Last night I was at a friends house (ex-Witnesses). They faded several years ago, much to her parents and her children's annoyance. Her parents live out west but were coming to Toronto for a visit. She speaks to them about once a month on the phone (she calls them---they rarely, if ever call her ever since she stopped going to the meetings). She was waiting for a phonecall from them as she knew approximately when they would be visiting her other sister, who still goes. The call never came. She found out through her son, a self-righteous, pompous asshole, that he took it upon himself to tell his grandparents that his mother smoked. Her parents came to see their worldly siblings, who live 3 streets over from my friend and they never even bothered to come and see her. No phone call, no nothing. They refused to inquire about their new great-grandson, because their grandson also left the Borg and he and his girlfriend had the baby out of wedlock (gasp!). The real killer is that all of her siblings----who were raised in "the Troof", all smoke themselves!! What the HELL is the difference?? Because she was baptized at 16---her siblings weren't.
My girlfriend was shocked, angry and upset to say the least. Her other siblings also left the Borg years and years ago, yet her parents spent time with them when they were up here. She told me last night that as far as she's concerned, she has no mother or father anymore and will not go to their funeral when they die. I think it's appalling that all these "superfine Christians" go far beyond "what is written", and totally cut their own flesh and blood off over something stupid like smoking. I'd also like to smash my girlfriend's son in the face for telling his grandparents about her smoking. He knew damn well what the result would be. And BTW, he won't let my girlfriend see her grandkids anymore either, because she smokes, even though she's promised that she will not smoke in front of them.
Agape love at it's finest eh?