It has been mentioned on here by quite a few posters that when they let go of the pressure of living up to the standards set out in the Wt publications, they felt relief from a strangulating set of rules and regulations which do not truly reflect the kindness and love displayed by Jesus.
As more than a year has gone by since I first read the Ray Franz books and started reading posts here, I recently stepped back and thought about how I now feel. Having always been a boy who can't say no (theocratically speaking) I have just now realized that, yes, I can refuse talks in the TMS if I either can't do them or (gasp) don't want to do them. Just last week a well-meaning but misguided elder put me down to take a fs arrangement without asking me, despite the fact that I resigned as an elder last year and had asked for the pressure to be taken off. When the elder asked if putting me on the fs taking list had been a good idea, I told him it wasn't and that I couldn't commit to anything like that for the moment. He is trying to co-opt me back into the arrangements so that I will go back as an elder, but I am resisting! "The truth will set you free."