I can't type worth a damn and have had operations on my main (left) hand, so I sometimes send a pre-recorded response to emails and messages from people who are down and out about getting out of the Witnesses, and some are near suicidal. It is what I would type anyway. Then I add a few lines. But I thought it may help some of you have a good response as well, so feel free to use it.
hugs to all,
RESPONSE TO PERSON IN PAIN:
Hi _____,
Go on over to www.watchtowerworld.org and make friends with retired pioneers from the early years of the organization, and they are all Christians and personal friends of mine. Click on GALLERY and find someone that most matches how you feel.
Keep your head up, we all go through similar things getting out. Soon life will be much better, and the Witnesses will not be able to control you anymore.
If you want professional secular help, I recommend www.ICSAhome.org. I also recommend a good friend and counselor Steven Hassan, whose website is at:
http://www.freedomofmind.com. Compare your situation with the stories of people from other cults and you will see that in spite of radically different teachings, all high-control groups work the same, because they are ORGANIZATIONS. Study this right and your guilt and fear can be gone in one day!
If you still have to live with Witnesses, it is a little tougher, but there are ways to keep peace.
Think
An organization has no feelings for its workers.
It is an entity of itself whose only goal is to preserve itself at all costs, and make money, and grow. Anyone who counters them or gets in their way is disposable. Indeed, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (yes, they ARE a business) finds it much easier to create a easily implemented shunning atmosphere, where Witnesses are always kept suspicious of one another, like in matters of "apostasy" from whatever the current leaders teach (which will change weekly).
They don't care if they lose members, especially old-timers. In fact, they habitually put old timers out to pasture. Besides, they know too much. People in the know cause too much trouble and ask too many questions about the organization, its teachings and policies. They are the ones most likely to cause a rift in the organization right now as it begins to recede, and they know that! They are expecting it, if you read between the lines of the latest "in house" Watchtowers. The Watch Tower is currently printing a rash of articles revealing their fear of a sect developing - saying over and over that the "other" or "new" anointed don't really know anything, and don't follow them - just follow the Governing Body.
They know the writing is on the wall. They are holing themselves up in upstate New York with all the $billions they have made selling books and magazines in the past (and which was invested in property that is now worth billions) and isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Their coffers are drying up, and to protect itself, the organization is currently shedding expenses at a breathtaking rate. And they are asking for money like never before.
Interestingly, this seems to be the typical dying stage of cults. Paranoia sets in after years of decay, and people begin to talk, both inside and outside the group. None of the expectations or prophecies have come true. They are accused of being FALSE PROPHETS by outsiders. The leader/pastor responds by a fearful response/attack regularly, and little demands of displays of loyalty to the organization. Families are separated by force to avoid any collusion.. They thus shrink in size by weeding out the unsure, they isolate themselves physically and socially, and do not follow world events. THEY are alone as being the ONLY TRUE CHRISTIANS. Numbers don't really matter in the end, it was just a way of bolstering their own beliefs. Screw the disloyal!
Look at what happened to Elizabeth Clair Prophet, Rajneesh, Jim Jones and with David Koresh at Waco, Texas. Even Tony Alamo and the prophet of the Children of God. I briefly covered the story of the San Diego mass suicide of Heaven's Gate by Fox news as it happened.
True Christians don't retreat
Witness leaders have changed from their Bible-arguing days. They feel it is better to concentrate on fooling new people into doing their bidding, and encourage them not to think and to avoid college and the internet, as well as social circles of non-Witnesses AND other Witnesses. Go figure. Power is the prize. Power like a dictator.
They treat the rank-and-file like mushrooms: keep them in the dark and feed them bulls$%^ and none are the wiser. Once a person goes to college and gets an education, the 19th century carnival tactics used by the Watchtower to control people vanish like a bad dream in most cases. For others, they definitely need exit-counseling and professional recovery, just like you were addicted to a drug. Otherwise the time bombs the WT planted in your head will stay there for years to come. Blast the guilt and fear with wisdom, knowledge and spiritual help.
Extracting yourself from the organization is a process. It is often messy because of family and friends who remain loyal Witnesses. It may result in divorce and child custody. It may mean a loss of income. But nothing is so valuable as freedom to make your own life, and do it right this time.
Don't be afraid to start a new life. Freedom is precious. If others' love is conditional upon your pronouncing loyalty to the organization or else, they ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. They will turn on you on a dime. You deserve better my friend!
yours,
Randall Watters
Happy 2012!