On Friday the 1st of March, I went to my cousins 21st birthday celebration - she has never been a JW. My other cousins (twins) were introduced by my mother to the faith over 20 years ago (they are now 38) and got baptised when they were about 19. They both weren't that "strong" in the faith and married "worldly partners" and stopped going to meetings.
They knew I had left and I presumed they knew I was disfellowshipped for apostacy.
At the party the one twin came over to me and we chatted about life etc and she says "oh Carl is going to start studying" - I looked at her a little odd and asked what it was as he already had a financial degree. "No silly, he is going to study the truth" My face must have been a picture and in a very high voiced squeaked why would he ever consider that, he is an intellecutal guy......
She continued about how the people had changed and were so much better than when we were younger. That we are encouraged to live our lives and spend time with our worldy family becauseh jah is a happy god and he wants his servants to be younger. You could even go to a birthday party as long as it wasn't on the actual birth day and you didn't eat the cake. She recounted how she was getting back into it, that she wanted her children a decent upbringing and to live with hope.
I let her speak and when she ended on "Louise, please come back, the people are so lovely now, you will love, the truth is always the truth" I looked at her and shook my head, I told her I didn't leave because I didn't like the people, but I left because they had lied to us, that it wasn't the truth. I explained how I took the doctrines and researched them properly to understand exactly what it was saying and if it indeed held up to scrutiny. Her father joined her then and proceeded to tell me how the good book doesn't lie.
I made it very clear that my decision would stand firm, that I would never go back to a lie. That the bible - in order to be a spiritual book to look up too or for guidance, had to be relevant 3 000 years ago and today and that a literal interpretation would not give them that.
I ended off by letting them know that I respected their decision to follow the faith and I would be happy to discuss the bible anytime. I asked that they respect my decision not to follow that faith.
I was actually so sad because I thought my dear cousin had broken free.