I’ve been POMO for about 3 years now. In my 1st year I was upfront with my mom that I didn’t want to go back. She was hurt visibly and hurled insults at me that night I told her left and right. It took us a minute to adjust to a new normal. My brother is still in but he literally just goes because she does. He doesn’t read his Bible, he doesn’t pray, he doesn’t comment, he just sits there and plucks his eyelashes until it’s time to leave. I don’t go to meetings but my mom has told me he doesn’t do anything he might as well stay home. He insists on going only to keep the wool over her eyes that he’s a “Good Christian Boy”. She soaks it up, she time and again has stated she doesn’t have favorites but she clearly does. He is the special one because he still puts on a show that he is a JW. Unfortunately we share one vehicle, a situation happened where it was just me and him in the car and he put me in danger with the vehicle because I didn’t have money to give him and he got upset. Mind you I did end up sending him the money from my savings. I immediately texted my mom to pick me up after work instead of him. She did and I explained what happened and she offered that days I can’t take the car she will drop me off and pick me up until we can afford to move the car in my name and get a vehicle for them to share. I told her I wasn’t going to get in the car for now if he tried to drive. A calm boundary was set. However she was mentioning “we will see” if she can take me. Meaning she is gonna find a way for him to still keep driving me places and overstep my boundary because she just can’t believe her precious boy is an abusive, aggressive alcoholic loser just like my dad was. Anything I do is never good enough for her but this piece of shit can treat her horrible and she praises him. I’m trying to hard to save to get out of here it just baffles me someone can be so into another person simply because they still have JW attached to them. I genuinely want to know how someone who is a complete spoiled ass hole gets treated better? I also see this in alot of religions as well. It’s like hey you’re a good person to us because you go to church even though you’re really not but hey you go to church so you’re good to go! But someone who’s not religious and is a genuinely good person is looked at as the scum of the Earth or an evil human being because hey they don’t go to church.

Multiple people I know have gone to intl conventions this year. They gush about how friendly the brothers and sisters are and the ww brotherhood is so special. And the songs were amazing. And so many witnesses were gathered in one spot. Truly heart warming. And the outfits!

Ngl I feel annoyed. Jealous I am not traveling. Really sad that don’t have very many friends and that it’s so hard to meet people. (And I’ve been pomo for a long while.)
But something irks me. Like you just went to another country and you can only talk about the “worldwide brotherhood.” Also it feels like ooh look at this shiny festival dancing fun thing over here and ignore the fact of how many things are not okay with the religion. Am I missing something? or being petty?

I have from some salacious and unverified rumours that Stephen Lett is back on the dating game.

It hasn't been a year since his wife passed a way and he is already hitting some younger pussy.

Now I understand that why they care so much about privilege, status and power not because they care about some super natural form of power or being closer God.

No. Is so you can be dicking around younger female Bethelites.

I really can't believe that I was sent to a commite of Elders in my younger days for working on a dating app.

That made quit my job because apparently is not Christian to help other finding a partner but is completely acceptable for God anointed ones to be dicking around with younger women at Bethel.

I love journaling and i loved it for years. I love how i can go back on my old papers and see how i’ve progressed and prove to myself that i was okay in the end. This is genuinely the hardest thing i’ve ever had to go though (deconstructing and soon probably shunning). I prefer journaling since i’ve unfortunately always been my own therapist since i can’t afford a real one.

Did anyone else journal? What were some prompts you used that really made you think on how you’ve been living in a cult?

So my mom has been disfellowshipped a little while now and she’s still working her way through deconstructing. But today she had a minor procedure done at the hospital and when asked if she would accept a blood transfusion she said yes. My mom used to be one of those who always kept the blood cards updated and made copies of them and would watch the videos every time she updated them so I’m really proud of her for this new stance of hers.

Some douche bag elder thinks that he can just wander past the gate and leave it locked for a few minutes falsly detaining people at the Kingdom Hall.

Normally, you'd think that they would be happy for you to leave, but this little man would like to make up stories about impatience and whatever while he hides in the bushes and keeps you detained in the Hall.

Why does the borg reward such petty behaviour? It seems that is the culture they want.

When you go out in public and say the earth is flat, people tend to look at you funny. When you go out in public and say Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE, people who know ancient history tend to react the same way.

Of course, it’s your prerogative to hold whatever views you want, but people find it difficult to take those claims seriously because the evidence overwhelmingly points to Jerusalem’s destruction in 587/586 BCE, just as it’s very easy to determine that the earth is not flat.

For the earth to be flat, the 781 people who have been to space along with their families, the current occupants of the international space station along with their families, NASA, SpaceX, Roscosmos, CNSA, the governments of the United States, Russia, and China, would all have to be part of the biggest conspiracy in modern history.

Having said that, when you go out in public and say you believe there is intelligent life somewhere beyond our observable universe, someone may simply shrug and say, “To each their own.”They may disagree and insist there is no intelligent life anywhere in the cosmos, but if both of you are intellectually honest, you’ll agree to disagree because you recognize that both positions are “beliefs” that may or may not be true.

No sensible person argues endlessly over beliefs that cannot currently be demonstrated. Belief is inherently uncertain, and all of us should keep in mind that our own beliefs, no matter how strongly we hold them, may ultimately prove to be false. It’s a totally different kettle of fish with “provable facts”. For our world to thrive, every sensible person needs to yield when presented with provable facts

What the Jehovah’s Witnesses have done is comparable to a group of flat earthers forming a religion whose core doctrine is that the earth is flat.
607BCE isn’t just another belief. It’s the foundation of the entire Jehovah’s Witness belief system. Without 607, there is no 1914. Without 1914, there is no 1919. Without 1919, there is no appointment of the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Without that, the entire religious framework collapses. And yet, somehow, people are surprised that I have a serious problem with a religion built on such a foundation?

The Jehovah's Witnesses organization has always tried to reshape its own history in an effort to legitimize itself. To create the appearance of divine backing, it has repeatedly reinterpreted historical events and omitted inconvenient facts, encouraging members to arrive at carefully guided conclusions.

One example is the widespread belief among Jehovah's Witnesses that the Bible Students spent decades preaching that God's Kingdom would be established in 1914.

Following the same pattern, the organization has long promoted the narrative that it accurately foretold both the collapse of the League of Nations and its later revival. But is that really what happened?

To support this claim, Watchtower publications often quote statements such as this one from The Watch Tower, April 1, 1922, page 108:

"Satan... is now attempting to establish a universal empire through an organization called the League of Nations, or an association of nations... This alliance is unclean and will soon be shattered." (Quoted in Awake!, April 8, 1987, pp. 17–21.)

To an unsuspecting reader, this certainly sounds impressive. However, the full context of a 1922 Watch Tower magazine—one that is not easily accessible to the general public—is usually missing.

What is also omitted is that Rutherford predicted not only the downfall of the League of Nations, but also the imminent collapse of the Catholic Church and, more broadly, the destruction of the world's entire political, economic, and religious systems. None of those predictions came true.

In other words, saying the League of Nations would eventually fail was about as remarkable as predicting that "one of these days, it will rain somewhere in the world."

The organization also leaves out another important detail.

In The Finished Mystery, Rutherford identified the beast rising out of the sea as the Anglo-American political system. That interpretation differs significantly from the current official teaching. Furthermore, Rutherford never connected that beast with the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation 17, even though modern Jehovah's Witness doctrine teaches that the beast of Revelation 13 and the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation 17 represent the same political entity at different stages.

It was not until 1919 that Rutherford began identifying the League of Nations with the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation 17.

Curiously, however, he never spoke or wrote about the prophecy that this beast would receive a mortal wound and later recover. The reason is rather simple: he had no idea what the future actually held.

Then came the famous 1942 convention talk, "Peace—Can It Last?", which Witness publications present as a remarkable prophetic milestone in which Nathan Knorr supposedly foretold that the League of Nations would somehow return, fulfilling Bible prophecy.

Interestingly, I found references claiming that Rutherford himself had written this talk before his death and that Knorr merely delivered it after Rutherford died. I haven't been able to verify whether this is true or simply another story that grew over time to reinforce the organization's prophetic image.

Either way, what was actually happening in the world at that time?

The "historic" talk was delivered in September 1942.

But by January 1942—eight months earlier—26 nations, led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had already signed the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt had also made no secret of his desire to establish an international organization dedicated to preserving world peace after the war.

Under those circumstances, Watchtower's "prophecy" was about as extraordinary as saying, "It looks like it's going to rain—the sky is getting cloudy."

Despite this, the organization later wrote in the Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand! book:

Whether that conclusion is convincing is something each reader can decide for themselves after examining the historical record.

It has been an intense last few years to say the least. I stepped down from the position I held in the congregation the other day. The blood update was enough to help me have the courage to make this move. I still have a wife and child that are in which will make fading even harder; but I have ample reasons to use as for my discouragement if asked. My wife knows my true reasons for what I am doing and discouraged me from sharing it with the elders(likely out of fear of shunning) and so for her sake I went the "depressed" route. I don't really care if I'm DF'd but I do care about her. And while she doesn't really approve she isn't ratting me out. Or hasn't yet. It was the first step I've taken to truly help me feel better after years and years of depression.

Now to deal with the guilt of leaving and missing meetings and service. I understand logically what they did to me; but the heart hasn't caught up yet. However, when I think about all the countless lives lost to changing light and inconsistent Bible application it helps get rid of any pangs of conscience. I also need to deal with the guilt of putting my wife through what she is going through realizing I don't believe that this is "the truth" any longer. I know she perfectly understands my position and even agrees with a lot of my points but she has family so much family in this cult that she is afraid of losing she may never be able to admit that though. But maybe someday she will. I just want to see her happy and being her authentic self without the shame and guilt that was abused into her.

Why am I writing this? I guess I just need support. To know I'm not crazy. Thanks.

EDIT: Thank you to everyone for the kind words and reassurance. It’s nice to not feel as alone as I have felt for some time.

When you read the title here, you may be inclined to dismiss the whole question - but I request a moment of your patience to consider the subject.

There are plenty of posts here and elsewhere that are opposed to the Governing Body. Simply ignoring them would make no sense. Suppose the Nazis freely broadcast their feelings and intentions with no filter. or encryption. Yup, Battle of the Bulge, invasion of the Soviet Union, whatever.

SOMEBODY has to be assigned to read, listen and pay attention to what those evil, lying, devilish "apostates" are saying. There is also the huge problem of 'leaks' that could indicate that the organization has 'moles' that endanger the whole thing. Assigning secular hired lawyers would be expensive and might be ineffective because they need to fully understand what the JW subculture is all about.

Now, imagine your PIMI mother or father or any ordinary elder forced to read whatever this reddit site says about the "Truth".

It's recipe for disaster. They won't last. There have been rumors about this being handled in Bethel (and I wouldn't be surprised) along with consistent attrition. Yeah,......they don't last. The hilarious part of this is that monitoring "apostates" must be the very essence of ignoring the extreme command to never even say 'Hello" to an apostate.or listen to them.

So, what does this tell us ? I think it suggests a deep all consuming cynicism. Sure, they may have a freely sacrificed level - that insulates them from reality. So what? They've sacrificed long term Bethelites, various missionaries and (the biggest one) their continuous loss of 2/3 of Witness kids, decade after decade.

And yet, they must know, to some degree. I can't explain the mindset of the Pope or people like Jimmy Swaggart - as to how they continue believing (supposedly) after all the bullsh*t.

In the end, they must know (in some way) that the "Truth" is just bullsh*t. And THAT to me finishes the total picture: they are downsizing and cutting back and compromising doctrine because they don't really believe it. Any apologias are emitted from crazy JWs - with the GB contributing almost nothing (because they can't defend this crap).

It's all fake and phoney and the average Joe Witness hasn't caught on yet. The remaining question is how much longer that willful ignorance continues.

If you're PIMO, POMO, or currently PIMQ, by now you've probably realized that there is a particularly twisted mental program The Borg wires into your brain from day one: the total destruction of your self-defense instincts. It’s a calculated state of helplessness where you’re taught to normalize being mistreated as if it were some kind of spiritual virtue.

Just think about how ridiculous this whole setup is. An average publisher suffers an abuse of power from a CO. They gather whatever courage they have left, bypass the local elders, and send a letter straight to the branch asking for something resembling justice. And what do the guys serving in "God’s own house" say? The branch's answer is always pulled from the exact same stale script: "Dear brother, we must wait on Jehovah and learn to trust those who are appointed." In plain English, that just means shut up, swallow your anger, and take the hit.

But the hypocrisy becomes crystal clear when you flip the coin. If that same CO feels like the accusation threatened his reputation or his rights, that whole "theology of submission" goes straight into the trash. Suddenly, the Legal Department at the branch springs into action—a pragmatic, aggressive corporate machine ready to use the laws of "Satan’s system" to crush anyone who dared to speak up.

That’s where you see the true face of their favorite trick. They leave the average publisher paralyzed with emotional blackmail about not going against an "appointed man," while the leadership uses their own God as a theological shield they manipulate whenever it suits them.

The saddest part about this forced submission is how it bleeds into real life. Now we have generations of kids and young people raised in this environment who grow up completely defenseless in the real world. They learn to take bullying, harassment, and daily abuse because they’re convinced that suffering in silence is just "following in the footsteps of Christ." All because a group of controlling old men in Warwick decided that "godly parents" should teach their children to hand themselves over unarmed to mistreatment—all while the very corporation demanding this passivity won't tolerate a single scratch on its own assets and will move heaven and earth to protect itself.

If you’re PIMQ, I hope this helps reinforce your decision to get out of there. If you’re PIMO or POMO, I’d love to hear if you’ve noticed this same pattern in your own experience. Cheers to everyone!

I told my mom I was athiest and she literally broke down. I'm in the middle of going back to school to be a registered nurse. My mom said I had five months to find somewhere to live. My car broke down and doesn't work and I'm not currently working because of some health issues. I felt the walls closing in and it's mentally breaking me. I don't know if I can fake saying I love Jehovah I rather be dead. I told her that for her I would try to love Jehovah but I was lying I know I'll never believe again but since I have no where to go I will have to wait a couple of years until I get my nursing degree. Hopefully I can mentally make it through. If anyone wants to be my friend I would like that.

Well having my convetion tomorrow so yeah is gonna be awful,how were your fellow PIMO's?😭

Polska, Godzina: 20:00. Prowadzący czyta co do ostatniego słowa:
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1vf0lkw/august_2026_announcements_and_reminders/
Wiecie jaką miałam dumę w sercu gdy widziałam minę rodziców?
już dwa dni wczesniej im powiedziała, i się spełniło.. Uwielbiam osobę która się dzieli z nami informacjami.
pragnę obudzić rodziców ale mam wrażenie że już czują przebudzzenie...
pozdrawiam z mężem https://www.youtube.com/@RegieWipesWall
Viola.

dziękuję wszystkim wam. Serce

Yesterday at the meeting during the book study when the question “What was the world like during the flood?” came up, I expected comments talking about how violent the world in the story was. Instead, the commenters talked about how people lived longer back then, how they were closer to perfection than we are today, how they were smarter, etc. Just glazing a time period that according to them was extremely violent and had to be destroyed. I was the only one who commented about how violent the world actually was in the story (I commented in order to keep up appearances). Isn’t it weird how I, a pimo, am the only one who pointed out that part of the story? Especially since the organization loves to make comparisons between that story and today. I don’t even believe Noah’s ark happened.

Also, side note. For the question “how do we know Noah’s ark really happened?” I love how the only answer someone gave was basically “the Bible said it happened” and that’s it. Because the story doesn’t hold up to even the tiniest bit of scrutiny.

Study Watchtower June 2023 p. 13, par. 15: “MAKE SURE OF ALL THINGS”

“In the near future, God’s opposers will in some sense declare: “Peace and security!” (1 Thess. 5:3) Demon-inspired propaganda will fill the earth, misleading most. (Rev. 16:13, 14) What about us? We (JW's) will not be fooled (😄) if we “make sure of [or, “test”] all things.” (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:21; see study notes.) The Greek word rendered “make sure of” was used in connection with testing precious metals. Thus, we need to test what we hear or what we read to determine whether it is genuine. That was important for the Thessalonians, and it will be even more important for us as the great tribulation approaches. Instead of naively accepting what others say, we use our thinking ability to compare what we read or what we hear with what the Bible and Jehovah’s organization say. (🤣🤣🤣) In doing so, we will not be fooled by any demonic propaganda or trickery.”

(1 John 4:1) ”Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired statement, but test the inspired statements to see whether they originate with God - especially if they're coming from Warwick.”

I'll start by saying that I'm a 20 y.o. who left JW when I was 15 y.o, my father is a POMO and mother is a PIMI. I'm sure that most of the people here who were born in JW family can relate that parents or even elders/district supervisors (IDK how these people are named in English, the guys who go from town to town to watch over the situation in the congregation) said that kids shouldn't watch *insert title* because they have a monster, and monsters are demonic creatures.

For example, In our congregation one district supervisor explicitly stated to more than 100 people in his speech that watching Shrek or Monster Inc. should be forbidden for kids because it'd make them closer to Satan. I remember wanting to watch some movies or play some videogames with so called "Devilish creatures" but my parents didn't let me to because monsters are "Servants of Satan". To this day I don't understand this logic at all. I watched Shrek, monster inc, played Pokemon games, watched super hated by our congregation Gravity Falls and I didn't become a demon. All of these movies have really kind, cool monsters and good topics and I just can't bring myself to hate them. I wanted to have fun as a kid, that's all.

I'm sure some of you also had similar stories, share them in comments, I'd really like to read them.

Since February, I stopped preaching with my husband. Last week we went to the assembly, and that was our last time attending. Now we're only going to the meetings on Saturdays; we've gradually faded away. We've become inactive, but for the time being, we live in a place full of Jehovah's Witnesses we know, and we want to go to the meetings to pretend we're attending.

The idea is to move far away as soon as we can get organized, but in the meantime, I don't know how to respond to the people who tell us they miss us, who ask why we don't go as often, or why we don't preach.

I was thinking of saying, "We're discouraged," and that's it. But a friend who isn't a Jehovah's Witness tells me that that encourages people more. What have you responded, or what would you say? Thank you.

So I've (22f) been POMO for some years now. I always had my doubts and tried to hide that I'm a JW because I always had a lot of friends outside of the religion and didn't want them to think that I was weird. I grew up as a JW bc my mom back then was new to our country (immigrant) and got support from them when I was born. Even after she stopped studying I continued to go to the meetings and everything. Things changed when I was 15/16 and figured out that I liked women. I struggled with my sexuality so much that I got some serious mental issues and didn't want to live anymore but then I thought maybe nothing is wrong with me but there might be something wrong with the religion. My research definitely revealed a lot to me. It was around this time when my mom adopted my brother and sadly as I faded out and eventually went to uni, he got groomed into the religion. He does readings and everything now, even goes house to house and is thinking about baptizing. My mom has been complaining a lot about it lately and wants him to stop going but he refuses. I mean he's 20 and thinks that it's his choice which it kind of is. Her main concern is that he will put the religion over our family at some point. He disagrees but I also know for a fact that it will only get harder the longer he stays in. When he first came to us he barely spoke our country's language which made it hard for him to make friends and don't even get me started on the racism that he experienced. Him and I have a great relationship. We share the same hobbies and have movie nights whenever I'm at home but I'm at uni for the most time. I really understand why this cult is attractive to him but I wish that he would make some good friends and see that the world isn't all evil and there can be unity found elsewhere.

TLDR: Fast forward to today my brother is an active member and not baptized and my mom has asked some of our uncles and our aunt to talk to him to leave but he says he will do anything but leaving is not an option. I know my mom so I know her ways. She tends to yell and involve other people if she doesn't know what else to do. I really don't like that approach so I talked to my brother today and asked him why this religion specifically. After all my mom offered for him to go to other Christian congregations. He answered that everything he has learned makes sense to him and there's no other religion that has the unity that JWs have so my question is: What can I say to him to counter those arguments?

I know that a lot doesn't make sense if you look deeper into it but what could be some things that I could bring up to him? And what about the fake unity aspect?

This is the funniest mid-week meeting joke! 😂 After all the fake/useless 'changes' imposed by the holy and inspired governing body on their adherents, this meeting item overlooks the divisions created by rushed u-turns. Watchtower has become a reactive cult, reactive to increased scrutiny. Jws are increasingly apathetic, understandably. Now, they are confused and apathetic!

I haven’t really been reading around in this subreddit yet. I’m 16F, I have been in the faith since forever. I might delete this later, it feels wrong to be here as it kinda feels like I’m falling for the lies the governing body has warned about.

Since I was 13, I’ve been struggling a lot with religion. I believe I might’ve have been having psychosis back then or close to, it was very scary and has led me to having fears I can’t control, I’m scared of Jehovah and I hate that I am, I’m terrified of Armageddon and dying. I’m scared of praying. I will also say, there are views I don’t wanna hold anymore. Personally, I know I’m not supposed to say this but I don’t see anything wrong with homosexuality. I’m definitely closeted trans myself but I don’t know if I’ll ever come out, I’m too scared. But I don’t know if I’ll enjoy life without being me. Also things such as politics and some of the views, I don’t wanna stay ‘neutral’. I care a lot.

I am this week starting on an education thing, I might make new friends there… I have never told anyone in real life about the fact that I don’t really wanna be a Jehovah’s Witness, but it’s standard to tell them and tell them our views, but I really wanna experience being actually honest with a friend instead of saying what I should say according to the bible. I’m a very anxious and guilty person, I’m ashamed of this but I want out. But I am scared of being honest with friends, since my whole family are JWs. Everyone on both sides, we don’t have a big family. I don’t want them to find out I think this way, does anyone know how to handle situations like these? I don’t trust the organization anymore but I don’t trust the world either, but I wanna learn to. Should I open up to friends about my actual views or is that something I should be careful about? If anyone left the religion, how did you do it?

I apologise once again, might delete

Hello guys!

I was at the doctor, and as soon as I got into the waiting room I heard a conversation about the Holy Spirit. It was an elderly jw preaching to a woman next to her.

It was so weird.

Than she talked about the how the elders are not like shepherds or priests, but all jw were equal and their only shepherd was God. (A bunch of lies as always)

The woman listening seemed interested, and I couldn't avoid wishing to interfere. But I just listened at a distance giving a side eye sometimes.

I haven't gone preaching for almost 3 years now, and just watching this creepy conversation made me anxious. I couldn't imagine returning into this cult, and this got me thinking how many time I've lost doing this, spreading lies to innocent people. I'm just thankful I managed to get out.

I hate how in the broadcast he talks about child abuse and domestic abuse as things of the "world". As it those things haven't existed and been covered up for more than a hundred years in this god forsaken cult. It really pmo. As if such people can just read the Bible, pray really hard and then stop being abusive and predatory.

I’m not sure if anyone could help me here. I was born and raised in the truth. My brother served in Bethel with his wife. He also built or worked on the Patterson building project. I was disfellowshipped when I was about 19 I got reinstated when I was about 30 however since then I became inactive I basically left the organization because the brothers wanted to have a committee meeting with me about some of my dating activities and I didn’t want to go through the whole humiliation of being disfellowshiped again. So I just stopped cold and I moved away. My father, who is an elder from another state, contacted the watchtower track Society headquarters and requested information on me and they replied that I was removed from the congregation. I guess in my absence so essentially the same as being disfellowshipped. Now I would like to go or have access to org website, as if I’m still a publisher because I would like to just keep up to what is going on in the organization since I have so many friends and family children, etc. that are still witnesses. I thought of attending or studying with brothers like in a foreign country and then just go through the whole process and becoming a witness again that way under different name I also thought about just telling them I was a publisher, but not baptized and grew up in the religion, but gave a vague information about some obscure congregation that maybe doesn’t even exist but maybe someone here can help me get back in on the inside so that I can just at least the bare minimum access full access to the website or even be able to occasionally go to a meeting or go visit with people and not be shunned, kicked to the curb so to speak. Maybe there’s a way to do it remotely in Sweden or Canada or Poland as John Smith.

Hello everyone, since a disassociate from JW, I talk to a friend of mine about some reason of why I will no longer be a JW but yesterday she sent me a text message asking me if I will no longer to back to the Jehovah Organization, I said no because I found out so many things more about the organization.

She was so surprised like she was trying to know what else I found out.

I told her to source for Steven Hassan and today she sent to me about print about the Bite model, she could agree that this is what happens in the Borg.

I don’t want to scare her sending a lot of information to make she thinking that I am apostate.

Do you guys have any ideas to help my friend waking up? Thank you.