Over the last week I have been telling a longtime friend of mine from my hometown about what I found. We were best friends all growing up and he had some real bad physical abuse probs in his house and so when he graduated he left the truth and has just recently started coming back. He?s been studying off and on. He?s really a sharp guy ? he graduated from University of Washington with a Bachelors degree a couple years back. So I have been showing him stuff and then I called him last night and we talked for about three hours.
I sent him small bits of stuff over the past week so as not to overwhelm him. I sent him some really bad misquotes on the cross in the reasoning book, the sodomite flip-flops as sort of softball ones that don?t really make someone rethink their faith, but gets them to admit that those mistakes are pretty blatant. Then I sent him the 607 BCE stuff and that REALLY got him. He said that is something he has been wondering and what he has been asking the elder that studies with him.
He was out for most of the 90?s, so he had no idea about the UN stuff, the 1995 changing of a generation, the child abuse stuff. So I sent him the Dateline transcript of the child abuse stuff, amongst other things.
It was actually good for me. I was able to explain a lot ? and it?s really the first time I was able to explain stuff out loud ? talking through it.
Of course, at the end he asked, ?So if the JWs don?t have the truth, then what is the answer??
I didn?t handle that so smoothly. I basically said that I am still looking for that, and admittedly, what keeps many people in the Organization is that the JWs ?seem? to have the answer for everything. That is a nice comfort for most JWs. I told him right now I think I believe the Bible is likely inspired, and that since I believe that I think that I believe Jesus in that there is no need for a man-made organization, that it really is a one-on-one relationship with Jesus. All the quotas and man-made rules remove all sincerity and make serving God a drudgery.
The other question I sorta stumbled when talking it out was when he asked, ?If the Society is so deceptive and inaccurate, what is their motivation? Why would they put this elaborate scheme together to deceive people.?
After fumbling a bit, and admitting I could never know the TRUE answer, I told him that if you look at the history of the Society, they have had problems from the beginning. But I really think most of the Governing Body were and are deeply sincere in their belief that the Society is God?s channel to speak with people. I think the Governing Body feel they bear a very important responsibility that has been handed down and entrusted to them. But just because the Society was/is sincere doesn?t make them legitimate. History is littered with examples of sincere political and religious leaders that did terrible things to their followers and enemies.
He?s going to call me again on Saturday when my wife is away, but it was a generally positive conversation
-ithinkisee