When I was about 7 years old some JW's came to my grandmother's house way out in the country, the rural area of Clover, SC. They introduced themselves
and spent a few minutes talking, after a moment my grandmother picked up a broom and beat them back to their cars! I wondered who these people were that they
would cause my normally docile grandma to behave in such a way. Years later my mother when speaking of my dad said "he's one of those (J)hovies and
you'll do well to stay away from him". Jump forward to high school. I was attending Socastee High School on Myrtle Beach, SC. I was attending the
off-campus Career Center where I met Jeanne M. She was blonde, beautiful and I was instantly attracted to her. Through her classmates at school I found out
where she worked and that she was also a JW. I was intrigued. Could God be finally stepping into my life and providing me with the answers I needed and also
a hot girlfriend to boot?! I figured that since she went to Myrtle Beach High, she must also live in Myrtle Beach (students at the Career Center came from
different schools, not just mine) there must be a local church. So I searched the yellow pages and eventually found the address. Summoning the courage I
called and asked when their Sunday meetinsg were and was told 10:30 am. Myself and a friend dressed in our finest suits and went to the KH that very next
Sunday. We came in a bit late and sat down, stayed for the talk and then the WT study. I even raised my hand twice and answered a few questions from the
paragraphs and sung my first song, #8 "Loyally Submitting To Theocratic Order " I came away with 2 conclusions: 1) that JW meetings are simple and
that 2) JW's cannot carry a tune in a bucket. After the meeting I met this young sister and tried to speak with her to no avail. An Elder ,(his name is
Dwight R. Causey), intercepted me and explained from the book "Your Youth-Getting The Best Out of It" Why she couldn't go with me to the School
Prom (which was my intention all along) and what her religion meant to her. She didn't want to be a "door that swung open for anyone, but her
husband". He asked me if I wanted a Bible Study and I accepted. My friend who came with me was later told by his parents that if he ever went back to the
KH they would disinherit him (very serious since they were very well to do).
I studied with this Elder for 6 months, went thru the Baptismal questions and was turned down for baptism. I was told I wasn't attending enough meetings, (I asked how many are required, they said there was no pre-determined amount), I wasn't going out into field service enough (How much did I need to do--I was told there wasn't a specific amount required) and that I wasn't commenting enough ( I asked how many comments were needed and again was told there wasn't a set requirment for that either). Suffice to say I felt like I had been misled so I stopped going altogether and enrolled in the USMC at my parent's bidding.
While in basic training I had a crisis of conscience about killing people in combat (this being due to my JW education) and decided to stop training and leave as a Conscientious Objector. How I have beat myself up over that decision since then.
A few months later after I was discharged I met the same Elder again and tried to resume my study, but since I now lived in Surfside Beach, I had to go to that KH instead. So I went and started studying with a much older gentleman who was in his 70's and who had been a Special Pioneer in St. Lucia and was well versed and well respected in the congregation. His name was Willis Carter. I studied 3 books this time and we used the Bible extensively. I came away with far more knowledge than I ever had under Dwight and a better understanding of why the Elders didn't consider me for baptism. I had been leading a double-life and although I was careful, somehow they knew something was amiss.
Finally I was baptized on July 18, 1991 at the "Lovers Of Freedom" District Convention in Columbia, SC.
Through it all I tried to be a good Brother, making many friends but always questioning everything (as is still my nature today), tested with a high I.Q. when I was a child, I was not the sort of person the "let Jehovah take care of it" for I reasoned that in the Bible, God many times used humans as his messengers to set matters straight on various things, so why not now?
To make a long story short, I left the Organization because I wasn't sure it was "The Truth" anymore and set out to find what the real truth was if any.
Through the years I have run across many ex-JW sites and books and come to the great realization that there is no great all encompassing Truth. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be our guide and our own conscience (if trained by the Bible) would commend or condemn us for our actions. Paul said that "those who practice the things of the Law, while not having the Law are a Law unto themselves". This leads me to the conclusion that if I love God by loving my neighbor then I am doing all that is humanly possible and am pleasing to the Lord. Solomon also said that "to the making of many books there is no end and is tiresome to the soul", thus disproving the need for the various WT magazines, books and whatever else that I was constantly bombarded with. The Bible is all I need until "he that is complete arrives".
I studied with this Elder for 6 months, went thru the Baptismal questions and was turned down for baptism. I was told I wasn't attending enough meetings, (I asked how many are required, they said there was no pre-determined amount), I wasn't going out into field service enough (How much did I need to do--I was told there wasn't a specific amount required) and that I wasn't commenting enough ( I asked how many comments were needed and again was told there wasn't a set requirment for that either). Suffice to say I felt like I had been misled so I stopped going altogether and enrolled in the USMC at my parent's bidding.
While in basic training I had a crisis of conscience about killing people in combat (this being due to my JW education) and decided to stop training and leave as a Conscientious Objector. How I have beat myself up over that decision since then.
A few months later after I was discharged I met the same Elder again and tried to resume my study, but since I now lived in Surfside Beach, I had to go to that KH instead. So I went and started studying with a much older gentleman who was in his 70's and who had been a Special Pioneer in St. Lucia and was well versed and well respected in the congregation. His name was Willis Carter. I studied 3 books this time and we used the Bible extensively. I came away with far more knowledge than I ever had under Dwight and a better understanding of why the Elders didn't consider me for baptism. I had been leading a double-life and although I was careful, somehow they knew something was amiss.
Finally I was baptized on July 18, 1991 at the "Lovers Of Freedom" District Convention in Columbia, SC.
Through it all I tried to be a good Brother, making many friends but always questioning everything (as is still my nature today), tested with a high I.Q. when I was a child, I was not the sort of person the "let Jehovah take care of it" for I reasoned that in the Bible, God many times used humans as his messengers to set matters straight on various things, so why not now?
To make a long story short, I left the Organization because I wasn't sure it was "The Truth" anymore and set out to find what the real truth was if any.
Through the years I have run across many ex-JW sites and books and come to the great realization that there is no great all encompassing Truth. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be our guide and our own conscience (if trained by the Bible) would commend or condemn us for our actions. Paul said that "those who practice the things of the Law, while not having the Law are a Law unto themselves". This leads me to the conclusion that if I love God by loving my neighbor then I am doing all that is humanly possible and am pleasing to the Lord. Solomon also said that "to the making of many books there is no end and is tiresome to the soul", thus disproving the need for the various WT magazines, books and whatever else that I was constantly bombarded with. The Bible is all I need until "he that is complete arrives".
