Hi everyone,
Oh.... how the saga goes on!! I swear we could write a novel about our life exiting the Watchtower!! OK..many of you read what happened..our house was egged and so was my sisters car that was parked here, and "frosty" was attacked!! This all done by witnesses on New Years Eve, who were at my JW neighbors home.
So.. last night one who did this came by to apologise. Mind you we felt he was sincere, but knew he probably only came over because he was caught. That brings us to today..about 11:00 am my husband got a call from the JW neighbor himself. He started in apologizing for the other night. But to our suprise he was not one of them that was outside doing this. He was inside. Remember it was really dark, and it was hard to make them out. All I knew for sure is whoever was laughing at our house that night, went inside his home. Anyway, he told us his version of what happened. He said the guys were downstairs playing cards, and one of his sons came down and asked him to come up and fix their playstation. So he went up there, and was gone for a little bit, and when he came back down, the guys were not at the table, but had gone outside. He claims he had no idea what they were doing, and only knew when they came back in laughing and told him what they did.
(Now what is interesting about this, is he told us who the other guy was..he is a well known builder in this town, as well as my sisters ex-husbands brother. That makes him blood, family, because he is the Uncle to my sisters kids!!. The other thing that makes this interesting is that the guy who came over last night to apologise never told us of this other guy. He lead us to believe and even told us it was his host, our JW neighbor that was involved. So right away, the credibility of the guy who came knocking last night, starts deteriorating! I feel like he was dishonest with us. Why did he fail to tell us who was really out there?? Could it be because he is a plumber, and the guy who feeds him work is that very builder??? HHMMMM. It gets better...)
So our neighbor proceeds to tell us that he got a call from a "wordly" neighbor who called him wanting to remain anonymous, saying he saw the whole thing and in fact has it on video!!!!!!!!!! Apparently, that is why he called his friend and said you were seen by a neighbor who is mad and you guys maybe in alot of trouble. And my JW neighbor was upset because now he looks bad to the neighbors! That is what spurred the first guy to come over last night! Somehow..I am not sure how, the local PO in their hall found out and called my JW neighbor and wanted to know who was involved etc. and said heads were going to roll!! So now the elders are involved!
(One of the guys even has bookstudy at his house! ) Anyhow, not five muniutes after he called my husband, the phone rings again!!!!! This time it was the guy who admitted pulling down and attacking frosty..mind you this guy is 44 or 45 years old! My husband asked him why he would do this, and he said I don't know we were just being stupid. I was hanging out with a bunch of younger (35ish) guys and we were just being dumb. My husband said, "What did I ever do against you?? Didn't I shake your hand at the fair and didn't we talk for 15 minutes or so??WhHat did I do to you??" He said nothing, that they were just being stupid. (Whatever..its a copout for the real reason! These are not teenage boys, these are middle aged men!)
Not 1/2 hour later the phone rings AGAIN!!! This time it was the other jerk!! The one we are related to?? The one who has bookstudy in his home! The very one who the PO has so eagerly taken under his wing after he was reinstated for cheating on his wife numerous times!!! He too apologised..and again my husband asked why?? He said he didn't know, it was just a prank..haven't you ever heard of people pulling pranks?? (Yeah, what ever!!!) He is almost 40 years old! This was not a high school prank! It was because we have left the organization and they are pissed off that we had the balls to leave and celebrate Christmas, something they could only dream of doing!!! (Can you tell I am mad??) He just kinda chuckled as he said,"Yeah I guess the Sherrif called the JW neighbor and said it was a misdeamenor (spelling??). And that it was punishable up to 30 days in jail as well as a fine if you wanted to press charges." His demenor was yeah, but you would never do that...ha,ha,ha.
We have had all day to think good and hard about this whole thing. It is all about the principle of it all. We were minding our own business, and they chose to do this. How come they didn't prank the other houses in the neighborhood? How come it was just our home?? It is because it is religious hatred! All three when pointedly asked if they would have come forward to apologise had they not have been caught, and every last one of them said.."I don't know!!!" I really feel that they know darn well they wouldn't. They ONLY came forward because they DID get caught. Only the guy who came to our house to apologise finally was honest enough to say it was because they did it because they were upset we were celebrating Christmas. That was the real reason!
The more we think about it, the more my dads words ring true. That is, that they chose to take it to the next level. They took it from being verbal, such as spreading lies and gossip, and calling us apostates, to the physical level. What happens if they go unpunished? The joke will be on us! They will laugh it off thinking they can bully us and we will not tell the authoruties. What happens when it is in the middle of the summer and they again throw a egg at our car, but this time the paint is the target. Ruined paint job?? I'd say so! Or what is to say they don't get a little more brave and slash a tire, or let the air out and we end up in a accident on the freeway with our daughter? A million things could be done! They may not do anything to us again, but what is to stop another JW from doing it to another one who has left the Borg?
So with that in mind, as of now, my husband and I are of the opinion, that perhaps we will go ahead and press charges! It was vandalism. It was a crime, and it is punishable by the law. These guys need to know that we are not going to be bullied after leaving their cult! By not doing anything, we are leaving the door open that says nothing will happen if you want to get your jollys off destroying someone elses property! And furthermore, by not allowing the law to take care of the matter, we are in effect allowing the elders to once again handle matters themselves, within the congregation, instead of being taken to the authorities, like they should be doing. Why is the PO not telling these guys they need to turn themselves in?? Instead I gaurentee you he has told every last one of them to call and say you are sorry, and if your lucky this may not go public.
I can only imagine the fear the elders have that we will take them to court! I don't know.. I think we should press charges.
Anyways.. I hope you, yours and all your "frostys" are safe and well!
Sincerely,
Lady Liberty