I want to share this experience I recently had with everyone here.
Last weekend I spoke to my good friend who was a JW elder but has since stepped down, nonetheless still calls me on a regular basis despite my being DF'd. He just moved back to the Northwest to his old congregation and he was telling me some of the things the publishers are talking about and what the elders are telling these publishers.
First he tells me that the Dateline topic is HOT. Everyone is talking about it. And you have to be very careful what you say. Him and I discussed Dateline and the whole situation behind it prior to it ever airing so he was very familiar with it. Well the publishers and the elders told him that Barbara Anderson never went to Bethel! That it is all a big fat lie, and they can prove it with the time reference that she claims to have been there. Also they are saying that a sister could not have had so many priviledges as she claims she did, it is unheard of.
They are also telling the publishers as they told him that all the Dateline personalities are disfellowshipped and are apostates. Of course he argued with them at the risk of incriminating himself and told them that they have no way of proving this and that they should not be making such comments. He also mentioned that they are telling everyone that Erica lied about the whole ordeal and that an innocent man went to prison. I could not believe it, and so couldn't he!! What this tells me more than ever is that the elders will take any opportunity to discredit this program and advance the Society's agenda with no regard to telling the truth. How often were we counseled on spreading rumors or making sure we had the story straight. Hypocrites!!
Do you want to hear more? When I went to visit my family back in the Northwest on the 4th I also had the opportunity to speak to my wifes 'spiritual mom'. I took the initiative and called her on the phone to see how she and her husband were, (they are in their 70's), she had called several times in the last 1 1/2 years to check on us and would just whisper on the phone, maybe she was afraid an angel would hear and run and tell Jehovah. Anyway I was hoping she would think that I was doing my 'christian duty' by calling her. Well after the intro. she asked me "what do you want", not how are you? Or how is your wife who has been suffering and feeling ill? In fact she never once asked for her 'spiritual daughter'. I must say I was taken back by her cold and chilling response.
Well before we could go any further she asked if I was going to meetings. Well I told her with a resounding voice, NO. Well in her mind that was going to be the determining factor whether she would continue the conversation with me or not. But I was not done yet, I was not going let her off the hook that easy. Somehow I got her to listen to me and I told her how wrong disfellowshipping is and how it so unloving and unscriptural. I tried to read her scriptures from the Bible but she would have no part of it. One thing led to another until we started in on Dateline. Well she starts off with all those on Dateline are disfellowshipped and apostates. Well I told her no they are not. And she say's (in a sarcastic sorta' voice) how do you know that? Well I told her that I know these people personally and I can say firsthand that they are not. Is that silence I hear at the other end of the phone?
Next she went on to say that Erica lied about the whole thing. I asked how does she know this, she replied her elders told her so, and if it was true about Erica the elders in her congregation would have told Erica's parents to go to the Police. I tried telling her of my personal experiences as an elder and how we were instructed to FIRST call the Society when something like this happened, and then follow their instructuions, but she stops me in the middle of my sentence and says "I do not want to hear any details". She even said that Erica herself said she is disfellowshipped, and I said WHAT!?! Needless to say she did not want to tell me which part of the program aired this. I am convinced that these people hear what they want to hear.
She proceeded to say how Jehovah is blessing the organization because of the increase this year (yup, everyone knows about the increase) well I told her that if that is the case then I will become a Mormon since they are growing faster than the Witnesses, then I stopped and said, no wait! I will become a Muslim. They are growing faster yet!! Of course she told me I can become whatever I want.
She ended the conversation by saying that she was leaving the next day for Tacoma, WA for 3 "wonderful and glorious days of spiritual instruction at the convention with her brothers and sisters". I told her to have a nice time!!
What all this shows is that the Organization will flat out LIE to their members and hence make their members liars in the process in order to protect an image and discredit the truth. I believe that the CO's and DO's directed by the Society are the ones taking the lead by spreading this garbage. The slander they are spreading is incredible. They have to do this because if what Dateline said is true then the Witnesses have a big problem on their hands and it calls into question everything they have been told and led to believe. Therefore they are prepairing their troops for Theocratic warfare. The mentality of your average Witness is becoming even more callous and hateful, hence not being open to any reasoning and making them more close-minded than ever before in the process. Their duty is first and foremost to their wonderful earthly organization, forget 'Jehovah', forget 'Jesus', forget the Bible. Well they can have it!!