A Personal Message to All ExJWs



This is a serious time for us all. We’re being asked to look at ourselves, our unconscious acceptance of wrong, and our personal complicity. We always have room for improvement. We all need to change.

For ExJWs, this moment should feel familiar. We’ve been through the process of waking up before. We’ve struggled through the process of sacrificing our most precious beliefs to take a stand for what is right. We’ve shown that we’re willing to stretch ourselves to become more than we believed possible. This moment is upon us again.

Do you remember the process of questioning, investigating, deliberating, and choices that you went through when you left the organization? It took soul-searching, gut-wrenching, life-changing decisions, (some small, others larger) to reach the point you are at now. Would you change any of those decisions now? Even knowing the pain involved in that growth process, would you choose any other path?

Large changes are rarely planned. Who of us would ever have guessed on their baptism day they would leave the JW religion behind? Didn’t you feel for a certainty you would stay loyal to the organization for eternity? But, you didn’t resist the process of human growth that led you out of a harmful group. We didn’t let a group of men determine what we believed anymore. 

It’s not easy to change. We stumble. We catch ourselves. We apologize. We forgive. And, we move forward. We understand that everyone is growing and we will allow for that growth. We find new depths of compassion for all. We find a way to grow within, instead of using finger-pointing and blame.

We, as former cult members, are veterans when it comes to changing ourselves. We’re not finished growing. Humanity is starting to shift in a positive direction. But, it will only succeed if we all start caring for others more than ourselves, regardless of another person's race, language, country of origin, sexual identity, or spiritual beliefs.

We’ve already been through massive changes in our lives. Why not continue the investigation into your heart and find new ways to grow in compassion, empathy, self-sacrifice, and love?

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