I wholeheartedly endorse what minimus said about not looking back. The great baseball pitcher Satchel Page said the same thing: "Don't look back; something might be gaining on you." And as Ding related, for some of us our time as a Witness wasn't a total waste. Mine certainly wasn't. I learned many useful skills in speaking, teaching, and relating to other people thanks to the Theocratic Ministry and Pioneer Service Schools. The Service Meeting taught me how to effectively present ideas. The Watchtower Study (when conducted properly) showed me how to engage students in a classroom. Even the Public Talk had some value for me in presenting and discussing some interesting and even fascinating topics. Also, when I moved to Colorado to fulfill my lifelong dream of living in the state, it was the local congregation in Boulder which bent over backwards to help me find a job and housing.
However, as I've stated elsewhere, the bad fruitage of this cult outweighs the good it has done. The wreckage of broken families, terminated friendships, suicides and deaths of others due to a misguided medical stance have touched all of us even if indirectly. Those painful losses have been magnified by the cult's leadership refusing to take responsibility for the results its teachings and requirements have produced. Many of us followed the pied piper song the Governing Body played and have had a fortunate escape. I fear that when this cult finally reaches its own Weser River, its followers, like the rats in the old story, will meet a similar fate mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Quendi
