You may remember the story about the ex-Jehovah's Witness (JW) named Lauren Stuart and her family, who were all JWs and had left the organization but Lauren never seemed to mentally leave the JWs.
I blogged about her earlier this year and the link is here:
I found through the YouTube Channel of Kim/Mikey, video dated November 19, 2018, that the TV show called Investigation Discovery actually covered Lauren's story and provided a reenactment of how the police and detectives believed the murder/suicide unfolded. In case there was any doubt at the time about the reason for Lauren killing her family, her dog, and then turning the gun on herself, is detailed in that TV show. Yes, she started having doubts about leaving the JWs and essentially believed they were right about the end times, that the Great Tribulation and Armageddon were right at her doorstep and about to happen at any time. She felt that the only way out of their predicament of being ousted from the JW organization was to take the lives of her family and herself, since then [according to JW rules], her family would have a chance for everlasting life. Her fate would be in the hands of their God Jehovah who most likely would take pity on her for what she had done. However, this is up in the air with the JWs since they leave that up to Jehovah but would not conduct any type of memorial service for that person who committed suicide, even if they were still an active member of the congregation.
The link to the YT channel is below where Lauren is talked about and a link to the TV program that covered her story.
As we are now in the holiday season, many persons deal with depression and assessing their lives as we close out another year and move into the new year. Even active JWs suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts and many carry that out, my own cousin being one such victim of suicide as I have blogged about here before. He was born and raised a JW, went on to serve at Watchtower headquarters in New York called Bethel, where he had various positions until finally being assigned to the former Brooklyn headquarters as a tour guide. He came back to his home state, married, became an Elder and served for years before I found out much later that he suffered from depression and was deleted as an Elder. In 2017 he committed suicide and there was no JW memorial, nothing, he didn't exist in their eyes and I only found out about his suicide weeks after it happened. Since I am no longer a JW, I was not invited to his gravesite service just held by family members, no official memorial was held by his congregation.
Do not let the JWs steal your life now or your future. If you have finally made that decision to walk away from the JW religion, be proud you made that step to start thinking on your own. If you believe in the Bible, then that is your strength and resource. If you want to explore various spiritual paths, do that now. If you have anxiety around this holiday time of year, let that go now. Calm down and relax, you have no one pushing you to celebrate anything. Do not be intimidated by JW relatives or family that you need to return to Jehovah, but be kind in your responses. Tell them the JWs do not own "the truth", and that truth is found in Scriptures, not in any church of Christendom, which the JWs are a part of. All churches claiming to follow the teachings of Christ are a member of Christendom.
If you feel depression settling in, reach out to trusted non-JW friends, relatives or co-workers. Maybe join a gym, start a daily walk in the park or around your neighborhood and consider adopting a cat or dog to take the focus off of you and onto another living thing that needs your time and focus. Start writing down your feelings and impressions in a private journal that only you know about, maybe carry it in your backpack or keep it in your desk.
This is the time of year to take stock and think about planning a new path for yourself. Don't fall into bitterness or start thinking the JWs are right after all. They have been wrong for over 100 years of existence before they adopted the JW name and changed up the corporation that exists today that is very much involved in this system of things, their so-called Satan's world. Yes, the JWs are profiting off Satan's world and have amassed great fortune while the membership suffer and die, sometimes at their own hand.
If you feel you need to speak with someone, do not be shy about contacting your local suicide prevention center. Sometimes volunteering at a homeless shelter or animal shelter can help you put life in perspective and you will see how lucky you really are right now. You can and will be that person who escapes from the walls of the Watchtower corporation and you will be a success and inspiration to those around you.
The first step is to detach emotionally from the JWs, then work on the physical and plan your walk out of that Kingdom Hall and never return. They are wrong in their teachings, policies and beliefs. Convince yourself first, then introduce this concept to loved ones. But in the end, we can only save ourselves.
#laurenstuart #jehovah #JW
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