Send it as is. One or two points won't do it, all the points you have addressed is very hard to dispute. They may not be aware of the many points you bring out. All the best to you in your efforts to help them.
Blueblades
Opinions on a letter i am sending my family
by jaredg 80 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
ApagaLaLuz
Oh Jared!!!! (((Jared))) Wonderful! Wonderful!! I am throroughly impressed. I think this is a GREAT letter. I appreciate that you do not direct any anger at them, and also note that you wouldnt think of asking them to leave their religion because you know how alone they would feel. And making a note that you're not using the things you dont agree with as a smoke screen for an immoral life. (that's just a perk j/k) You certainly have done much research. I hope they really do the research that you included. I wrote a similar letter to my mother. I found it about a year later while cleaning her house, she had indeed researched all the info I gave her, and found I was right. Unfortunately it wasnt enough to change her mind, but it was enough to soften her heart enough to have a relationship with me.
I sincerely hope your letter has a similar effect on your family. It is very well written. I'm proud of you for having the guts to stand up for what you think is right. BTW I will also be book marking this as a reference for new ones who ever ask me questions. I'm also happy to see that you did this on your own, and it shows that you know what you're talking about instead of being influenced by others.
*muah*
-
ApagaLaLuz
p.s. just a side note about Jesus on the torture stake and using the word Nails as opposed to Nail, that seems a bit like splitting hairs in my opinion. One nail through both hands would have produced two holes, or two nails through each hand still would have produced two holes. Just my 2 cents, and we all know 2 cents wont buy you anything nowadays.
-
willyloman
Dude: all the opinions you've heard here are correct, so here's my two cents --
Move those last two paragraphs up to the top, because once they start reading about dates and doctrines, their eyes will glaze over and you'll lose them. At least you got a chance to tell them you love them and "reason" with them about the importance of family ties. Since that's the only part they'll read, who knows, it might help.
-
johnny cip
chevy makes a good point, her letter helped her mom soften up a bit. why? imo it showed her mom she did real research . hard to argue with , no matter how much they use the new light line and willy i think is right move the love of family part up to the top of the letter. draw them in before you drop the bomb.. off topic. anyone see that doctumentury (spelling) on t.v. on the cross vs the stake. some professor did were he tied college students. up on a stake , and they can't breathe after 3-10 minutes. were tied on a cross they can stay there for hours or days. something to do with the lung functions, muscles etc. i remember seeing this on t.v. a few years ago . after seeing that i was convinced the wt was wrong . any one else see this. john
-
jaredg
hey guys thanks for all of your responses. i have taken some of your suggestions and incorporated them into my letter. i'm going to send it today. i'll keep you all updated on the response i get.
-
jaredg
hey guys my dad finally sent me a reply...this is what he said.
Jared, I am sorry that it has taken so long to get back to you on your letter. My busy season is just beginning again, good we all need money.
I want to answer your questions one at a time. But I want to set some standards 1 st .
1. Prov. 3:19-26 Please read that scrip. before going any further.
2. Humility. I have to admit that I could be wrong. Why? Because I have been wrong in the past all humans will make mistakes, because we are all imperfect.
3. I have to admit that the Society could be wrong. Why? Because they have been wrong in the past. Once is proof that it can happen again. All organizations will make mistakes because they are all composed of imperfect humans. (See point # 2)
4. In light of the forgoing, what I want to hear from you is the same admission of fallibility that I just made to you. Are you will in to admit that you could be wrong, and that your ?advisors? could be wrong?
5. Reasonable. The root word for reasonable in Greek is yielding. Will you be reasonable or yielding? I will try my best to be so.
6. Open mind. If you view this as a competition, I am not interested in going any further. Our goal should be a mutual search, an investigation.
7. Please read Ps. 111:10.
Please give prayerful consideration to these points and give me some feedback, Love Dad
-
kls
His reply sounds like mind games, ( he could be wrong ,the org could be wrong because of being human) so it sounds like he is saying that you could be wrong because you are human.
-
unbeliever
My mom has made such offers in the past like this one..
6. Open mind. If you view this as a competition, I am not interested in going any further. Our goal should be a mutual search, an investigation.
The problem is she does not have an open mind and she tried to prove her points to me (like the flood actually happened) using WT literature. I also have gotten the WTS is ran by imperfect men. I was like no shit really??
My point is you have your mind made up and he has his made up. I think its a waste of time. It took me about 20 conversations like the above with my mother to grasp that point. The thing is you will have to learn that for yourself. I guarantee you will be banging your head against the computer by e-mail number 4. Good luck!
-
jaredg
thnaks for the support guys. i sent him this reply.
Dad,
Thank you so much for your letter. It is very refreshing that you realize that me, you and the WTS can be wrong. I don't want this to be a competition. This is not about right or wrong. This is about heart conditions. But dad, the fact of the matter is that the WTS has been wrong in the past concerning some issues that caused innocent blood to be shed. How could they be the voice of God and be so wrong so many times? I just don't understand!! There are doctrines that the WTS teaches now that I don't agree with. How can they take a scripture saying "not to eat blood" and come up with all of these rules about what fractions are ok and which ones are not and blah blah blah. I mean seriously what are they thinking!! These are peoples lives Dad! I just think it's wrong...it's a gut feeling I have. I can't ignore it. How can they preach to people to gain accurate knowledge when they themselves don't have accurate knowledge? Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision and you knew what you had to do even though it wasn't the easiest thing? That's what I was faced with Dad. I knew I couldn't be a JW and go out in service and tell people to become a JW or else they would die. I just couldn't do it especially since I disagreed with so much.
I read the scriptures you showed me in your letter and they were very encouraging. I still believe in Jehovah and Jesus and I want to be a good person and a Christ like person and that's what I feel I am doing now. I am in search of truth and I think I have made some gains in that area. My whole life as a JW I was raised to distinguish what is right and what is wrong. I have learned that when it comes to spirituality and religion there is no right and wrong but really it comes down to the heart. We don't need hard fast rules or burdensome doctrine. What we need to have is LOVE. The scriptures say that God is LOVE. That's what I base my whole life around. I want to be filled with love. I do everything in love.
I want you to try and put yourself outside of the organization if you can. I know it's hard because you've been in it your whole life. But look outside the box for a moment and look at the big picture. We have this world with all of these wonderful people. Granted there are some evil people too but love concurs evil so lets focus on the good people. There are 6 billion people on this earth and a ot of them are good people..people just like us. They have faith in their God and religion, they care for their families, they search for love, they search for God. Some people are so disgusted by many religions that they are turned off by the whole thing...but they continue to be good people. Then you have an organization that claims to be based on love. When you are in it, it does seem to be very loving until you want to leave. You can't just decided that you don't agree anymore with out heavy repercussions. How loving is this?!?! As Christians we are supposed to have unconditional love except...but the WTS has added a condition...if a group of 3 men decide to DF someone than that person is shunned and is worse than a stranger. My best friends...Brad, Patrick, Melony won't even talk to me. My own sister doesn't call me. My own mother is scared to be seen with me in public. I know LeeAnna wants to associate with me. I know Brad would love to play basketball with me but they don't and you want to know why...it's because of fear Dad. Everything is based on fear. Not Godly fear but fear of being taken into the back room in the Hall. I refuse to live my life in fear anymore. I have replaced all of that fear with love and I feel so much better. I am finally content. I want you and mom and Lee and Josh to be a part of my life again. I don't want you to live in fear. I want you to see that it doesn't have to be this way. I want you to think for yourself for once. It will be hard but I will help you. I love you guys so much and I look forward to our future conversations.
Love Always,
i kinda of rambled on but I was just conveying my feelings. I wonder how he will take it
Jared