It's great reading all these responses to your actions yesterday. And your replys to them. I loved what you wrote about finally being rid of so many things that had become such a burden in life - the elder and committee meetings, and the field service, were such a relief for me to no longer be involved with. Considering I live in a rural area of southern Vermont, and have been here all my life, there isn't a road I drive down that doesn't remind me of when I was pioneering here - and how happy I am to not be knocking on doors and bothering people any more!
There will be a lot of other changes ahead. I left quietly, not making an issue of things, mostly out of respect for my wife and daughter and other relatives and friends who were still JWs. When the brothers started chasing me down a few months ago for leaving my wife and living with another woman, I wrote the kind of letter to the body that you likely did, covering all the things that made me leave.
A couple of things that I wrote to them you might appreciate. I told them that for decades I had been told how it was only the weak who left the Organization, but in reality it takes the greatest courage to make that step. You understand that, because you know the cost we pay for standing up for the truth - the loss of close friends, of family, of the respect of people that we've loved and helped and, to be truthful, people who have helped us.
I also wrote that for years these brothers had respected me for my intelligence and thinking ability. Here's a quote from the letter to the Body of Elders that I wrote:
"Part of the reason you say you’re pursuing me after all these years is because I had such a strong influence on so many Witnesses when I was a true believer. That influence was based on my sincerity, on the depth of my understanding of the Bible and WTS teachings, and on my intelligence. Do you think I left the Witnesses because I stopped thinking? Did I suddenly become insincere and stupid? I know that the standard procedure is to label anyone who leaves as full of pride, or they were stumbled, or they are arrogant, or they fell to the ways of the flesh. I’ve heard that a thousand times over the years, and heard it from that CO who came with you Matt. Again, it’s just a way of using labels so you don’t have to really think about things. It’s so easy to say, 'Oh, he’s full of pride,' 'He thinks he’s so much smarter than everyone else,' or 'Satan deceived him.' That way you don’t really have to think about why so many thoughtful, intelligent, sincere men and women have left the Witnesses. You see, it always has to be because of a weakness or lack on their part. It can never be for a good reason, a failure of the WTS, or that the teachings of the WTS simply don’t make sense to a genuinely thinking person."
They did that to you as well. We don't need to fall for this. You'll be sooooo much happier now that you're out. Believe me. And some of these men will think about what you've done and why. A sister who left years ago once told me that she couldn't understand how I could remain a Witness, knowing what I did. I told her I was willing to give the WTS the benefit of the doubt, knowing it was an imperfect organization. When I was no longer willing to do that, I left, just like you did. That sister turned out to be right - and you may have that same affect on others.
Glad you're doing OK, and I will be in touch.
S4
