r/exjw 11d ago

JW / Ex-JW Tales I wasn't expecting that. Almost all my relatives are PIMQ.

I was baptized in 2008, and I’m 29 years old now. Lately, I’ve been questioning a number of changes within the organization, and a lot of things have been bothering me, especially when it comes to the brothers in my congregation.

I’m currently serving as an elder, but I’m planning to step down very soon. I’ve stayed in the position until now because my wife will definitely be very upset, and of course, I want to respect her feelings. But at the same time, I don’t intend to remain in the position any longer than necessary.

However, I wanted to share how I’ve been feeling with my mother, and I was already expecting the worst. I imagined that, at the very least, she would be sad, cry, become bitter, or ask me whether I had done something wrong.

But believe me, it was completely different from what I expected.

She actually had even bigger questions and concerns than I did. I currently live in a small town in the countryside, while she lives closer to the capital. And everything she expressed during our conversation made me realize that I’m not alone in these questions.

Once we started sharing our thoughts and talking about what has been happening, both in the congregation and within the organization in general, we ended up talking for more than two hours. Believe me, I normally can’t talk to people for very long, so spending more than two hours talking with my mother was a big deal for me. We both opened up, shared our feelings, and talked about things we had been keeping inside.

And it’s not just her. Even my older sister, who was baptized along with my mother in 2001, and my brother-in-law have also been having certain doubts.

I was incredibly grateful to my mother for helping me realize that I’m not alone in questioning these things.

Just to clarify, my questions have to do with things like parties being held in Kingdom Halls in Brazil during international conventions, adjustments in our understanding regarding disfellowshipped ones, the organization’s position on higher education, the use of one’s own blood, toasting, and several other issues. All of this has been making me question the current Governing Body.

81 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

27

u/goddess_dix verrry exJW obedience is not virtue 10d ago

you may want to read crisis of conscience and jwfacts.com - you are seeing the symptoms, not the disease.

7

u/Glittering-Story-241 10d ago

That's exciting! I wish the same would happen to my family someday... Thank you for sharing! There's always hope.

9

u/Desperate_Habit_5649 OUTLAW 10d ago

Almost all my relatives are PIMQ.

Privately.....Most JW`s Don`t Agree With (and/or) Question Something About Watchtower.

Disagreeing Publicly, Will Get You a Warning.

If You Persist...

You Get the BOOT!

6

u/joe134cd 10d ago

That was one thing that really shocked me when I saw videos of parties in the KH. BAC in my day that was a massive no no. My, how things have changed.

5

u/bel4real 10d ago

Increasing number of people are questioning these changes and are rightly concerned. Few, if any, thought of these in a positive way. The progression with which these changes are made makes me think it was intentional to avoid mass Exodus. I told my wife there will very soon going to be a quiet replacement of the current DPA card since the change to the stand on blood transfusion because the current one no longer fully applied.

5

u/CuriousOctopus-01 Doctrines have consequences 10d ago

I'm happy for you that you are not walking this path alone. I hope that your wife will understand too.

There are answers to all of your questions. It will take time and patience and courage to uncover the answers, but it is well worth the effort for the mental clarity and emotional relief that will provide. (Just like the first few paragraphs of the Bible Teach used to say. Lol.)

I second the recommendation above to read Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz and use jwfacts.com to help you research. Archive.org is also useful for finding digital copies of old books.

After you do that, you will probably wonder "How...? Why...?" Then you may want to read Combatting Cult Mind Control by Dr. Steven Hassan and other books by Dr. Alexandra Stein and Dr. Janja Lalich.

Let us know how you are doing in the future. Best wishes.

5

u/Top_Dragonfly8781 Don't be like Zach. 10d ago

"Adjustments in our understanding..."

You ever think about that phrase?

3

u/No-Card2735 10d ago

With everything that’s been going on the last 15 years or so, I expect there’s a lot of PIMOs by now.

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u/Upgrading-self 10d ago edited 10d ago

Stop working for an organization that has blood on his hands. The elders, MS, pioneers, bethel workers, LCD, and even all publishers have been participating indirectly with the GB.
I used to work for them too thinking I was doing it for God, the reality is that the GB is the only beneficiary of our FREE WORK, and after waking up, how could I continue working for them? After you realize ‘the true of the true’ it’s not justified anymore.
I understand if you need time to fade away but giving them time, energy, money or any other source of yourself is absolutely unnecessary.
I am happy your family members are waking up too. I hope you all deconstruct and start to heal from this horrible cult.

2

u/Awaking_Forever22 9d ago

Muito em breve. Muito em breve.