Being raised a JW and my obsession with guns.
Side Note: I know that among exJWs we have mixed opinions on firearms that is not due to the religion and that's fine I don't expect everyone to agree with me.
Ever since I could remember I loved guns. I thought they were cool. I loved them so much that I said I wanted to be a cop when I grow up for the simple reason it would allow me to use a gun. But of course being raised a JW I quickly realized how Big J views guns. When my mom was conducting a Bible study I played with the child she was giving the study. Then my mom's study partner took the gun away from me and gave it back to the other child and I started crying because he was able to play with the toy gun and I was not.
Ever since that day I knew I shouldn't play with guns because Jehobo says they're bad. I knew that, yet I still couldn't resist the temptation. But eventually after praying to Jehobo and time went by. That obsession went away.
I know that we don't all agree on firearms but we should all agree on one thing. That when it comes to a life or death situation. We will in fact kill someone if necessary to protect our family. That's not the case with my mom. I asked my mom if the situation ever came where she had to kill someone to protect herself and her kids. She said she'd rather die than kill someone in self defense. That was one of the turning points where I said to myself that I couldn't be a JW anymore. Any parent who is not willing to kill to protect their child should not be a parent.
Now that I stopped believing in this religion one of the first things I did was get my FSC permit and buy a gun. After going to the shooting range for the first time my obsession with guns came back. All my life I had to restrain myself from doing what I loved the most. But now I finally felt free.