by Paradise Found 2 Replies latest jw friends
Blaming the writting department or the Governing Body for the watchtower policies and studies makes the blame impersonal.
Who are the individuals ?.............The People pulling the strings !! for example who (as Individuals) are the Watchtower Laywers?...Who as an Individual wrote the latest study article? Who approved it?
Who as an Individual wrote the latest study article?
Some wordprocessor rehashing old phrases?
You know what?...essentially and bottom-line, we each make our own choices in life. We can try to place the responsibility for the how's and why's on other people, organizations, etc., but no one forced us to be a JW when we became able to think for ourselves and make adult decisions. (Of course, young ones are trained up by their parents and their cognition and perception becomes that from which they are taught. This is the way of humankind.)
We need to perhaps think beyond placing blame, but on just allowing others to live their lives as they choose, just as we have that desire for ourselves. I'm not saying that choices do not come without consequences, for this is our life and our life is made up of choosing things each and every day.
I am accountable for my choices, and my own low self respect that I had to face, my own fears, my own weaknesses that kept me from leaving when I could have. That was my responsibility, and I couldn't face the great losses that I knew would come. I only delayed the inevitable. I had to be true to my own heart and not live my life by the rules of everyone else.
Now days, I can't place the blame on the WT society, or any one congregation, or any one person. I never wish to be the cause for someone losing their great faith in their own belief system--even if it be in a religion like JW's.
Sure, I was disappointed and a big chunk of my life was caught up in co-dependent behavior patterns. It was my own duty to fix myself and to get healed.
I have great empathy for those who allow themselves to be caught up in unnecessary rules and regulations of dogmatic systems...as my mom and my aunt are, and many old and dear friends that were a part of my life for a very long time, whom I never ever see anymore. Sometimes the cost for making our own choice is very painful. We might be labeled or shunned and we might have our whole life's foundation disrupted and changed. But, it is our responsibility.
Life isn't easy and life isn't fair.
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