As someone wise once said, it can sometimes take more courage to give in to our desires than to resist. I feel this is especially true for those who have been Jehovah's Witnesses, but who have managed to break free from the mental tyranny of so many needless Watchtower prohibitions. How many of us had a warped or in some sense stunted adolescence because of the mixed up views of sex the Watchtower instilled in us? And how many of us felt guitly or sinful just for reading books that are considered out of bounds. I can still remember the agitation/thrill of reading books like The Blind Watchmaker, Crisis of Conscience and Apocalypse Delayed when I was beginning my mental journey out of the Witness mindset: always looking over my shoulder, and worried if I had offended Jehovah irredeemably.
I can't help thinking about one brother I know in his 50s who is homosexual and has been resisting his desires all his life. In one sense I can't help but admire his tremendous determination and resolve. In another sense I also feel it would require real courage for him to break free and explore his sexuality freely. Is it strength or weakness that holds him back?
The Watchtower organization would label those who no longer accept their prohibitions as deviants with no self-control, and even "mentally diseased". Rather I say that people who manage that ordeal of transition from the grip of the Watchtower's mental tyranny should be praised for their outstanding courage. There need be no shame in exploring ourselves - on the contrary it takes real courage to enjoy it.
So I propose this anthem for courageous people everywhere who have broken with Watchtower puritanism and thought control and dared to enjoy: