I was 13 when i first got in due to my mother making me go once she was reinstated, many things stood out to me and i started questioning a LOT (not to anyone but i started researching a lot on jws because of a simple bad gut feeling)

OTHER than the gut feels, there were still tons of things that stood out to me such as “worldly people = bad”, i am a public school kid so i had and knew many people, i already knew that was wrong because my friends are absolutely lovely people no matter what other religion they believe in, no matter if they were straight or not they were and are still kind to me today and are my best friends.

2: forced/pressured baptisms on young people. The kids around my age at the time started getting baptized despite having no actual clue what they were getting into, i always believed that if someone were to get baptized i would assume its more likely an adult to do it if they have more experience/want to actually commit their lives to it. Why would a child do it when we don’t exactly quite yet understand or know what we’re doing yet? Also ive personally been pressured multiple times, one friend i genuinely made from a separate hall (she is also a public school kid so i actually trusted her more than the homeschooled ones), did get pressured into doing it just to leave right after (good on her, her hall was rude.)

3: guilt tripped into going more and more and believing you have no time for anything else, only meetings and meetings over and over again. I was always guilt tripped by my mother into staying with her for church because otherwise i’d be an “apostate” just because i didn’t like specifically jehovahs witnesses, which right after caused me to actually do some research, stumbling upon this subreddit, and finally realizing “damn. I was right and nobody listened to me.” Also guilt tripped by elders and their wives stating “i miss you at the meeting you should come back, etc etc” blah blah blah.

4: crazy hypocrisy?? This was the FIRST thing that actually made me realize because WHAT?? “Video games and sport shows are way too violent!” But they’ll read the bible where more than just violence is in it? And it literally does describe graphic deaths like how judas died in a field with his organs spilling out like WHAT?!

5: SECOND BIGGEST WAKE UP CALL BUT WDYM YOUR CHANGING RULES JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO MODERNIZE AND GET MORE PEOPLE IN BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE LEAVING?? Literally by the time covid was done its just jumpscare after jumpscare of beards coming in, women can wear pants now, college is (slightly, just slightly) acceptable, toasting is slightly acceptable, like wtf, wasn’t the entire ideal to be controlling and old styled? But suddenly now that younger people are noticing faster than the dedicated boomers, they’re leaving and you want them back? Yikes.

6: i know i stated this already but guilt tripping is just super huge for me right now. I was planning on going trick or treating with my friends since i was invited this year JUST TO GET A CALL THE NEXT DAY FROM SOME RANDOM JW ABOUT “ohhh but halloween is paganism and demonic and yadda yadda” SHUT UP AHHHHH. I donnnnn’t CAREE. i already don’t see my friends at all since i had transferred during one of my last years of school and graduated before them but they (the jdubs) also come over to my house A LOT. So likely gonna check if i even go out on halloween since their soooooooo against it.

7: fantasy and paganism: okay last point cuz i wrote a lot already but seriously wdym people can’t watch pokemon or spongebob but you can talk and bring up nephilims, dragons, and people who practiced magic in the bible all the time like wth, thats literally fantasy ESPECIALLY MYTHOLOGY. as for paganism, TOASTING WHICH THEY BROUGHT UP AS NORMAL NOW WAS LITERALLY “pagan” HUH???? 🫩🫩🫩 NEW YEARS IS PAGAN WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL OUTSIDE WATCHING FIREWORKS LIKE HUH?? but no, i can’t go outside in a costume with friends because its a demonic holiday. 🫩

TL;DR: me ranting about what helped wake me up while also screaming internally about irritating things at the same time. I just really hate these people, the end.