Ok so... now knowing how important it is not to "spill all the beans"... I am working secretly and cautiously on getting my mother out!
I have started with some recon work:
Me: So Mom, how did you come into the truth?
Mom: I just "came in", there was no one who gave me study.
Me: What do you mean?
Mom: Well, I just "came in"... no one gave me any study whatsoever.
Me: How is that possible? How did you even get baptized?
Mom: I just read the green book and I had someone else read me the questions... then I tried to memorize the answers.
Me: So, you never examined JW doctrines for yourself?
Mom: Not really.
Me: How did you know it was the truth then?
Mom: I just knew.
Me: What need did the witnesses fulfill in you that other religions couldn't?
Mom: Well, they told me once when I was 5, do you know what God's Name is? I said, Jesus. They said, no, it's Jehovah. So after that, I prayed to "Jesus, or Jehovah".
Me: Ok so tell me any and all dealings you had with JW's before you came in.
Mom: Granpa (my great granpa) studied with the witnesses. He told me that everyone lied, but that he trusted the witnesses. He told me never to believe the Catholic priests, and to be careful with them, they could have raped me.
Me: Oooh I see... How about grandma (her mom)?
Mom: Grandma did study with the witnesses for a bit, but she never believed anything they said. She would often slam the door on them. I overheard one of the few studies they had with her, and they mentioned that Jesus came to pay for our sins. It made sense. The Catholics never explained that to anyone.
Me: So, you needed a belief in God, they said that God had a name, that the ransom sacrifice was necessary. There's a lot of religions that fit the bill. Almost all believe in God and the sacrifice, and a lot use Jehovah quite a bit. So, what if it had been those other religions that preached to you and not the JW's?
Mom: They (the JW's) seemed better, they just had something about them that wasn't in other religions.
Me: So, you came in because it FELT right, not because you KNEW it was right...
Mom: Exactly.
Me: So you knew about the blood issue and stuff before you were baptized? You knew what you were getting into?
Mom (with a WTH? look on her face): Yes, I just knew it was the right thing. If Jehovah says it, it must be the right thing. (My Mom consistently does this: there is absolutely no difference in her mind between Jehovah and the GB. For her they are one and the same.)
Me: So why not the Mormons? The evangelical Christians?
Mom (I didn't know this!! This was a first-timer): The Mormons preached to me once, but I never believed their stuff.
Me: Yeah, those Mormons! Who could believe the stuff THEY believe, right?
Mom: Yeah...
So that, my friends... is approximately my first conversation with my mom... She is completely in the JW's for the FEELINGS she has, and the IMAGE of them being "nice and honest and non-pedophiles, unlike the evil Catholics!!"
So... I have a loooooooong road ahead of me. Any ideas on getting her to slowly open her mind? I was thinking somehow introducing the Conti case, or, easier because I did read about it, the Starbucks barista in Washington case (I forget her name sorry!!)...
It will be hard to "crack" her because she is definitely not thinking... it is all about the image they present, zero about the doctrine.
ILTTATT