My girls attended the District Convention today with their mom and step dad. They hate the meetings but see the convention as a time to socialize and meet boys. (Yikes! but to preface this, their mother gets them for 1/2 of the summer, but I am sure it won't be long until they are home again. They can barely get through a weekend at their mom and stepdad's house without experiencing some sort of upset)
The youngest, Elizabeth (Liz, nearly 13 now), brought along her best friend, Sammie-joe. Sammie is not a JW, but it just so happens that her mother was born and raised in the org and left home, and the org, as soon as she turned 18 and graduated HS. She has never talked to her daughter Sammy about the org because the less said, the better. It is not something that effects her life anymore so why even talk about it with her kids, right? Anyway, Sammie is the most adorable little thing and she calls me "dad". (her real dad is not around, I suppose)
Sammy is a really smart 13 yo and she goes to church on her own, by her own choice. Her mother, Susanne, is pleased and likes that Sammie is finding her own spirituality without the undue influence of others in her life. She wanted to go with Liz to the convention and "hang out", and Susanne agreed, but later told me she was having JW flash-backs all day over it, LOL.
So Liz's mom agreed to bring Sammie to the convention thinking she had a real sucker on the line. Maybe even a Bible study. Sara, that's Liz's mom, was very condescending to Sammie all day which irritated the crap out of the little girl. She sensed the phoniness and was annoyed. Sara treated her like " a retard" according to Liz. It's funny how JW's treat new ones as though they are stupid. During one of the talks, the speaker said that only JW's could possibly have a good relationship with God. That was all Sammy needed to hear . . .
This is comical. On the way home, my oldest daughter, Elese, commented that she thought it was wrong for the speaker to say that. She said it was arrogant to say that only JW's could have a relationship with God when she knows so many people from other religions that seem to be doing just fine spiritually. Liz agreed outloud. Mark, the step-dad, piously jumped on their case about the impression they were making on Sammy (the newly interested one) implying that they were stumbling her. Sammy, very loudly and very clearly says to Mark, "it is wrong to say that only JW's can have a relationship with God. I go to church and I read my Bible, so I don't know how they can say that about me."
Silence. The conversation was ended, but not without some covert retaliation on the part of Sara.
The day before, Sara had asked Liz five times if Sammie would be joining them for dinner. Five times, Liz replied in the affirmative. Guess what Sara was now doing? Yep, she was taking smart little Sammie straight home for having the nerve to use her brain in front of the the other kids. Classic Sara. When Liz naively objected, Sara played dumb like she was not aware of the plans made the day before. Some fine loving Christians, eh?
Liz and Sammie are here for the night and we got to do some karaoke and talk about things. Sammie's mom hung out for a bit and we talked about the JW days which she refers to as the "days of insanity". She said it was good to connect with another xjw after all these years. She had never in all these years talked to another who had left the org. I hope she will come aboard this forum and share her experiences with us. They are hum-dingers for sure.
As a side note, I am sort of taken aback at how many xjw's I have come into contact with since I decided to leave the org for good. It is so affirming and theraputic in many ways . . . just as this forum has been.
Corvin