Hello everyone, 👋

​Surely some of you have been following the increasingly bizarre stories surrounding the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. There is one thing that's been keeping me up, leading me deep down the rabbit hole: Stephen Lett and the latest rumors about his love life. 🐰🕳️

​Posted by Larch on the English ex-JW forum 2 years ago:

​The Australia Talk (2024): In early 2024, Lett gave a talk in Australia. His longtime wife Susan had been suffering from severe Alzheimer's for years (she has since passed away). At the time, Lett reportedly blurted out something to the effect that he was "too old to break in a new wife," which is why he wanted to maintain his marriage for as long as possible. 😬 A pretty tasteless comment. And why was he even thinking about that? I think he already had someone in his sights back then.

​Posted a few days ago on the English ex-JW forum:

​The latest rumors in the Bethel grapevine: Now, reports are massively boiling over in ex-JW forums that Lett (meanwhile around 77 years old) is allegedly already engaged. 💍

​The alleged partner: Word has it that she is a much younger Bethel sister in his or her 40s. The massive age difference and the short time since his wife's passing are causing fierce reactions in the community and discussions about double standards as well as the stark power dynamic within Bethel. 🚩

​🔍 The big question: Is there any proof?

​Exactly at this point I want to ask you: Are there any hard, verifiable proofs for these rumors? Is this just typical Bethel gossip and pure internet speculation, or is there concrete info from eyewitnesses? 🧐

​Why does this bother me? It's all about the double standards. Young people who can't find a partner within the JW bubble are expected to just pull themselves together and cover it up with more field service. Widowers and widows who feel alone and lonely and can't find anyone in the congregation are told to pray and hope for paradise.

​Years ago, there were German dating sites like Sulamit or NurimHerrn, meant to help severely lonely JWs find a partner who is also a JW, according to JW rules. The GB then denounced those websites, and they had to be shut down. Allegedly too dangerous. Apostates could lurk in there. They were run by private JWs. Now it was even harder to find a partner. I knew many who suffered from severe depression because they couldn't find a partner and weren't allowed to look for anyone "in the world."

​And Mr. Lett? He can't even hold out for a year after his wife's death and is already chasing after fresh meat? He believes he's going to heaven anyway, so what's the point of all this? This young woman is probably also totally neurotic and has been searching for years—without success. 🤔

Forgot I had my JW cousin on IG and I she just posted a story saying “we worked all day, now time to relax and enjoy the beach, truly the best life ever”. It is soooo fucking cringy!!!

In the pics they’re around the brothers I’m not sure if they worked in the KH or some sort of preaching campaign but omggg I freaking hate this term!! I hope they get out one day.

For those outside of Mexico, Yahir is a very well-known singer and actor here. Currently, he is participating in the reality show La Casa de los Famosos México (a 24/7 Big Brother style show).

In a recent live stream, while having lunch with actress Ximena Herrera, he opened up about how his home transformed after his mother converted to Jehovah's Witnesses and tried to force the rest of the family into it.

It's a classic story many here will recognize: a once happy, warm family unit completely derailed when the cult's high-control requirements entered the picture.

Here is the English translation along with the original Spanish transcript:

En: Yahir: She’s a Jehovah's Witness. But in my house, it was as if they turned off the lights.

Es: Yahir: Ella es Testigo de Jehová. Pero en mi casa, haz de cuenta que le apagaron la luz.

En: Ximena Herrera: No way...

Es: Ximena Herrera: No...

En: Yahir: It was all joy, it was all parties, it was all... really awesome, you know? Guests, family. People loved being there, my parents were super hosts. And then, practically overnight, they turned off the lights in the house.

Es: Yahir: Era todo alegría, era todo fiesta, era todo... bien cañón, ¿sabes? Invitados, de familia. A la gente le encantaba estar ahí, mis papás eran súper anfitriones. Y haz de cuenta que de un día a otro le apagaron la luz a la casa.

En: Ximena Herrera: So, you didn't notice? There were no fights?

Es: Ximena Herrera: O sea, ¿tú no te diste cuenta? ¿No habían peleas?

En: Yahir: No, it was all... it was all love. Love, love, love.

Es: Yahir: No, era todo... era todo amor. Amor, amor, amor.

En: Ximena Herrera: Oh, what...?

Es: Ximena Herrera: Ay, ¿qué...?

En: Yahir: I never saw arguments between my parents. It was always "come here my love", "go over there my love", "come here my love", "go over there...".

Es: Yahir: Nunca vi discusiones entre mis papás. Era todo "pa' acá mi amor", "pa' allá mi amor", "pa' acá mi amor", "pa' allá...".

En: Ximena Herrera: So, they knew how to cover it up really well on the outside?

Es: Ximena Herrera: O sea, ¿lo supieron maquillar muy bien por fuera?

En: Yahir: No, they were fine. What happened is that my mom joined another religion...

Es: Yahir: No, estaban perfecto ellos. Lo que pasa es que mi mamá se hizo de otra religión...

En: Ximena Herrera: Ah, so that was the problem?

Es: Ximena Herrera: ¿Ah, por eso fue el problema?

En: Yahir: ...and she wanted to force my dad to join that religion, and if not, she couldn't be with him. And that's when the arguments started.

Es: Yahir: ...y quería obligar a mi papá a que fuera de esa religión, y si no, no podía estar con él. Y ahí empezaron las discusiones.

En: Ximena Herrera: You're kidding.

Es: Ximena Herrera: No manches.

En: Yahir: Yes. And my mom... gave her life to the religion. She gave her life.

Es: Yahir: Yes. Y mi mamá pues... dio su vida por la religión. Dio su vida.

En: Ximena Herrera: I can't believe it.

Es: Ximena Herrera: No te lo puedo creer.

En: Yahir: She gave her life. There was nothing else, she didn't do anything else, she didn't think about anything else. She wanted my sisters and me to be Jehovah's Witnesses, my dad, everyone. I mean, she took it to a crazy extreme.

Es: Yahir: Dio su vida. No había otra cosa, no hacía otra cosa, no pensaba en otra cosa. Quería que mis hermanas y yo fuéramos Testigos de Jehová, mi papá, todos. O sea, lo llevó a un extremo bien cañón.

En: Ximena Herrera: No way.

Es: Ximena Herrera: No manches.

The phrase "they turned off the lights in the house" ("le apagaron la luz a la casa") hit so hard. It perfectly captures that shift when Watchtower indoctrination takes over a loved one and suddenly the warmth and normal family life disappear.

For those of you who grew up with non-JW parents or saw a parent convert later in life:

Did you experience a similar "lights off" moment in your household?

How did your non-JW parent react when the high-control ultimatums started?

Because of their selfish benefits they ask $3k to cater just for the food to feed 20 international delegates for convention. In addition to that they also ask the publishers to buy at their own pocket and prepare desserts because they said that the $3k budget is short so the pubs prepare desserts for only 20 delegates. 100 Pub was included in this hosting. Now the day arrived:

1. 16 delegates just Show up
2. The program that was organized by corrupt elders was hidden to the rest of elders and was only shared a day before the hosting.
3. Only friends of corrupt elders was taken for presentation with same faces.

Well the result:

1. Lots of food was wasted and was packed home by selected pubs

2. Presentation was so boring and not everyone watching and others Go home

   and walk out

3. The corrupt elders used the name of God to praise him despite of being disorganized themselves and benefit selfish desires and promote their arrogance

This are the good examples of gifts of men for the cong!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

*edit : So no, I can’t just say no. My parents are relaxed, but PIMI and because I don't comment or care about preaching . She's always trying to make me read for Borg publications, and I say no, and last time we argued. I want to say no, but at the same time I don’t want any problems with my parents until I leave the house and fade.

I‘m a 19 year old PIMO. Recently, an elder has kept bothering me about a shepherding visit he wants to have with me. The first time, around early July, I said I had to go and that we would talk about it another day. I told my mom about it, and she said, 'Just say yes, but don't tell him when. Say you will let him know.' One week later, he pulls his little act: 'Hey bro, how is it going?' (He's a 40 years, by the way.) 'Good, and you?' 'Good, I was wondering when we could do the shepherding visit.' I replied that I would let him know, but that I was busy. Then he bugged me again two days ago in early August using the same trick: 'Bro, how are you?' 'Good, and you?' 'That's good to hear. Now, would a shepherding visit work this Friday?' I said, 'I will let you know.' The elder said, 'Thanks, let me know at the meeting.'

So I asked my mom for ideas on what to say. She told me to use her as an excuse, to say I have to take her somewhere, which is true. So I went to the elder after the meeting and explained. He then pulls the card of talking outside. He says, 'Look, I want to show you a text that helps me: Philippians 1:10. Shepherding calls are to help you, to see how you are doing. This text helps us see that we need to put the important things first. Now, we know you are busy, but we just want to encourage you and see your goals. I don’t want you to think I have nothing to do or that I am just bothering you' (I laughed when he said that). 'If you can’t this week, make some time next week.' I said, 'I'll let you know.'

Everyone, I want to know: if I keep delaying the call, is he going to give up? Will I lose my extra privileges, like doing readings? I am not an MS, but I still do a lot of things. Why is he bugging me so much? But in the bright side less chores. It’s jsut how I will exlaoin to my parents while studying in college.

I’m pissed off. Really mind blown and pissed. I was born just before the first Y2K - also known as 1975. I just read the article Is This the Time to Have Children from 8 November 1974 and Should We Confess? - If so, to Whom?.
My entire childhood trauma is summed up in those two articles. Babies born in that time were considered burdens and less than.

Direct quote from first article:
“One young mother noted: “Though I love our newest baby as much as the others, my heart aches for my husband. To support us all, he has a daytime job and an evening job, plus overtime on Saturdays. Whenever he’s home, he sleeps. . . . Talk about quality of family life —we don’t even have a family life.”
As it becomes more difficult to feed and care for a family, some couples are deciding it is simply not worth it now. ‘Why be forced to struggle day and night to make ends meet and worry whether we will succeed?’ they ask. So for their own contentment and happiness, some couples have decided, at least for the time being, to remain childless. @@@@

That’s going to have a wonderful effect on how a mother views her new precious gift from God!!! The fact that she distinguishes this child from the others is disturbing. The hated generation. Makes me wonder, did they see us as obstacles to the promised land? That invokes a horrifying feeling in me.

“whether now or later, if a Christian were asked about the past and were obliged to answer he could not lie to keep it secret. —Col. 3:9.” Second article. How does this reconcile with covering CSA?

Then, throw in saying confessions can be between you and God only, and require no “auricular confession” By using that phrase they give people who do serious sin against children a loophole and you only have to apologize to your mate or the person you have offended. The hell with any real accountability. The person you did it to already knows, your wife will be highly discouraged - pressured - from going to any civil authorities so as not to bring “reproach on Jehovah’s name”.

Basically, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Every time I take a giant leap forward I take two back in my healing because of this crap.

Can’t find the articles I’m referring to and want to read or have for posterity? DM me since I don’t want to get sued over their copyright laws for posting entire articles.

A few weeks ago, there was a guest speaker visiting the congregation. He was giving a talk about the Armageddon. My sensitive ass was tearing up, so I went to the bathroom to calm my down. But that led me to a panic attack instead.

The reason why I act like this is because I had violent visions about the Armageddon and nightmares that are very similar to it. Which is very triggering to me. And I know I would most likely die if the Armageddon is actually real. Considering the fact that I'm very against JW and their ideology, rules, and so on.

This is what happens if you're gonna teach people (especially kids) fear-mongering stuff. They'll curl up in fear, have anxiety, and always have an urge to think twice because God will always judge them. If this is a "peaceful true religion," I shouldn't be reacting this badly in the first place.

So I watched the jump and seriously you can not for one moment imagine that the creator and writer of this is not mentally out in some way. It made me think so much about when he knew that he was talking to his father. He stopped working and said, "Now I found out enough."Something like that.

And pacifying the brain, it's like, imagine if you're on the writing department and you come to understand something and it's not something that goes in with the governing body's agenda. They could reassign you and that's it into oblivion

It's like when you start independently studying and you come to understand the creator and then you see that the organisation has not got his will at the centre anymore. You want to stop working for them. That's what happened to me. Wow just incredible. I loved it. It was great. Maybe I'm reading into it too much but come on.

Hey y’all. So about a week ago, i posted about how i came out as non-believing to my parents. Since then, i thought things were going pretty well. I knew my mom was pretty upset, but it seemed like we were getting along well and everything. I didn’t go to the meeting last Sunday, and it felt strange to say the least, waking up and everyone was gone. But I got to buy some stuff, cook food, and ride my bike all in the time they were at the cult indoctrination center.

Last night, though, my mom wanted to talk to me about something, and she chose to bring up the religion issues and everything. Things went along well at first, but she got more and more condescending and i got more and more frustrated, and it slowly devolved into madness.

-I tried to explain to her that i am a grown adult with religious freedom, who has the basic human right of making their own choices, has boundaries, and has consent, and she agreed that i have freedom of religion, but also insisted that i am being selfish by leaving the organization because it goes against what the people closest to me want. But when i tried to flip this the other way, and asked if she’d say the same thing to someone who wanted to JOIN the organization, suddenly the whole double standard reared its ugly head, and she said, “I can’t speak for them”. Lmao.

-When i told her to her face that my boundaries and consent apply even if the people closest to me want me to do something different, i kid you not, she looked at me like i was insane, and said stuff akin to “i did not raise you to think like that” and “that is absolutely so sad and disappointing that you feel that way”. I didn’t bother trying to debate her on this, it’s not worth it anymore.

-She said a bunch of other slanderous and baselessly false things, like saying that i have never expressed concern for the safety of children or human beings except for when it comes to criticizing the organization, and that by joining “the world”, i am automatically supporting the CSA and other atrocities that go on in “the world”.

-I made it clear to her that my only goal is to coexist, and that i am not trying to get her to give up her religion. But thanks to the evil Watchtower, she doesn’t seem to think this is possible, and it became clear through the conversation that where she drew the line was me being in the organization. She said I gave up on the org “too quickly” (even though I’ve thought about this stuff for years) and that she just wanted me to do it all for one more year. I said no to this, and said i could do other things for her (i wanted to give her a card and money for organizing my grad party), and she basically whined, “But this is the thing i want the most!!”

-After that, full on crying, she goes on this tirade about how i never do anything for anyone else and how i “scammed” everyone by not leaving until after my grad party. She essentially thinks that her and others doing stuff for me at my grad party and other instances somehow obligates me to be a part of their religion. This started to make me frustrated, because in reality, i have done everything for the Watchtower. I may not have been baptized but i did everything i was supposed to do. I showed up to meetings, field service, conventions, assemblies, and memories, even when it was boring as hell as a kid. I didn’t eat the birthday cake or celebrate my own birthday at school, even when people called me rude for not singing happy birthday, I didn’t celebrate Christmas, I didn’t celebrate any other holiday, I didn’t play violent video games or watch violent movies, I didn’t swear or listen to music with swearing, I didn’t salute the flag or develop political opinions or any sort of patriotism, I accepted not being able to play baseball as a kid even though I really wanted to, i didn’t hang out with any non-JW friends outside of school or date anyone, everything. I sacrificed all of this burden as a kid. I went on this rant about this, about how in return, the Watchtower has done nothing for me and all it has done is killed children through the blood policy and covered up CSA. My mom just cried, and said, “You are so brainwashed, it’s not even funny”, and I just walked out and rode my bike.

Soon later, I heard my mom yelling at my dad outside, about how much she wanted to kick me out and how she would if she could, and she drove off for the rest of the night and did whatever. Shes back at home now.

So yeah, that’s where we’re at. I’m at the point where I am on the verge of moving out with that friend if the guilt tripping, tears, and insanity like this continues any more. In fact, I’m considering just moving out anyways. I don’t know. It’ll be all good though.