On the verge of leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses

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Wait, what? You will stay with the JWs because no body talked to you? Is that the reason you went to Mass?

Peace!!!
 
I have had dealings with them in the past. They would come to the house once a week to speak to my wife. I came to know their faith little by little. Seemed to me more of a cult than a free practicing worship. No holidays, no having freinds outside their faith and entrapment if you dissagree or attempt to leave them. They will have your own family shun you. No thank you, i enjoy my freedom.
 
Never baptized, but born and raised. I left a few months short of my 17th birthday.
 
Remember that the ones (us) who go to Mass are the sinners, that’s why we need it.

Also, nobody knows you in the parish yet, maybe that’s why no one would talk to you outside of small talk. It’s just a human error, as I’ve said.
 
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How did you expect people to behave towards you? Why did you expect that?

It seems very strange that your response should be this and makes me seriously consider whether your OP was honest. I suspect a rather unusual agenda going on here. I think if I went to a Kingdom Hall I would not be treated the way you were. I think they would treat me with great suspicion.
 
You went incognito, perhaps people sensed you wanted to be left alone.

Seriously, most people go to mass, maybe say hi to their friends and then leave. Perhaps it’s unfortunate, but that’s our Catholic habit. Few of us feel comfortable walking up to a random stranger after mass and starting a conversation. Priests are often very busy after mass, they have time to say hello and that’s about it. Often. having another mass or something else scheduled.

At the end of the day, you have to decide where you will find the Truth.
 
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My wife and I had the same experience. It immediately dawned on us that it was a good thing. People weren’t there for socializing. They weren’t there to gossip. They most certainly weren’t there to see me. They were there to participate in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us all that extends beyond time and space.
 
Please, do not let that put you off.

I do not know how it is at a JW service, but in the Protestant tradition, there are plenty of churches where the social aspect of worship is important.

It often does not happen to the same extent, or in the same way, in Catholic parishes. It took me about six months of regular mass attendance before I started to get to know some of the parishioners.

But friendships do end up forming, if you are looking for them.
Tom7 said:
Jesus said you will know his disciples if they have love amongst themselves.
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There are many ways of showing love. It took me some time to recognize that a less demonstrative kind of love, a love that is content with sitting together, praying together, and becoming the Body of Christ together, is also love, but it is. It just manifests itself differently.
 
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Tom7 said:
Well I went. No one spoke to me, no one gave me eye contact, I tried to talk to the Priest who told me he was leaving in two weeks and handed me a sheet with the website on it.
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please remember that to a Catholic the Mass is not a social event. The entire focus is on worship, not on fellowship. Fellowship takes place outside of Mass within the church ministries. If the priest was being transferred he wouldn’t be able to help you as he would be gone.

Call the church office and ask about RCIA. These are the classes that are taught to people who are inquiring about the Catholic Church. You don’t have to join at the end of the session in the Spring but you will meet people and get some answers.

Leaving a group like the JW is very, very hard because they practice shunning. Losing family is very painful, yet Jesus said we are to love him more than family.

Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting
 
TomH1 said:
How did you expect people to behave towards you? Why did you expect that?

It seems very strange that your response should be this and makes me seriously consider whether your OP was honest. I suspect a rather unusual agenda going on here. I think if I went to a Kingdom Hall I would not be treated the way you were. I think they would treat me with great suspicion.
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No, more than likely they’d swarm you to try to get you into a Bible study. At least that’s the way it used to be. I think the poster probably just finds his treatment peculiar and dismissive from his point of view, and is judging the local church by how the Kingdom Hall functions. That being said, there’s a reason why JWs behave this way, it’s to swoop in as quickly as possible, and, well, I’ll be blunt, overwhelm you. I’ve seen people go all the way through and it’s only after baptism that they actually realize what they’ve agreed to.
 
niceatheist said:
That being said, there’s a reason why JWs behave this way, it’s to swoop in as quickly as possible, and, well, I’ll be blunt, overwhelm you. I’ve seen people go all the way through and it’s only after baptism that they actually realize what they’ve agreed to.
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This has been my experience with the Mormons as well (I’m a former member). It’s “love bombing” the fresh faces who are seen more in terms of a number to be added to their proselytizing efforts than a person to be genuinely loved. I’d venture to guess that this practice is common to most cults.

I was also expecting the same treatment my first few times attending Mass as the Mormon way of encircling fresh faces and immediately making them feel like rockstars was the only way I knew. Unlike the OP I was afraid that this was what was going to happen. To my pleasant surprise it didn’t and I was able to continue attending Mass without that anxiety.
 
I’m not even Catholic, but I’m rolling my eyes hard here, Tom7. On the scale of reasons to never further explore a belief, this one doesn’t even make sense. You visited one parish one time. Your one experience of people not love bombing you is not a valid reason to not do anything. Just be honest and admit you didn’t have any intentions of further exploring anything from the get go.
 
If I was seriously pondering converting to any religion, the idea that I’d be “love bombed” would terrify and appall me. I’m a bit of an introvert and very shy in person, and being mobbed by well wishers would freak me right out. That would probably drive me away a lot quicker than a more restrained response.

What I’ve been told by numerous people about becoming interested in Catholicism is to schedule a private meeting with the priest, as much as anything, i suppose for him to take your temperature. Evangelism means something different in Catholicism, or so I can see, than it does in some of the proselytizing Protestant sects.
 
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Hi. The link you gave was a long video ( hope you didn’t say it was 15 minutes long so we would watch it😯) …can’t watch the whole thing. I see in these two men a love for the Bible. I just could never call God Jehovah. I love how Jesus has taught us to call God…Father or Abba. I love the reality of a relationship with the blessed Trinity. Father, Son and holy Spirit but one God. Thanks very much, maybe will be able to finally watch the talk one day. Peace brother. God loves you and if you enter into the Catholic faith…you will have every grace you need to do his will. But always be upfront in your pursuit of truth.
 
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I have never been in a Kingdom Hall and I have no intention of going to one. Because they are effectively a cult I assumed a new face would be treated with some caution as they tried to work out why you were there.

When they knock on our front door, which these days is much rarer than in years gone by, they simply turn around and walk away when I tell them I am a Catholic.

I generally find them to be cowards. Perhaps it is something lacking in their training. They always seem happy to attempt to proselytise people who may be generally ignorant of their beliefs. However, as soon as you attempt to engage them in honest discussion they become evasive and find some excuse to scuttle off.
 
Tom7 said:
Well I went. No one spoke to me, no one gave me eye contact, I tried to talk to the Priest who told me he was leaving in two weeks and handed me a sheet with the website on it.
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As so many other’s have said, we Catholics do not view Mass as a social event. We are there (or should be) to participate in the Mass. It is not unusual that no spoke to you. I’ve been Catholic a long time and rarely do people speak to me at Mass. I duck out the side door as soon as the choir ends so I don’t make it easy. Any visiting done will be in the gathering space or outside the church.

Another thing to remember, the Catholic Church is the same everywhere (the Roman CC). A stranger in Mass is not an unusual event. If I was in another city I could go to Mass and just not stand out. As Catholics we have an obligation to attend Mass, even when we travel as long as it is possible.

Do not give up. The Truth is worth some discomfort.
 
Tom7 said:
I simply cannot stand it anymore. We had a video at one of our services that said along the lines of “trust us because Jehovah selected the Governing Body and Jehovah’s directions comes through us.”

That equates to being inspired does it not? Is this not extreme blaspheme? I cannot stand it anymore but leaving is not simple when all your family and friends are part of it and will distance themselves from me for leaving.”

I just needed to rant.
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I suppose “Jehovah” was incorrect then, when he told the JW’s (on 6 different occasions) that the world was going to end.

The JW’s have wrongly predicted the end of the world 6 times. See article:

 
I have my mother’s entire side of the family who are all Jehovah’s witness. I have uncles who are elders or leaders who have tried to convert me on many occasions. Most of them came out of the CC.

But I have a question. Is finding the correct magisterium the way to know if you are in the right place?
 
Hello
Maybe my response was too brief. I felt that if someone truly just partook of the body and blood of Jesus that they would be overwhelmed with love would they not? It appeared to be a mere ritual which is why I struggled. I was disappointed because of the huge risk that I took in attending and was left without guidance. I’ll probably give it another shot. The indoctrination that we go through is intense. I wasn’t posting for sinister motives as one poster seemed to accuse me of.
 
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