Kaethra,
My first concern is for this board and those exJW's who post here. It doesn't bother me to admit that I have been fooled, my ego is not that fragile. Alan F, myself , and a few others have worked on trying to come to the truth in this matter. When something like this happens you want to believe people but you also do not want to be made a fool of. Sometimes it is a fine line between truth and fiction. It is easy to pass judgment and be skeptical of all things but I pride myself on keeping an open mind and looking for the truth. If what I believed to be true turns out to be false I have no problem saying so. The truth in any issue is more important than any one persons desire to be seen as right and that goes for me.
I still feel that there is a very slim chance that some of this may be true. If I am wrong, then so be it. It is more important to me that this type of thing gets exposed on this board then for me to have some people tell me they told me so. I can take it, I'm a big boy.
While this was going on I did not respond to some people who emailed me about this issue. To them I would like to say I am sorry. For those who helped in this matter I would like to say thank you for your trust in me and your help.
Hopefully this issue is over and I have learned yet another lesson in life. I will not change my thoughts about being open minded and listening to all sides first, but I will be a little wiser the next time around. I have a great friend in life and that is Alan F. He listens to me as much as I listen to him and in this matter he was right.
If I can look for some good in this whole matter it will be in the way of having the pleasure to speak with Bill Bowen and Barbara Anderson on the phone. They are truly incredibly people. I will take what ever criticism that comes my way and accept any negative thing said to me about my belief in this issue. Speaking with Bill and Barbara was well worth anything that can be said as a jab or negative comment to me.
I guess you learn something new everyday. Having friends like Alan and his wife makes it all worth it. He has been trying to get me more involved with exJW issues for several years. I have always refused. Now that has changed. Now I see how important it is. Hoax or not, I am now going to get off my lazy ass and help Alan and others as much as I can.
Take care,
Dave