I was brought up as a JW by my dad and I was baptised in July I am now From a young age I knew that I had homosexual feelings, but I had no idea how intense these feelings would become. Many may recall the words in the young people ask book saying that this is just a phase some youngsters feel which they may grow out of.
I didn't, and I suppressed them for so long. Not only did my life feel like one big lie, but I became very guilty and upset about who I was, and how Jehovah felt about me. Whenever I heard talks about homosexuality, I would usually become saddened, but a part of me wished I could just live as I wanted to.
The Hardship of being a Gay Jehovah's Witness
It wasn't a feeling of rebellion; it was the feeling of love and care I desired. As time went on, the feelings continued to grow.
In September , my mental health became very bad. I hated being alive and I prayed so many times to Jehovah to take away these ever growing feelings. I threw myself into spiritual activities which I found helped a little but the feelings still remained. I reached such a desperate moment in my life and I just had no idea where to turn. I was afraid of what people would think of me. How would my dad react if he knew I was gay?
What would the elders say and do? If I found a sister would I be happy? I doubted it. One night 21 February , I was so torn and confused that I went into the bathroom, cried my eyes out and contemplated how I could end my life. After a few minutes, it dawned on me that if just lived my life how I wanted and stopped lying to myself and others about who I was, I may became happy again.
I believed this option was better than the alternative. The first page I saw was a story by a young man called Josh from Australia who had been in the same situation. When I finished reading his story, I was in tears but I felt a flicker of hope. I understood all the negative feelings and badness he felt.
I decided it was time.
Living as a gay Jehovah's Witness - My Story!
The next morning I woke feeling rather cheerful which was surprising. I forgot how it felt. From that moment on, I continued going to the meetings and on the ministry for about a month or so, until I realised that I had chosen to accept something that the JW's do not. I stopped going and realised that I needed to forge new friendships and revive old ones outside of the JW box. That night, I signed up for an online dating site and got in touch with a young man named Jack.
They require that both homosexual behavior and feelings be suppressed. That is:.
Homosexual Witnesses are expected to refrain from both sexual activity and sexual thoughts involving other persons of the same-sex. Although individuals with any orientation can choose celibacy, it is quite impossible for any person to totally control and eliminate their sexual feelings. The Witness' literal and restrictive interpretation of Jesus' statement places an immense emotional load on its heterosexual, bisexual, gay and lesbian membership who try to live up to the group's expectations.
Jim Moon is webmaster of A Common Bond , an international support group for ex-Jehovah's Witnesses who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Because of this, thousands of gay Witnesses are living lives of deeply closeted guilt, and fear of destruction by God. Those who choose to leave, or are expelled from the Witnesses face immediate isolation and shunning from family and friends. It is for this reason that ' A Common Bond ' was created - to offer support and comfort to those who once thought they were alone and condemned Gays and lesbians who have been kicked out of the JWs are in a special need for all the emotional and spiritual support they can get.
If JWs don't conform completely to the sect's doctrines and practices, including a strict prohibition against merely being gay, they are disfellowshipped, which is a severe punishment. It amounts to total ostracism. If detected, gays and lesbians who refuse to remain celibate are expected to repent of their actions and to refrain from same-sex behavior in the future. Those who refuse are almost inevitably disfellowshipped. The WTS expects all of its members to agree with and follow all of the requirements of the organization, which are based on the WTS' interpretation of the Bible.
If the disfellowshipped person is a family member, then they are treated normally within the family, except that they are made to understand that their actions are disapproved of. There is no discussion about church matters in their presence. This can have a devastating effect on a person whose entire religious, family and social life were grounded in the Society. As in most large religious organizations, official policies must be administered by junior officials within the local congregation.
Homosexuality as viewed by different Christian denominations
Some consider even celibate gays and lesbians as unsuitable for membership. It is used by congregation elders and traveling overseers. Pages 92 to 94 deal with " wrongdoing ", which they regard as increasing "in frequency and depravity In the area of sexual misconduct, they differentiate among three escalating levels of seriousness. In Page , the handbook covers the evidence required to convict an accused person.
Either two eyewitnesses or a confession of wrongdoing are adequate. However, evidence that "the accused stayed all night Their issue for FEB-8 commented on homosexuality, drawing a comparison between the pedophilia and homosexual orientation:. But one thing is clear: All humans are born with the tendency to succumb to wrong thinking and inclinations. A youth who desires to please God must therefore conform to his moral standards and shun immoral behavior, though doing so may be agonizingly difficult.
True, some individuals may very well be prone to homosexuality So is the desire for someone of the same sex. See also our essay on the Jehovah's Witnesses and same-sex marriage. The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
Recommended books. Same-sex marriage. True religion? Seasonal events Science vs. Hot Topics How is that specific religion any different from all the others when it comes to the gay issue? They are all intolerant as far as I know. None of them thought they had to tell the world about it. This article is about a personal matter, not a public one. The rest of your post is pure BS though. Well, now you know! I really detest christian extremists. They give God and Jesus a very bad name! One came after the other.
- The Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuality.
- The Hardship of being a Gay Jehovah's Witness.
- Coming Out as a Jehovah’s Witness.
- Gay student surprised his straight BFF wanted to be his spring formal date?
- Helping Families Understand Their LGBTQ Kids?
- Coming Out as a Jehovah’s Witness – My Kid Is Gay.
- cheap gay dating sites.
Do you understand that now? What strikes me about the Jehovah Witness faith, is that believers are not eligible to go to heaven. That number was limited to , believers most of whom are long dead. There are some videos on YouTube that explain how screwed up it gets and I recommend viewing at least one. By the way, apology accepted. No one is forced to be baptized.