by Quillsky 24 Replies latest jw friends
i dont want them "coming after" me.... the LAST thing i want
is to have to deal with "shepherds".... shoot me first!
it would be nice, however, to continue to have social contact
with people who had no problem accepting my services in so
many regards, offered in genuine love and concern, instead
of having them reject me based on a cult's dictates...
i feel for them, but it is crap like that which almost makes
me wish there was a god who would repay....
There are some genuinely nice people in the congregations. They genuinely care about others. I don't have a problem with them. My problem lies with the organisation and what it claims to be truth and the way it deals with people who criticise it.
Well said cantleave....the hardest part for me has been to paint everything with one brush. I like what Ray said in COC and In Search For......they SAY you can leave whenever you want, and leave with dignity, but that is not the reality. Its like trying to leave the NAZI party in the 1930's - you can expect that the Gestapo is watching closely.
Not all elders are Pharisees, not all JW's are self-righteous A-holes, but I would find myself lumping them all together.
Actually my wife helped me with that one - she said "well, if all elders are a-holes, that means that you and your Dad were a-holes, and I know you weren't - you both were very sincere."
After that, I really started viewing things different - I despise the organization, but love many of the people in it. Even with them, you have to keep a healthy distance since you really dont know who to trust. My guard is up with everyone.......
I am at the point where I just want to be left alone by JW's - I just want my space right now and if I still have some REAL true friends, they will show themselves. Based on the many experiences here, I am not holding my breath - every JW has to decide "Who do you love" the organization or the person who left" - Well, unless someone keeps it way on the down low, they HAVE to choose the organization......therefore I am building relationships outside the organzation.
If I never see another one of those cockroaches again, it will be too soon. As is, they are probably praying to Jehovah that He shut the opposite sex out of my life, if not to get me back, at least so I will not be as happy as I otherwise could have been outside the cancer.
I don't give a shit if they come after me or not..that's probably why they don't make any attemps to see me...they are afraid I'll give'em a fat lip..or dot their eye..
Withih the context of the question asked, the principle of "love your enemies" comes into play. While the guilt feelings for leaving are being discarded by your own effort and the knowledge that the organization is wrong and very flawed, it seems to me that knocking the people who are still in is a waste of emotion. Each one has the right to come or go as they see fit. Once your decision to leave is made, it is useless for them to try to change your mund.
I don't want to be bothered by them, but at the same time it would be nice to think someone cared enough to check on you. The person that I thought was my best friend hasn't called or tried to get in touch with me in over a year now. So much for that relationship.
What Blondie and OWTO said.
Now, I prefer not to see them.
I don't give a rats ass whether they do come after me or not. But ... that should not suggest that if they ever show up I would not consider them fair game. See .. a good mindfuck is what they will get on top of some very interesting (EU) legal webbing.
But my guess is .. .they won't for the lack of neccesity.
Cheers
Borgia
I'd prefer to not have the elders say another word to me. There were a handful of cool people that I'll miss, but I have better friends now. It's regrettable. But it's just the nature of the beast.
No I don't want them coming after me. But I have no problem talking to them. It is them that tend to want to get away from me.
My Aunt told my Dad that she wanted to talk to me when she saw him at last year's DC. He said to me "I think she wants to talk to you about The Truth." I told my Dad "She isn't going to want to talk to me, then." He didn't ask why. He didn't have to. He knows why.
