I believe with certainty that the critical point when my de-programming from the JW mind-set began was when I was hired by my former boss and present friend of 9 years. She was the most adorably human person I had ever met, yet she was a part of the “world” nonetheless. I believe that our specific friendship began to infiltrate my conceptions about the “world” in a way that wasn’t wholly evident to me. Over the years, her unwitting “bad association” weakened those Watchtower barriers and without my acknowledging it the walls of Jericho had soon come crumbling and tumbling down. This kind of counter-example, I believe, was the best thing for me, really. My natural appreciation for God's creation of a magnificently-faceted humanity could not have been a bigger strength than it was my "weakness." Was nanyone else called to the "Dark Side" by a friend?
Vita Nuova