He said:
Its been a while, I've not heard from you. I hope that you are back and have been reinstated. Been wanting to talk to you for, well literally years now. If your still disfellowshiped then clearly I can't speak to you. But if your back I would love to catch up. I've been debating if I should send this email for a couple of years now, you know how sensitive this can be. I hope you've come back, I've got so much to talk about. I miss my friend.
I considered replying with:
I wouldn't go back to your ridiculous cult for anything, and if the only reason you wanted to talk to me was that I'd make you feel good about wasting your tedious life in it, you were never my friend. Now feck off and don't ever contact me again, moron.
But that was a bit harsh so I tried again:
You're going to grow old and die, and just before you do, you're going to wonder if you spent your life the right way. Live with the possibility in mind that you're wrong about the armageddon thing.
My husband suggested:
Why do I have to be the one to change so that you can talk to me? Why don't you just get over it and start making your own decisions, instead of mindlessly doing what faraway uncaring men in Bethel tell you to?
But I know how precious he is so I thought maybe:
I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. Do I know you?Then I got angry again:
Ben! I'd tell you that it's good to hear from you but it isn't. You freaks are still always able to completely mess up my day. I'd tell you why you're better off in reality but you're so brainwashed you'd delete the email before you finished it. Please delete my address now. If you ever get over yourself, you'll understand why I couldn't bear to spend any time wondering if you'll contact me again. I accept your apology fifty years in advance of it.
By later in the day I was ready to be nice:
Ben! I hope you're well and doing great. I'm loving life, love, marriage, and feeling really great about the future. I remember that you were depressed way back then. I'm so far beyond all that now and I really hope that you can work it out too . Listen; everybody dies, and even though you 'know I'm wrong', you will too. It isn't a big deal - most likely you'll have a long life, and if you're smart you'll not only be prepared for it, you'll really love the bit that happens first! Just live your life in a way that makes the most of your time. I forgive you in advance. All the best.The final edit. I wanted to give him a dozen cognitive dissonance pills. Now that I read it again, I think went a bit too far with the sunshine, which isn't really me, but he wasn't ever bright enough to work that out.
Ben , what a surprise ! I hope you're well and doing great. I'm just loving life, love, marriage, study, and I'm feeling really happy about the future. I remember you as being very depressed. I'm far past all that now and really hope that you can work it out one day too . You've got to control your own life to be happy, and you can't kid yourself about what that means or you'll waste many more years . E ven though you 'know I'm wrong', everybody dies and you will too , but it isn't a big deal - most likely you'll have a long life, and if you're smart you'll not only be ready for it, you'll really love the spectacular bit that happens first called life ! BTW: I forgive you. You won't get that until long after you've deleted my contact details, and that's ok too . Enjoy your life, and be honest with yourself . All the best !I can forgive these retards and still think of them as retards, right?