by thinker 6 Replies latest jw friends
I've just finished reading an amazing online novel called "Falling in Truth" by Steve McRoberts. He gave me permission to post it here. It's a fictionalized account of his experiences as a JW and it's extremely well thought out and researched. I highly recommend it to all.
You can download it in a wordpad document here: http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/7cc1b707/bc/PUBLIC/Falling+in+Truth.doc?bcp8N4.Ac6DmCbSY
It's just under 1.4 MB.
enjoy,
thinker
Here's the intro:
Introduction
I wrote "Falling In Truth: The Education of a Jehovah’s Witness" nearly a quarter of a century ago, about a year after I left the organization. I had become a Witness when I was 18 years old, and had been accepted into Bethel (the world headquarters of JW’s) at 19. But, by the time I was 20, I became disillusioned, and left. To my knowledge, I was never disfellowshipped. Given my beliefs, it was felt that it would be "mutually agreed" that my leaving Bethel was for the best. From that day to this, I have never set foot in a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
What caused my disillusionment is largely set out in the book which follows. It is a fictionalized account of my experiences, and those of others. I have taken the liberty of combining real people into "composite" people, and making up minor details. But anything of importance related here has happened, and nothing relating to doctrines, writings, and beliefs of the Witnesses has been fabricated.
I have read many books, pro and con, about the Witnesses. Few of the books written against the Witnesses impressed me. This is mainly because these books failed to really understand the viewpoint of a Witness: they merely attacked from the outside. Most of them attempted to prove things with arguments Witnesses are very prepared to answer. My book, though not an "attack", is certainly from the viewpoint of a Witness.
For those of you who have never been Jehovah’s Witnesses, this book should give you a good idea of what it is like to become one, and be one. But, since it was originally written with former Witness readers in mind, you would do well to read the appendix and glossary first.
This book has no particular setting or time. This was on purpose. However, since the Watchtower is continually changing the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, it might be good to assign an era. All of the beliefs referred to in this book were current in the mid 1970’s. As for locale: consider it a mid-sized city somewhere in the Northern United States.
Steve McRoberts
St. Paul, MN 1998
Please click
here <epigraph.html> to continue reading.Click
here <http://members.aol.com/smcroberts> to return to Steve McRoberts' Home Page.EPIGRAPH
It perchanced to happen once, that as the venerable sage Pao Lu was walking with a student of the Way, they came upon a great chasm in the earth. And, either deliberately, or from being so engrossed in meditation on the Truth, they walked to the edge of the chasm and over the edge of the chasm.
It was the wandering monk Hon Phei who witnessed this strange accident. And he further reported that he distinctly heard the sage Pao Lu continuing his discourse to his pupil unabated, without qualm or quiver in his voice, as though they were still walking along the forest floor rather than plunging to their deaths in the vast abyss.
It is said that pit is bottomless where Pao Lu fell, and that visitors to the spot, if they strain their ears, can still hear Pao Lu discoursing the Way of Truth to his student.
Please click
here <chap01.html> to continue reading.Click
here <http://members.aol.com/smcroberts> to return to Steve McRoberts' Home Page.
I get BAD GATEWAY on the link
Sorry everyone,
The link in my first post is no longer available for use.
Send an e-mail to me at
and I'll send you the wordpad or you can always visit Steve's homepage.
thinker
I read the book a couple of years ago and sent him an e-mail complimenting him on it.
He does a good job of threading several JW themes through a fictional story. The writing is fairly decent, and it provides a very personalized illustration of the phases that a person goes through as they join and leave the organization, as well as the major issues faced by JWs and those leaving.
Steve's a great guy. I corresponded with him about a year ago. Part of that is on his "comments" page...I'm B.P. btw
