Here's mine;
Dear Ms. Lawton,
I am so grateful to you for not only your article, but for your interest in this very unkind and demeaning practice.
I was a Witness for almost 30 years, (what they term as "in good standing") and I began to see more and more hurtful, unloving and meanspirited things happening in the congregation that really disturbed me.
When I researched the Watctower Society on the internet, I was crushed to find out how many lies we had been told, and that everything I had centered my life around was a sham. I had fought and scrapped and defended my core belief for all that 30 years,at a great loss personally, convinced that I was pleasing God by following the Watchtower.
My parents, my only sister, her children, and all the good friends I had made before joining the Watchtower disowned me because I became a Witness.
When I had come to the horrible conclusion that I had made a terrible mistake two and a half years ago (also raising five children with all the ridiculous restrictions JW children must live by) I was even more devastated.
I came to the conclusion after months of fear and indecision, that I just didn't want to be known as a Witness any more, my conscience wouldn't allow that, and as you know, then the consequences were even MORE devastating for me to deal with.
All the "friends" I had made within the WTS were not permitted to speak to me any longer, my oldest daughter (the only child to stay a JW), got married to an Elder in FL eight months after my decision to leave, and never sent an invitation, the message was glaringly clear, I was not welcome; ALL because I changed my mind about being one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
So here I am in my 60's, so sorry that I messed up my life so badly just trying to be good, and then folks I tried to "patch things up" with from before I became a JW---also will have nothing to do with me, because I cut THEM off due to the Watchtower teaching of not having association outside the Organization......they're bitter and resentful, even though I've written heartfelt letters apologizing for hurting them.
Even if one DOES leave, the Watchtower's control and manipulation still lingers. They control at whose home I'm now welcome, and family get-togethers out-of-state will always be awkward, as I found last summer when my brother-in-law died.
My mother died last fall, I didn't attend her funeral, I knew I was not wanted there, either. It just never ends.
I know this is rather long, but the realization of what all this encompasses, the periods of depression that overwhelm me, and the prospect of trying to pick up the shattered pieces of my life and feel GOOD about myself, are now my future.
No one can possibly understand the far-reaching effects of this cruel treatment the Watchtower Society calls "love".
Please, if you can find it in your heart, continue to expose this inhuman practice.
Thank you,
Shredded families and ruined lives;
The WBTS has MUCH to answer for......
Hugs,
Sunspot