But then too JW friends are not friends in the real sense of the word. Friendship is conditional. And when any relationship is conditional people just don't fully commit or invest themselves to it. And if you aren't fully committed or invested in the relationship how do you grieve its loss?
That's a good point.
Another thought I had:
I remember going to many a JW funeral but never really having any strong feelings about most of them because I wasn't a close friend of the deceased. It was just someone at the hall or from the area.
When your a JW, you have lots of acquaintances, but few real friends. So when someone from the hall's mother's uncle died, you went to the funeral but you really didn't know them. Funerals were an extension of the meetings...an excuse to network the religion.
That's not to say JWs didn't feel the loss or took it too lightly. I remember losing a couple of close friends when I was young. Losing someone young especially is painful. I was lost for a period. Both were tragic, sudden deaths. But because the resurrection crap was so ingrained in us, we refused to accept them as completely gone, just missing for awhile. It was emphasized that we would see them again. You hear that enough growing up and you believe it.
It wasn't until after leaving that I realize I would never see these people again and I went through another, albeit more subdued, grieving process. Still to this day, I get angry or upset when I think about them and how I foolishly thought I'd see them again.
