The point is, that institutionalized religions are at some point in their foundational core, all about the institution. It can't ultimately be about you. And if it is about them, they can never be about truth.

Do you really think that god puts institutions over you? I can't bring myself to believe that. Do you think that the truthiness of organized religion (which at its core is all about them, not you) is more important then your personal truth? Would god agree that a religious institution is more important then its people?

Great stuff, Jeff! I've been thinking along the same lines for some years now. In fact, when I look back, I think I've been searching for, and finding, my own personal truth since my teens, which explains why I was always such a misfit in the JW congregation! I was being myself and didn't fit it. So I was a nonconformist back then already, and as I've had to work through various health problems and issues over the past 20+ years, I've continued that search for my own personal truth - just to get me through and to survive.

That's when I realized my personal truth was taking me further and further away from the institutional truth of the JW organization, and it became obvious to me that the whole organization thing can't be right.

If we're supposed to develop a pesonal relationship with God, then to me that already implies finding your own personal truth, developing your own spirituality, concept and feelings about God. And of course, those who don't believe in God at all can develop their own individual truth as well, but because we're all so different and our perceptions of the world are formed by our life experiences and thousands of other factors, it's just not possible to put everyone in the same basket. God would have to deal with each person as an individual, according to their own personal truth.

This reminds me of a really good book I read not long ago which inspired me:

"The Lens of Perception - A User's Guide to Higher Consciousness" by Hal Zina Bennett, for anyone who's interested.

It starts off explaining to total beginners (eg JWs) that not everyone sees the world the way you do, and just because they don't, doesn't mean they're wrong and you're right. Apparently many people have a problem with that.

Then it goes on to explain how we all have our own perception of the world, and it can keep changing as we go through life. You can help it along by becoming aware of your own perception and working to widen or expand it in order to improve your outlook on life.