I have to cringe when others refer to people like "us" as apostate. I hate labeling. The JW views apostate, or anyone formerly known as a JW, who is presenting another message as the worse type of person on the earth. It seems that on forums such as this, we have "accepted this label of apostate".....well others have, but not me. The JW labels us because in their mind they feel "we had the truth" and then we "deliberately turned our back on it" to practice selfish pursuits and "evil". They are so afraid we will contaminate their members.
They can gladly have "their truth" and I would not attempt to take it from them myself. That is such an individual choice and they should have the freedom to make it themselves; if anything, they need to realize that they do have that choice. If someone asks of me my opinion, I will certainly tell them. I've always been the type of person to speak up and ask questions--that is what got me into trouble with JW's once I stopped being a child. When they didn't satisfy my needs, I eventually got strong enough to walk away. No one gets out without lots of pain and heartache, guilt and low self-esteem.
We are normal people, living in reality. We are here to help build up our self-esteem, which was ripped from us due to labeling and shunning; and we are here to show love and compassion. We have to learn and accept that we are worthy to love and be loved. Places like this were not available for such a long time. I worked through much of my own situation back in the 70's and 80's totally alone, and didn't find this place until about two years ago, after finally being able to buy a computer and search the internet. All I can say is there is so much support available to help us now. This is a wonderful place--and there are others as well. It was a turning point for me to find this comradship.
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