Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 1
David says “90% or more ex-JWs don’t continue to follow Jehovah…they die spiritually”; what do you think is happening in the heart and mind that makes leaving an error-prone religious system become, for many, an exit from God altogether?
Another way to ask: Why do you think many people who leave an error-filled religion end up leaving God too? What might be going on in their thoughts and feelings?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s teaching, many ex-JWs leave not only an organization but the entire worldview the organization built into them, so when “the impossible has happened” (the organization is wrong), their faith collapses with it.
- He says “90% or more ex-JWs don’t continue to follow Jehovah…They lose their faith in the Bible, and many lose their faith in Jehovah altogether.”
- The transcript explains why: JWs were taught “there is no spiritual light outside the organization…if Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t it, nothing is.”
- He claims loyalty was trained as “loyalty to the organization…Not loyalty to Jehovah, not loyalty to Christ.”
- When the organization is discovered to be flawed, it triggers a chain reaction: “if the organization can be wrong, then so can the Scriptures…maybe there’s no God.”
- He describes a lack of spiritual readiness: they were “not prepared to stand on their own two feet spiritually,” having been “totally dependent upon them for…nourishment.”