An elder LIED to my face repeatedly about a judicial matter involving my depressed son. He said he had called NY; he in reality had called his old buddy, J*** T*******, the most corrupt CO on the planet, only to get his rednecked view of the matter.
That soured me; I coasted till 2002, when I went on the net to prove to my nephew that the sex abuse scandal was just a few stupid elders.
I found out otherwise, of course; then I read about the UN, the everchanging blood policy, and all the rest.
What hurts the most....hmmm. No paradise earth I guess. Still, I have lately come to believe in the beauty of THIS earth, making the most of the time I have here, and trusting in God for anything extra.
: Charles T. Russell being tried as a child molester.
RR is right: that is simply not the case. As I recall, this charge was brought out in his divorce trial with Maria.
The "child" he "molested" was in her twenties, and the charges were never proven. It was Maria's word against his, and in the heat of a divorce with all the emotions boiling, neither party generally has much credibility. And they are certainly not above puffing up the facts to make themselves right. She was "caught" sitting on his lap. That's it. While hardly appropriate if true, it certainly doesn't amount to "molestation." Given the fact that she was a grown women, it only amounts to ethical stupidity on his part. IF true.
RR: if I've missed something or got something wrong here, please correct it. I'm going from memory on what I read years ago.
Everything hurt when I first left - the lie about living forever was the worst one though.
What really got me is the 'them' and 'us' mentality. There is 'us' who are clean and moral and upright and approved by God, and there is 'them' who are bad people and we must have nothing to do with 'them' (never mind if 'them' includes members of your family who just happen to be non-JWs - they are still bad people - stay away from 'them' or you will turn bad) What utter hogwash the whole thing is! To think I used to feel guilty about visiting my own mother (one of the kindest women to walk this earth) because she wasn't a JW and I was told to keep my distance if I wanted to 'win her over' (this was told to me by the elder who DFd my daughter). I still went to see my mum regularly of course, because I love her to bits, but I wouldn't tell anyone where I was going in case they 'shopped' me to the elders, and I would constantly have a guilty conscience. I used to think that if I could be stronger spiritually, I would be able to make her see 'sense', and the reason she didn't listen to the 'troof' was because I was lacking in some way. It makes me cringe to think about it - I could scream and tear my hair out when I think of all those wasted years. I'll stop rambling now because my blood pressure is rising and I have tears in my eyes.
