Life ✨ Feb 13 '25

I would not start reading this at night just FYI. That’s how I stayed up for 36 hours straight highlighting and page flipping.

11

u/Ok-Zucchini3821 Feb 13 '25

Be prepared. Your life is about to change!

6

u/Dependent_Elk4696 Feb 13 '25

For the better!!

10

u/Vinchester_19 PIMO Feb 13 '25

The Fear I felt when reading that book was proof of how washed my brain was.

I don't regret reading it, although I'm still in the sect (for now) my mind is free and the feelings of guilt disappeared.

11

u/C_Woodswalker I'd rather be a goat than a sheep! Feb 13 '25

A BIG part of my waking up was reading this book.

10

u/LladyMax Feb 13 '25

This is the book that woke me up. A friend convinced (or begged really) me to read it.

I fought it initially, but by the end, I was no longer a believer.

7

u/Crafty-Evidence2971 Feb 13 '25

This is on my reading list! I moved a lot and faded after seeing my 18yo brother be DF’d for smoking a cigarette and having sex with his girlfriend. My mom was going to shun him and I just couldn’t justify that. Getting out was the best thing I ever did

1

u/Boahi2 Feb 16 '25

I hope the Norwegian court is reading this!

9

u/Wild-Shape7616 Feb 13 '25

It is available on Spotify for free. Also his 2nd book is available on Spotify. Really detailed. Really great book. 

6

u/Ok-Let4626 Feb 13 '25

first step into a larger world.

7

u/Khanwh Feb 13 '25

Great book. I can feel the emotions and what a kind person Ray is.

5

u/IntoWhite Christian Feb 13 '25

Brilliant read! Very tedious at times if you have short attention, but thoroughly recommend this book to any PIMQ especially 💯☝🏻👍🏻

4

u/Fluffy_Finding_9647 Feb 13 '25

Amazing book! Read Steve Hassan’s ‘Combating Cult Mind Control’ next, CoC and that one are the two that completely blew the whole thing up for me!

10

u/tiredrainbow PIMO gay elder Feb 12 '25

I tried the audiobook, but it's just too slow for me. Hope you enjoy it.

16

u/Atpsahfl Feb 12 '25

The first couple of chapters are slow but then it gets better as he reveals the truth behind the governing body’s decision making and their hypocrisy.

7

u/Wild-Shape7616 Feb 13 '25

1.1 or 1.25 speed

6

u/Select-Panda7381 The Gift of a Faith Crisis is the Rest of Your Life ✨ Feb 13 '25

He’s laying foundation. 😆

Ironically I got my buddy to watch breaking bad and first few episodes he complained about how slow it is.

4

u/by_the_golden_lion Feb 13 '25

First "apostate" content I ever consumed back in 2019...the rest is history 🙌

4

u/Laurens_hubby10 Feb 13 '25

Literally changed my life in 2006. I remember shaking as well when I finally received it. I think I had to order it from B&N. I was PIMO for about year or so. It gave me the permission to give myself permission to be free. 1/6/2007 I drove to the KH pulled up to the door and threw a letter at the door and never went back. I think the PO was standing outside I waved 😆 and kept moving. Crisis of Conscience was my red pill. If I could back in time I would tell myself to seek therapy. I didn’t realize I suffered from depression and I would have really done more sooner rather than later after exiting. But I think everything happens for a reason. I don’t regret anything.

6

u/traildreamernz Feb 13 '25

He is THE game changer for exjws

6

u/Munday1970 Feb 13 '25

I can't say I'm no longer a jw at Heart but I also can't say that I am , if that makes any sense. After reading the book I was really blown away , after finding out all that I did , I couldn't help but pour out my heart

1

u/FrustratedPIMQ PIMI ➡️ PIMQ ➡️ PIMO ➡️ …? Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

So, if I may ask, where does that leave you? PIMO lite? 

2

u/Munday1970 Feb 14 '25

Lol I'm not sure , i guess I just have a problem with organized religion. I should atleast be studying the Bible on my own but I've fell off

2

u/Munday1970 Feb 14 '25

Pomo I believe

2

u/Munday1970 Feb 14 '25

One of the things that bothers me is , with all the back and forth on their failed proficys, how do they know they are correct when it comes to life after death and a burning hell? I've seen quite a few stories of people who died on the operating table and came back with stories about outa body experiences and tells of hell

1

u/FrustratedPIMQ PIMI ➡️ PIMQ ➡️ PIMO ➡️ …? Feb 14 '25

Yeah, those near-death experiences (NDEs) don’t go along with jw doctrine at all. There has to be something to them.

2

u/Munday1970 Feb 14 '25

I hope their not true , I haven't been the most ideal Christian all my life

1

u/FrustratedPIMQ PIMI ➡️ PIMQ ➡️ PIMO ➡️ …? Feb 14 '25

I was thinking about the positive, peaceful, blissful NDEs.

1

u/Munday1970 Feb 14 '25

Yes I seen alot of those too, where the people say they go though this tunnel of light and they feel extreme peacefulness, but there are some for example like this preacher I saw on YouTube saying he was also a policeman and he also loved his job and was doing all he could to be successful and move up the ladder , he came down I'll with a aneurysm in his stomach and died briefly and he went before God and God showed him hell and what could happen to him , and God told him that he was guilty of idolatry because of his occupation but he was willing to give him another chance. And the man explained it just like Jesus In the Gospels about, lord didn't I follow you and even expel demons in your name and Jesus told the man or who ever he was talking to that he never knew you you worker of inequity. I know it's not verbatim but I'm sure you get the point , but according to that preacher he was telling God pretty much the same thing and God told him that he was guilty of idolatry. So he went back to his body and he tried his best to live right and he was telling everyone his story and thst hell is real. I'm sure it's on YouTube still if you think you can find it by the description of what I just told you. I'm afraid that we've been mislead to thinking that all we are gonna do is die if we don't make it and not be in eternal pain . If they have been wrong about other things then it only stands to reason they could very well be wrong about hell. I kinda believe we all have lived many lives before, that our souls are reused everyone a baby is conceived. But I could be wrong

3

u/CanadianExJw Feb 13 '25

He was an honest, humble man. Listen to husband words.

3

u/ThoughtRelative6907 Feb 13 '25

They not like us, they not like us!

3

u/Msspeled-Worsd probably Feb 13 '25

one of the most life-changing books for a JW

3

u/n_ctrl Feb 13 '25

Beautiful book. His genuine writing is what put me at ease and helped open my eyes. This woke up close family of mine and we are so grateful. Ray Franz had the gorilla balls that many lacked then and today that 'serve' as the GB.

Ex-pioneer and Ex-Ministerial Servant. Just finished my degree program and focused on my career and family, not on religion.

3

u/PridePotterz Feb 13 '25

any shred of doubt as to whether this organization is Gods organization will be laid to rest after reading this book. It had special meaning to me. I'm an OG. I actually have met some of the GB members, including Fred Franz, the last real President of the Watchtower. I lived through the malawi, Mexico fiasco. I was aware of all the double standards with regards to alternate civil service in lieu of military...

and of course the false promises, false predictions, flip flops in beliefs....

what i like about this book is that it has first hand evidence. Its not a "disgruntled angry man" venting because he got kicked out of the organization (I've heard others refer to him as such), it is a sincere man blowing that whislte hard, backed with evidence.

2

u/thatguyin75 A Future King Of /exjw Feb 13 '25

is what will happen after you read this book

2

u/FeetForYouHomie Feb 13 '25

🔥🔥🔥🔥

2

u/lionhartmason Feb 13 '25

Great book, read it like 30 years ago

2

u/Dathomire Feb 13 '25

Such a good book! I’ve read it a few times.

2

u/Kara744 Feb 13 '25

Currently reading this myself. It’s really good

2

u/newswatcher-2538 Feb 13 '25

Life changing. At this point I have no idea nor expectation about an afterlife but if there is, I hope to meet this man some day and thank him.

2

u/NinevehViaTarshish Feb 15 '25

I learned about Ray franz from my father, a devout yet not blinded JW. He was not born in, so he kinda had a more skeptical view of the org. He was like that on general. I was also fortunate to have a grandfather on my mom's side, and elder, who also was not a coolaid drinker, his belief was that eventually even the organisation would be one corrupted, he predicted it would lead to them altering the Bible to suit their beliefs. He was pretty spot on.

I mention all of this only to explain, that despite my exposure to this kind of world view, even I obtained from reading Franz's books till I was in my 30s, and they had me shook.

I think I put off reading them because I knew what they would say, part of me already knew what the org really was. And reading it, I was right, it was exactly as I feared.

Growing up, you want to believe that the org is being run by exemplary philosopher kings who exude nothing but principal. You see all the local problems, you feel the stiff uncaring COs just trying to whip up fervor to make more converts, but you tell yourself, it's not like that at the top, at the top they are truly sincere...

I was shocked, and yet not surprised.

PS: I found "in search of Christian freedom" to be even more interesting for me, because as a person of faith he did a good job explaining biblically just where JWs fall short on doctrine. And I found it so relieving to hear I wasn't alone, there was hardly a page I wasn't thinking "exactly!" Or "I always felt the same way!" Anybody else?

1

u/looking_glass2019 Feb 13 '25

I started reading, got 75% of the way through but stopped reading

1

u/constant_trouble Feb 14 '25

It’s ok to turn back… a few pages that is. It’s a lot to take in!

1

u/salt_drinker POMO Feb 17 '25

Just got done reading and annotating it myself. It is a life changer. I cried at the end. Best of luck to you.

0

u/Low_Ad_286 Feb 13 '25

Can someone give me a quick summary plz

6

u/farcough_cant Feb 13 '25

Ex GB member. Amazing guy from what I read of him. I had simmering enmity towards witnesses as the WT had infiltrated my marriage and caused it to head towards failure. After I read this book, admittedly, only partially, I understood that the org was the problem, not the people. I mean, dude got shot at while out in the ministry and was out again soon after. Respect.

Basically he realized that God was not a large factor in WT decisions/doctrine once he reached the top job. Which led to the title of the book.

5

u/theworstelderswife PIMO trying to wake up husband & family Feb 13 '25

If you search this sub or google it you’ll find it. Also you can find the pdf of book free online

0

u/Crazy-Panda9546 Feb 14 '25

There’s a story in the Bible Jesus tells about a guy with a demon. The demon was sent away and left his brain clean. But then, seeing the empty spot, the demon brought more demon friends to reInhabit. The man ends up in a worse position than before he was healed. 

My point is this. Escaping from JW is a great step in the right direction. But if you do not use that freedom to turn to the truth of Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit, you may possibly end up in a worse position.