I know you are interested in teenage experiences and I was in my 20s when I finally got up the guts to commit a sin for which I knew I'd be d/f'd. Yeah, I plotted my disfellowshipping. (I had been so successfully brain washed by then that it never occurred to me that I could just walk away.)

Long before I was baptized I hated being a JDub. But the way I'd been told 'if you've heard about Jehovah and don't get baptized he'll kill you'. Even back in the third grade I wished I hadn't heart about him until I was on my death bed.

Like someone else wrote I didn't leave because I 'loved the world', I left because I hated the incessant demands; the criticism, the gossip, the back biting, the self righteous attitudes and the judgementalism that the Watchtower fostered among its adherents so much that I was willing to take my chances outside in this 'wicked world'. Am I ever glad I did! My first year of freedom I met a couple of dear folks who without a word taught me what real friendship is. Until they died 40 years later we remained friends - and religion was never a topic of our many, many discussions.

They say that there are some things that should never be brought up. Religion and politics are the top two. I think I know why. Both of those topics divide people. There are so many interests to share with others why bother bringing particular topics up? Obviously I don't feel that way about this Forum. That's because here it is the very shared experiences of life within the WTBTS/JDub that bind us together.

Hugs, Grandma Cee Cee