"Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends." - Richard Bach
It's time to say farewell, friends.
It's been the ride of my life leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses, and this forum was a key factor from the very beginning, even before I realized that I was waking up, as a frightened anonymous lurker. Thank you Simon, for this great tool that has helped many on their journey out of the evil religion, into a life much more open, much more intelligent, much more rational, much more enjoyable. Thank you for all the support and the great learning experience. Both me and Mrs. Eden have a debt of gratitude to this place and its members.
I will not, however, be soiled and denigrated without a just cause by another member and no moderator power do nothing about it. It has been going on for too long, and to me, it ends here. I promised that unless there was a full retraction from Viviane only one of us would remain as a contributor to this forum. My attempts to sort out this situation discretely in private were to no avail, and so it's up to me to 'do what I have to do' and leave. Perhaps things would change after I leave; that would be nice. Or perhaps my departure will be utterly irrelevant. In that case, too bad. As I said before, I can't reconcile the paradox of struggling to leave an abusive cult only to be subject of abuse again in a forum whose aim is precisely to help those who leave the abusive cult.
I learned in this forum, sometimes painfully, to withstand robust criticism and challenges to my opinions and take it up as a grown up. It's a process, and I'm still in the process of learning to think in a healthy way. But I can tell the difference between that discussion of ideas, and bullying and insult. That's not admissible, not in my life, at least. Nor should any of you tolerate that either - remember where we came from.
I wish I could have met many of you in person. I wish we could have debated more. I wish we could have shared some drinks and some experiences. I wish I could have gotten to the end of my journey out of the JW Org and fill the questionnaire "Interview With an Apostate" and share my story. Alas, didn't happen. Who knows, someday. I apologize for things I might have said that were out of line. I wish everyone the best possible journey and all the happiness. Thank you for these three amazing years.
Eden