About 10 years ago....one of my best friends was one month from getting married. Then I got a phone call from him. He didn't go into detail but he told me that he had made a regretful mistake and that he told the elders. They grilled him and disfellowshipped him very quickly. Of course.....his fiance dumped him. He called me to explain and sounded damn near suicidal. What was my response? Was I there for him? Did I comfort him? No. My response was "hang in there....you'll be ok.....but you know I can't talk to you, right? I mean.....you're disfellowshipped!" Just like that.....when a friend needed me the most, I turned my back on him. And I did it because I thought that's what God wanted me to do.....having no idea that my mind was being controlled by men.
For the past 2 years I have been trying to reach him. Trying to call his old number. Trying to email his old email. Doing a Facebook search. Knowing his profession (or at least what it once was) I tried looking in the greater metropolitan area under his name for that line of work to see if he would pop up on an internet search or an association website or something. I tried and tried and came up cold each time. Finally, last week I found him on Facebook. I sent him a short introductory email telling him I missed him. He replied. When I replied back.......I apologized. I told him how sorry I was for turning my back on him when he needed friends the most. How sorry I was that I let a religious faction control me. He hasn't responded yet......but even if he doesn't.......I REALLY needed to get that off my chest.
OSTS