Hello former brother or sister of mine. I am a former Jehovah’s Witness and there is information on this site that is critical of the publications and beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is not intended to be critical in an emotional way but rather an analytical one. There is discussion of logical fallacies, quotes taken out of context, mistakes, deliberate omissions, even deceptions in the publications of the Watchtower Society. These are not little slip-ups, they are issues that raise serious doubts about the entire foundation of the Witness belief system and even the inspired nature of the Bible. You have been warned.
Additionally, on my personal journal and other parts of this site I may write about my experiences and feelings related to how I have been treated by my family and friends since I left the Witnesses. This is simply my personal writing about my personal situation and personal feelings. It may offend you, but offense is not the intent.
While you may have been told that ex-Witnesses are all bitter and negative people who simply want to destroy your faith, this could not be further from the truth. I love the people I knew among the Witnesses and have lots of fond memories of pioneering, attending assemblies and feeling bonded by brotherhood. I miss that, to be honest. I miss it but I left for a specific reason and that reason is that I found out that the Witness theology was not supported by any evidence whatsoever and that all available evidence pointed to a dramatically different set of answers to the great questions of “how did we get here” and “why is there sickness and death”. I did not want to leave but I had been taught to be honest and to follow my conscience. The only honest way to respect my conscience once I was in possession of all the facts was to leave the Witnesses. This is something I did not do lightly and it is something I suggest that everybody who is thinking of leaving weighs very carefully. The people you love will suddenly become much harder to love when they treat you like dirt and assume you’ve lost your mind or turned into some sort of degenerate. They simply can’t fathom that they might actually be wrong. Unquestioning devotion to a cause is a dangerous thing but it’s a common enough phenomenon that it’s understandable. It simply hurts to be the victim of it.
There is other information on this site as well because I have lots of interests in my life. I love books, music, movies, writing, performing, even drawing and painting. I have a wonderful son, I program computers for a living, I have a collection of pipes, I love football… in short, I am a fairly well-rounded and multi-faceted person. I do not spend my days dwelling on the Witnesses or obsessing over how I was treated when I decided it wasn’t true. I understand that they are good people who honestly feel that what they are doing is right. I understand this because I was one for the first 30 years of my life. I’m still a bit blown away by the life I have today as it is not one I ever would have imagined, but as John Lennon says, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
It is my hope that as time goes on and the shock wears off that my life will continue with something like normality. The Witness related content on this site will decline and other things will take it’s place. There is just no room for living in the past or wondering what might have been. I was born a Witness, raised a Witness and baptized for 15 years. I’d like those years back, I’d like to live a life where I understood reality sooner, but there ain’t much I can do about it except live the next 30 well and that’s what I intend to do. So, if you still wish to visit my site, standing forewarned, please do. Understand, this isn’t an anti-Witness site, just a site about a guy who used to be your brother.
Ryan
More From Ryan Sutter
- Jehovah’s Witnesses Literature Banned as “Extremist” in Russia
- my last post as vioman
- an actual personal entry…
- what’s goin’ on…
- fear, hatred and bigotry
