What the Watchtower Society has is focus. What Ex-JW's lack is that very thing...in spades.
Divide and conquer, eh? Ex-JW's are divided and easily conquered.
We know what we aren't. But, identity cannot come from a negative. We aren't the UNcola.
We must BE something defined by purpose or we are nothing.
The worst thing that happens to an Ex-JW is they become like those Elvis impersonators. We reverse Witness...in drag. But, our sideburns are ridiculous and our voice is grating to the ear.
WHO ARE WE? We are we yelling at? Who cares?
I think of that plane crash in the Andes all those years ago with the survivors eating each other to stay alive. That sort of thing.
We have to be careful what we chew. Are we waiting on some kind of rescue? Are we warning about the dangers of flying? Please pass the salt...
So, without a boiler plate Mission Statement one wonders (as the English say) what it is all in aid of.
Here is my stream of consciousness speech.
When you marry a religion and throw everything you have into it there is a bond and a trust which cannot be broken as long as both are faithful.
One never expects God to waver, so, the burden is on the struggle of the believer to walk the tightrope in a stiff wind.
One "earns" a feeling of belonging over time even though the formula is "unmerited favor".
Then, the game changes. It isn't God you are married to. You are working for Bernie Madoff and you've lost your life savings.
Huh? Wuh? Run that by me again??
Black is White, Day is Night and I'm just a Putzz who wasted almost twenty years in a cult??
How do we become EX-JW's?
So many Ex's deserved to be disfellowshipped.
They screwed somebody or smoked pot in the bathroom or didn't give a flying fudgebar and they were cut loose.
They get pissed off, but, they weren't badly treated.
Others have mental and emotional problems. Some severe. While others trip and fall without thinking or drift into trouble because the religion itself is so demanding while being so empty.
Then, there are the rest.
You serve faithfully, nobly with great talent or fortitude and come up with the short straw. Why?
Intelligence kicks in and you peek behind the curtain. You ask the wrong question of the wrong person and BOOM! Game over.
Bomb goes off.
Pieces of your life....everywhere......
Then, you start literally pulling yourself together.
What next?
What do I do with all this?
Fellow Apostate, you already know all this.
Only a few former Jehovah's Witnesses have what it takes to make a difference.
The question becomes: what difference do you want to make...and to whom?
Identifying the problems (in no particular order) this way.
1.What the Watchtower Society offers is immediate and larger than life itself. What it pays is deferred until there is a deficit so large your life falls into the chasm. Catching people on the way down (before impact) is the ideal intervention moment.
2.Belief in all the finest ideas (God, faith, life, love, etc.) is fuel for the delusion of service in this religion. The genius of Watchtower power is turning that goodness into an iron core of LOYALTY to the Governing Body at the expense of sanity, normality and family. Driving a wedge into the Loyalty breaks the spell, but, it is practically impossible to do. Why? They have beaten us to the punch by painting us black. The messenger is confused with the message.
3.Religious arguments go nowhere. You know why I think this is so. There is no "there" there to be proved.
Consequently, any argument against the theology of the Watchtower is sidetracked before it is begun. Like Seinfeld, it is a show "about nothing."
Changing that argument into culpability, responsibility, good-faith stewardship and honest brokerage is the better road.
4.A million damning documents are worthless unless they are read by eyes willing to see them. The presentation of damning facts is alot like eating a giant pizza. It won't fit in your mouth. You need it sliced and served a bite at a time. You can't give anchovies to people who hate them and pepperoni will disgust vegetarians. In other words, using documents to advantage comes from super-organizing them into "sound byte" simplicty for access and cross-referencing.
5.All the words, arguments, passion and proof amount to little more than effort unless the end result is EFFECTIVE. There has to be an effective impact right on target with exactly the right follow up. Who or what should be targeted? How do you follow up? It comes down to presentation and a IDEAS. Good ideas drive out bad ideas.
Having said all that....
I think the most effective presentations are those that target an end result in advance rather than the buffet approach (like a salad bar).
Otherwise, the casual grazing animal wanders in and snifffs out what they want to find disagreeable and then heads back to the barn.
The key weaknesses must be identified and targeted. It must be pithy. It must be impactful. It must be largely the actual words of the Watchtower Publications (or court document snippets) scans, quotations (audio or video) and slick design of an easily navigable nature.
I repeat:
Only a few former Jehovah's Witnesses have what it takes to make a difference.
The question becomes: what difference do you want to make...and to whom?
...OUTLAW