I am rather new here, so I may be repeating a worn out subject. However, for me it is rather a new experience, since I have only just recently stopped going to the KH. My heart has never really been in it, though I am not in total disagreement and have made some nice friends in "the truth". I simply cannot maintain rigid lifestyle required to be acceptable - from the assocation with "worldy" friends (and I have several) down to the rediculous petty rules (like facial hair/grooming) that the WTS, not God, actually impose. My marriage to a sister was a fraud and her elder father supported her violent behaviour toward me (I had my faults too, of course, but I admitted them). She came out clean, I was reproved and stripped of priviledges for separating (now divorced). Anyway, let me get to the point ...
When it was evident I was fading and attendance was at an all time low, suddenly "the end is coming" and "this isn't the time" lectures began - mostly from my mother. It all starts off rather gentle, but as time goes on they turn up the heat. Have you noticed that over time JW relatives go from "we love you, we want you back" to "your going to perish in the end!" Love turns to anger very quickly. My mother recently approached me red-faced and said "for all I'm concerned, to us you are already dead." Wow ... what a beautiful spiritual paradise. I cannot imagine Jesus using those words, yet they call themselves Christians.
Now that they realize that talk is futile, other methods are now being used. I am currently in the process of moving out of my mother's home (for obvious reasons) and when she picked up my mail at the PO, she wrapped it in a WT that was open to an article entitled "Have you Left Jehovah?". When she realized I have a "worldly" girlfriend, she left a WT (or Awake) about immorality on the counter next to my car keys. She has collaborated with fellow JW reliatives (particularly my elder brother-in-law) to create methods to get me to return. They would rather me fake my way through and go through the motions rather than just be honest with them and with myself.
Everything that is happening makes me feel like I have been a part of a cult. Think about it - interrogation, methods of intimidation (death threats - armageddon), harsh judgements and labels.
The thing is, I never said that I was going to go out and start living some decadent, immoral lifestyle. I have a good job, supportive friends, a clean appearance, etc. But I am made to feel so dirty.
What are some of your experiences with this?