Now, what are the sincere JWs to do? All those lurking "in the shadows."
What should they do next?
That's my question. And also, realistically, in your opinion Terry, should seven million believers in the JW Organization, be made to feel like victims of tricky charlatans?
Okay, fair enough.
First of all, I don't think any of us really can be MADE TO FEEL without our own co-operation. We buy-in and play the game at our own cost.
I have had a lifelong friend who brought me in to the Organization when I was 12 who is STILL an active JW.
We've had countless "forbidden" discussions.
He puts Loyalty above facts about false prophecy. Loyalty to who, God? No, the Organization.
He once asked me, "Okay, where am I supposed to go if I leave Jehovah's Organization? What religion can I choose instead? Where can you find people who don't believe in hellfire, immortality of the soul, the Trinity, etc."
But, what he doesn't and WON'T realize----is that the CHOICE IS NOT BINARY!
The Watchtower Society has deliberately made their members think that ONLY BINARY CHOICE is possible. US---or---NOTHING.
In fact, there is absolutely no convincing reason anybody needs to join some official GROUP with a name and a billboard to worship God and receive
secret inside information about THE END of the WORLD!
I personally went through a disastrous period in my life after being disfellowshipped out of the blue in 1979.
I wept bitterly for days on end. I drank a bottle of brandy each and every night for a year! My wife had become disillusioned right after 1975 came and went and NOTHING happened and nothing was said by the Society.
She lost her magical view of their "special" status and became depressed.
She died in a car wreck. We had 3 small children. I continued to raise them alone until I remarried.
It took me a long, bitter, puzzled and angry time to do enough reading to verify I'd been bamboozled for real.
After all, it was PRE-INTERNET and information was really hard to come by!
Now, after all these years, I'm able to say this:
You can worship God without anybody agreeing with you and you need not fear that God will mash you underfoot like a small worm who didn't "get it right."
There are too many experts who know nothing. They only think they do.
We don't need religious LEADERS telling us what to think.
You don't have to believe anything. You don't have to be made to think there is just ONE TRUE THING---if only you could figure it out!
That is a lie and always has been.
People who have a secret hotline to heaven are liars and they need YOU to make them powerful.
Ex-JW's need to get a grip. Do the hard work yourselves.
Read about the history of the bible and the history of early christianity. It is a real eye-opener!
There is considerable fraud and misrepresentation about these subjects, so, read widely.
When you leave Mother Organization you stop being a baby and learn to crawl and finally walk on your own.
IT IS YOUR MIND and YOUR LIFE and you are the only one in charge of making it work!