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Tim Murray wrote
on February 15, 2010 at 4:25am
Hey everyone I'm doing a research project on former Jehovah's Witnesses and was hoping for everyone's help. It's some general demographic information and then 20 questions. I have it in multiple choice form because I'm trying to realistically get results that can be tracked afterwards. So if you can try to select the various choices that are given here, if you need to put something else please pick the answer that best fits from the multiple choice then qualify underneath.

If you want to post the response here you can, you can send me a message through facebook, you can send me a message on youtube www.youtube.com/timkilgore or you can e-mail the response to me at exjwsurvey@hotmail.com

Finally I need your help, if you have friends on facebook or are in touch with people who are ex-Jehovah's Witnesses please refer them to my survey to fill out and send to me through all the methods possible. I'm trying to get as many responses as possible to avoid a biased sample. I'd like to get 1000 people to fill out the survey, then I'll post the results with charts and so forth, more than likely in a video on yourube.

Here's the survey:

Ex-Jehovah’s Witness Survey

General

A.) Name: (First name only please)

B.) Gender

9 Male
9 Female

C.) Age:

- 10-18
- 19-24
- 25-30
- 31-35
- 35-40
- 41-45
- 45-50
- 51-55
- 56-60
- 61-65
- 65 +

Questions:

1.) How were you introduced to Jehovah's Witnesses:

- Parents/Grandparents/Relatives were in before you were born and taught you
- Parents/Grandparents/Relatives converted when you were young and taught you
- Converted early in life (Teenage or earlier)
- Converted in your 20's
- Converted in your 30's
- Converted later in life

2.) How did you leave the religion:

- Disfellowshipped
- Disassociated
- Faded Away (slowly missed more and more meetings until you stopped going completely)
- Stopped attending all at once

3.) What Age did you leave?

- 10-18
- 19-24
- 25-30
- 31-35
- 35-40
- 41-45
- 45-50
- 51-55
- 56-60
- 61-65
- 65 +

4.) Were you Baptized

- Yes
- No

5.) What General reason did you leave the religion:

- Left for a boyfriend/girlfriend in the world, Fornicated with man/woman, General Fornication
- Was involved with Drugs/Drinking
- Wanted more Freedom (play school sports, date who you wanted, listen to music, etc.)
- Didn’t believe the teachings, not allowed to question the teachings, -disagreed with stance on social 9 issues, didn’t agree with things said in the magazines or on the platform.
- Felt the elders or organization abused their power, felt they took presidence over God, Problem with the way they organized the religion
- Left because of the people (saw too much hypocracy, too much gossip, passed over for some leadership role, was treated badly by those in the hall.)
- Depressed, Didn’t feel like doing all the things required of you, felt oppressed by the rules.
- Was abused physically, emotionally or sexually by someone in the hall and it was covered up.
- Rebelling against parents rules
- Other (Explain)

6.) How did you feel about the doctrine before leaving:

- Believed everything said was correct
- Believed there were more things right than wrong
- Believed there we more things wrong than right
- Believed everything was wrong
- Didn’t think about the doctrine

7.) Did your feelings about the doctrine effect the way you left?
- Yes
- No

8.) If you were disfellowshipped for sin, did your feelings on the doctrine effect you sinning in the first place?
- I sinned because I thought the doctrine was wrong as an easy way out
- My feelings on the doctrine strongly effected my willingness to sin to get out
- My feelings on the doctrine somewhat effected my willingness to sin
- I sinned because I wanted to and doctrine had nothing to do with it
- N/A

9.) Did you feel the religion was a cult before leaving?:

- I did not think they were a cult at all
- I saw a few similarities between the religion and a cult
- I saw many similarities between the religion and a cult
- I felt the religion was a cult by definition but a good religion which it didn’t apply
- I felt the religion was definitely a cult

10.) Did you research the religion's teachings after leaving?

- Yes
- No

11.) What are your feelings on the doctrine of the religion since leaving?

- I still feel the religion is the truth,
- The religion has some problems but only due to human imperfection,
- The religion has some problems with it’s teachings
- The religion has many problems with what it teaches
- The religion is like any other religion out there it has right and wrong in it
- The religion has a problem with nearly every teaching
- They might have one or two teachings that are still right if I strain hard enough to think about it
- They are totally wrong

12.) How do you feel about the organization since leaving?:

- They're God's channel
- They might have a couple of problems
- They have some problems but far more good than bad
- There are many problems but they slightly outweigh the bad
- There are many problems which slightly outweigh the good
- There are many problems which far outweigh the good
- They are no different than any other religion they have good and bad
- They are Totally wrong
- They are evil

13.) How do you feel about the people since leaving?:

- They're God's chosen people
- They are mostly good people
- They are good people with a few bad apples
- They have more good people than bad people
- They have more bad people than good people
- They are mostly bad people
- They are filled with liars and hypocrites
- They are no different than any other religion, they have good and bad
- They are misguided people and I feel sorry for them
- They are evil.

14.) Do you feel the religion is a cult now after leaving?:

- Yes they are definitely a cult
- They have most of the qualities of a cult
- They have some of the qualities of a cult
- They have a couple of the qualities of a cult
- They have some similarities to cults but they’re good so I don’t consider them a cult
- All religions are cults so why would they be any different.
- They are not a cult

15.) What is your opinion on the intelligence of those still in the Organization? :

- They're very intelligent they are the only people on Earth who found the truth
- They're somewhat intelligent
- They’re intelligent about biblical things but not so much in other things
- They're intelligent but purposely deny facts for their religion
- They are like idiot savants with the bible
- They're not very intelligent
- They're complete morons

16.) Are you happier now that you’re gone?

- I think every day about how happy I am to have left
- I think I’m much happier now that I’m gone
- I think I’m somewhat happier now that I’m gone
- I’m slightly happier now that I’m gone
- I’m not happier now that I’m gone
- I was much happier as a Jehovah’s Witness
- I’m miserable now and wish I could return to turn around my life.

17.) Do you feel that other than the fact you left the Jehovah’s Witnesses that they would agree with how you live your life?

- They would agree with everything in my life
- I do a few things they would not agree with
- I do quite a few things they would not agree with
- They would not agree with anything I do now


18.) If a Jehovah’s Witness approaches you to discuss their religion you’re more than likely do the following:

- Oh God, run away as fast as possible
- Tell them I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and feel they’re wrong
- Shatter their faith, what else would I do?
- Discuss in detail all the wrong things in their religion
- Give them a simple Not Interested
- Discuss their religion with them and take whatever they want to place, I remember being like that
- Tell them that I feel their religion is mostly right but not right for me
- Ask them for a bible study

19.) Would you consider returning?

- I plan to return one day
- I wish I could return
- It’s more than likely I’ll return
- It’s fifty/fifty that I will return
- It’s possible I could return
- It’s not very likely I’ll return but I don’t rule out anything
- It’s nearly impossible I’ll return but I guess anything’s possible
- When hell freezes over
- If I ever see another Kingdom Hall it would be too soon

20.) How do you feel about discussing your time as a Jehovah's Witness?:

- I Hate talking about my time as a Jehovah's Witness and will avoid the subject whenever possible
- I dislike talking about my upbringing strongly but will if absolutely necessary
- I dislike talking about my upbringing but will if prompted enough
- It's part of me I'll discuss it if it comes up
- I bring it up occasionally
- I’ll only talk about it with certain people who understand the circumstances
- I bring it up frequently
- I talk about it constantly
- Some Say I’m obsessed

Thanks so much everyone who can participate. The more people who participate the better more accurate view we'll have of why people leave, in what way they leave, and the real feelings of ex-Jehovah's Witnesses after they leave.

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