Any possibility of sending a letter to the editor or religious editor of your
local paper?
"On February 14 I officially resigned, disassociating myself from
the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in X. I was a part of that
congregation for X years. I resigned for a number of reasons.
The belief system, constructed by the Watchtower Bible, and Tract
Society Incorporated.....has at it's core a teaching that all
of mankind will be wiped out during the battle of Armageddon with
the exception of the JW's. This event has been predicted for over
100 years. I now consider this 'expectant hope' a crime against
humanity and I can no longer believe in and support that belief.
The Pedophile Problem:The Australian Royal Commission recently included the JW's in it's pedophile investigation and based on the Watchtower Society Branch's own records it was found that there were 1006 in-house investigations and not a single case was ever reported to the Authorities. There were two reasons for this, the privacy of the confessional granted to religions and the 'two witness' rule that JW's follow in judicial matters. Obviously that is a big contradiction when it comes to the secret nature of these heinous crimes. Action is taken but only when there are two witnesses or a confession is made and any action taken is limited to the congregation. I find that I can not accept sexual abuse of children based on a lack of a second witness nor can I believe that repentance is granted without exposing this crime to the authorities for punishment. Simply turning a pedophile loose in an uninformed community is not showing love to a neighbor. Now that I see the scope of the problem and the inept handling of this type of crime I no longer can associate with and identify with such a reckless group.
The blood doctrine: Has been in effect since 1945 and punished by disfellowshiping (excommunicating) should a member accept a life saving blood transfusion since the early 1960's. There is no way to know exactly how many JW's have died by not allowing a blood transfusion. Recently I have found that they have misinterpreted the scriptures they quote in support of their ban on blood. For many many years they have also referred to a transfusion as 'eating blood'. Medically that was an error. And while some blood fractions are now allowed it takes an enormous amount of donated blood to separate those parts that a JW can accept. Unfortunately JW's are also forbidden to donate blood.
In conclusion my disassociation will immediately trigger shunning by everyone I knew in my congregation including family members, friends and associates. What motivates a person to shun another? The fear that they would also be shunned if they treated me as a fellow human being. Shunning is a punishment that can break up families, affect one's children and it will last for the rest of a person's life. It is a mandated rule of the JW's.
Freedom of religion and freedom from religion is a right that is seldom even thought about. However among the JW's there is a high cost to be paid to be free of that religion.