Lisa's Mom, so sorry for the terrible spot that you are in. As for the morality of fibbing a bit to get your family and friends back??? C'mon, we KNOW the answer to that one.
As to whether you will be better off after trying this, who knows. But it sounds like you might. I think even I could pull that off, but then I know I would open my big mouth and probably end up in the hot seat again quickly. So REMEMBER your priorities!
One thing I realized, as I was contemplating my life leaving the org, was that I would likely come across many situations where I would just have to be "bigger" than the situation, "bigger" than the other person. "Bigger" in these cases means "better", and that is not an easy thing to do. But it can be a noble thing to do, to be.
My situation is such that, I feel that someday, before to long, some elders are gonna wanna have a li'l chat with me. I've just about come to the conclusion that I will hit them with every hard question in the book. Then, when they are dazed and confused and punch drunk, yet happy that they have the "ace in the hole" question for me, they'll ask me: "do you believe that the fds is Gods channel on earth?", "YES", I'll say, with a conviction that would get me a scholarship to Juliard. "yes, of course! It's just that....it's just that....I just have these questions that I can't seem to get answers for, perhaps I should just wait till the C.O. or some other really spiritual man is around?"
No reason they shouldn't feel like the worthless window weights that they are.