Well I guess this was a long time in coming, but yesterday afternoon, my family all got together and had a bbq at my parents' home. When my parents left at around 6:00pm to drive my one non-Dub sister home, my other sister and brother in law (former elder), stayed for a while longer.
We've never discussed my leaving 'the Truth' a couple of years ago but she brought it up last night and we started talking about the religion. Everyone had been drinking but no one was drunk, so alot got said. She said she was concerned that I had stopped going and that I should really consider going back because I had a lot of friends there, and that I shouldn't 'let [myself] become so bitter' etc. etc. I told her that I had no intention of going back and tried explaining why. I told her that yes, I was bitter because I discovered that we had been lied to for years about all kinds of stuff.
She feels that, while they've made alot of mistakes, the bottom line is that she thinks Jehovah is saying 'will you remain faithful to me no matter what' and that's why she continues to go. I told her there is nothing that indicates at all that Jehovah is using this Organization or any organization. She replied that He's "always worked through an Organization". I said "Bullshit. What about Moses, Noah, Isaac, Abel, Elijah, Elisha, Jacob or Joseph? None of these men belonged to any 'Organization'---Jehovah worked through them as individuals. As per usual, when talking to a Witness, the topics went all over the place. The frustrating thing about talking to my sister, is that she KNOWS alot of their doctrines are bullshit. She's never believed that she'd be in the New System of Things instead of dying, she doesn't believe Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and doesn't give a rat's ass about their stupid things like beards.
At one point she said 'well, show me another religion that's better or that gives us the hope of seeing [our 3 siblings that died while all young] again." I said "for god's sake, every religion---even Islam, offers their followers the hope of seeing dead relatives again---Witnesses certainly don't have the monopoly on that!" She then went on about how the first century Christians were "united" or "organized" to preach. I told her that they also did charity work that the Witnesses don't do. I also asked her to please point me to a scripture that says they met for 5 frigging meetings a week and had to turn in a report as to how many hours they spent preaching, or how many scrolls they placed. I said "this is just another man made rule that they've put out there". She acknowledged that Rutherford was a drunken asshole and I told her about him sending a letter to either Hitler or one of his top henchment telling them how the Society has nothing to do with the Jews and how they stand for the same "high moral principles" as the Third Reich. She was disgusted but believed me. We then talked more about the heavy burdens they put on everyone and I said "they're worse that the Pharisees. How would you feel if you had 3 kids, had to work full time and had to do all the shit they tell you you're supposed to be doing? You'd have a nervous breakdown trying to do all that for god's sake." I then said "The Society has become the very evil that they've been preaching about for decades."
We then talked a bit about the pedophile problem. For some reason, she simply cannot get her mind around the idea that Witnesses who had been molested by fellow Christians, and who reported it to the police and spoke to Dateline, were DF'd for that and that alone. She still says "there's got to be more to it then that." I said "You didn't have a problem believing Dateline when they exposed the problem the Catholic Church was having, did you?" I told her about the recent settlement the WTS is involved in and told her I could get copies of the court case proving there was a cover up. She's very interested in seeing these papers. Oh man, I can't wait for Barbara Anderson's CD to get here!!! She also doesn't believe that the Society tells you that only those who were baptized before 1935 should take the emblems at the Memorial. I've got to get those links that talk about how many tens of thousands of Christians were martyred before the end of the 2nd century CE, and how the whole 1935 stuff is pure bullshit.
I can't remember all what was said, but I actually find it more difficult talking to her because she KNOWS alot of their teachings are bullshit, yet she still goes! I asked her at the end "If someone could prove to you that this wasn't The Truth, would you still continue to go?" She said "No."
What do you think is the best area I can focus on? As I've already mentioned, forget 1914----she's never believed that and she well remembers the whole 1975 fiasco, as she had numerous arguments with our father about it at that time----he believed it was coming in '75, she didn't.
I'm considering at one point, depending on how our next conversation goes, giving her CoC to read. I know what you're thinking, but don't worry----she's not going to turn me in. She said that last night and I know she wouldn't. If the assholes ever tried making her choose between me and the religion, she'd chose me---I know that for a fact. But oh man, I would love to be able to her her and my brother in law out of that shit hole of a religion.
Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.