by Terry 39 Replies latest jw experiences
Terry, so sorry for the way this turned out.
Its apparent to me now that for many death will come before realization that they have neen duped. Perhaps a good thing for them, to live their lives with this hope they believe is true. My mom at 80 is one of them, however she is-does have some conscience concerns. Too late for many, as their lives are coming to an end.
SW
Terry, I kept reading to the end of the posts hoping that there was a happy or ironic or surprise ending. After all,Tolle was supposed to be a flippin' genius, right?
Well, so he's not so smart. And it's not really over till it's over.YOu are both still breathing, so I live in hope! For you both. All my best-you have been a great addition to this board and we appreciate you.
Well, so he's not so smart.
Or else we could simply say that there's more factors to remaining a Witness than intelligence. For instance, getting disfellowshipped makes it much easier to get the ball rolling in disconnecting from the religion mentally and physically. The number of friendships one has in the congregation, and one's own inner need for belonging are also big factors.
Sorry to hear that Terry.
It was hard to discover that while the religion is a sham, the friendships were real, and it hurts to see our old friends still in a place we can't be anymore.
Intellect can be gutted by emotion. Tollie still has some emotional tie to the WTBTS crap and its environs. Who knows, maybe you will chip the facade. If not be happy you had the joy of confirming the reality of your treasured past, because it is in fact just that.
Terry,
A person whom I correspond with via email read your book. He told me about Tollie Padget, saying:
He woke up after prison and faded. He made a comment back then to a bunch of us young ones in our twenties, “ you all will turn 50, 60, and 70 and we will still be here because there is no 1914 Kingdom, walk away now before it’s too late and you waste your life” and then walked away and we never saw him again.
Is it possible he changed his mind later? Or perhaps there was a miscommunication in the phone call that Terry had with him....
Terry, extraordinary circumstances allow for extraordinary relationships to form.
Your friend was there for you during a time of great need. You have and continue to honor his memory. Especially how to think learn and grow.
But As often happens............. the student outgrows his teacher.
Hey--thanks to all for the kind words of support!
The friends bros and sis's I have on JW-net are infinitely superior to the contents of any local Kingdom Hall, for sure.
The part that gnaws at me is when I started to hear the lame excuses coming out of Tollie I'd only expect from a half-wit(ness.)
I'm convinced the religion makes you dumber.
I'm going to allow some time to pass and maybe send out a "feeler."
I'll see what happens.
____________________________________________________________________
Nathan, you are the best there is, my friend. I'm a fortunate man to know you!
Terry, is it possible that he was as worried about sounding like an apostate as you were? If you didn't care about him so much as you do, then when you realized that he was talking like an active Witness, you would have been eager to tell him things about his faith that would make him question his beliefs. Instead you were more concerned for his feelings and for his standing, so you ended the conversation. What if the same concern was on Tollie's mind? I don't mean to get your hopes up, but is that a possibility?
