Atheist Geek News » Advice for Atheists

Category Archives: XJW Advice

Serious advice and opinions for former Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Humanize Yourself In Four Steps When Evangelists Objectify You

  By | , ,
6 Comments

PerishWant to know one thing that many atheists and ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses have in common? Dealing with aggressive evangelists who objectify us (or who want us to play our assigned role in their idealized conversion scenario). Whether they realize it or not, many evangelists tend to pigeonhole others into categories that are easy for them to handle. To them, we cease to be Jim, Rob, or Cindy. We become the generic angry atheist, the generic Witness who was hurt by the Elders, or whatever. And they’ll deal with everyone they’ve lumped in those categories in exactly the same way–even many people they’ve known all their life. This is one of the most annoying and even offensive aspects of aggressive evangelism. It insulates the proselytizer from the convert’s point of view, but makes it impossible for you to have a real conversation with them because they aren’t actually hearing you any more. No one likes to be objectified. How can you turn things around when your closest evangelist starts to objectify you?

Continue reading →

How And Why Doubting Witnesses Can Fade From The Watchtower Society: Bigger, Better, And Uncut!

  By | ,
15 Comments

fading1Many of my ex-Jehovah’s Witness readers know that I have written some articles for Austin Cline’s About Atheism & Agnosticism web site. One of the more popular ones is called Jehovah’s Witness To Atheist: How Doubting Witnesses Can Fade, Avoid Shunning – Advice for Jehovah’s Witnesses on Fading from the Watchtower Society. That article was good (thanks, me!) but now I’ve got a bigger, better version for you right here on Atheist Geek News. So if you want to fade from your local Kingdom Hall to avoid being disfellowshipped without going all “The Fugitive” on your family and friends, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s the new list of tips for anyone who wants to fade peacefully into the night.

Continue reading →

Advice For Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses: How To Handle It When Jehovah’s Witnesses Confront You In Public Places

  By | ,
3 Comments

You glance down at those fresh chocolate covered doughnuts in the Bakery isle and begin to lick your lips. Then you feel something tug at your arm and you turn around in surprise. “You know those are no good for you,” the man tells you with a chuckle. Your heart sinks at his words. You aren’t disappointed because of the bad news. You already knew those doughnuts would ruin your delicate, apple-shaped figure. You recognize the man from your days as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. You know his smile is just a way of getting you to drop your guard in his presence. It isn’t working. “So,” he continues nonchalantly, “I haven’t heard from you in quite a while. Glad I caught you here today. You know, Jehovah loves you and…” Yeah, this isn’t a good day to be an ex-Jehovah’s Witness in the grocery store. That’s because Elder Overbearing here is about to get Medieval on your a*s and embarrass you in front of all of these shoppers. If you let him.
Continue reading →

Are Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses Really Just a Bunch Of No Good Apostates? Here Are 5 Ways We Can Prove The Watchtower Society Wrong.

  By | ,
39 Comments
apostate website

By now, most ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses (or Exxers) have noticed the Watchtower Society’s talent for hyperbole. The Society often depicts “worldly people” as bad associates who choose to dwell in a Satanic world of robbery, lies, and murder. While Jehovah’s Witnesses are portrayed as good, steadfast, and honest to a fault, always struggling to save an unappreciative world from itself. Rarely does the Society show us the middle ground where both sides actually dwell. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses really do take this point of view seriously. They may even start to wonder about the sort of person who would leave the Watchtower Society’s perfect world for the one that’s just outside their Kingdom Halls. In my experience, their conclusions about Exxers aren’t very pretty. To many Jehovah’s Witnesses, we’re all just a bunch of miserable apostates out to ruin their chance for eternal life in a paradise Earth. Are the Witnesses right about us? Even more importantly, are we doing more to prove them right than prove them wrong?

Continue reading →