Since my character is part of the issues that have been addressed by several posters, I thought that I would clear this up:
Teejay said: Conclusion: No more insulting than you when you mentioned that one has to wonder about someone who'd pick the screen name "Amazing."I am not sure if Teejay shares agreement with what he quoted, but for discussion sake, I will treat it as though he does. Correct me if I am wrong about your view Teejay.
Outnfree said: I had the honor of meeting Amazing (by the way, waiting, I got the impression that his screen name was not a reference to himself, but rather the response he felt --“Amazing!!!” -- when the scales began to fall from his eyes about the WT’s duplicity. A rather typical response, I dare say.) and know that he is not pompous or condescending in person, but quiet, thoughtful, serious, and in severe distress over the hurts that WT policy has caused for many of its members.How I selected the name "Amazing": I worked with a fellow engineer in San Francisco who often used the phrase: "Simply Amazing" when it came to social or political issues that struck him with amazement.
When I joined H20, I initially used the term "Simply Amazing" because it captured my reactions to many things I have been learning as a result of leaving the JW religion. Some here may recall my initial use of the full term. I tried to boil it down to "SA" while still on H20, but it never stuck. The term "Amazing" did. I have given this explanation in the past when asked about the reason our screen names on H20 and JWD.
If you read the balance of Outnfree comments about me, she mentions my flaws as she sees them, and is still able to remain objective about me. I have noted all the way through Teejay's comments about me that every aspect of my character is now suspect, from distrust of al my prior posts to even the selection of my screen name as evidence of some self-serving vanity.
I see a larger picture where some are able to find the middle ground, while others seem to move one extreme to the other. For extremists JWs: Watchtower could do no wrong. Upon becoming ex-JWs, these same extremists feel that Watchtower can do nothing right. Everything the Watchtower did, now becomes to them as a deliberate act to harm. This style of evaluation seems to translate itself into other things: Amazing used to be a good nice guy, but now, Amazing was always bad, even when he first selected his screen name. All-or-nothing, Black or White. No Grays. No middle ground. Total character assassination.
This reminds me of what we experienced when being labeled 'apostates'. Our JW friends viewed us as good JWs, but then when we were DA'd or DF'd, we were "Always" bad, and that is why we became apostate. Jehovah simply cleaned out what was bad all along. I had one JW tell me when I was leaving, but before I was DA'd, that I must have been poastate from the beginning, because if I were not, then Jehovah would have protected me, and kept me from leaving His organization.
I am glad there are people like Outnfree who can be honest in citing my flaws as she sees them, but still think of me as a good person. My best friend Ken, who I have known for 45 years, is able to tell me bluntly when I have screwed up. Likewise, I can do that for him. And our friendship remains solid. We do not find that some flaw in one another means that all other aspects of our relationship or character is bad too. We do not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Thanks Teejay and Outnfree for presenting two ways of how people see the same thing.