Should I push him over the edge? (page 3)

jaffacake

I think you owe we all have an obligation to make the truth available to people. It is then up to him. If he would read ISoCF he need not be destroyed. His love of Jehovah and Christ can become stronger not weaker and he might experience real joy and Christian freedom for the first time in his life. You never know, it could help him to eternal life.

Netty

So, should I push him over the edge or not...

Not. Unelss he is someone to you, that is hurting your or your family, because of the teachings, i.e. shunning etc. Not at his age, what for?

DannyBloem

Jaffacake:

I think you owe we all have an obligation to make the truth available to people. It is then up to him.

Do we?

If he would read ISoCF he need not be destroyed.

If he does not read it, he is going to be destroyed? Get a bad taste from this sentence....

His love of Jehovah and Christ can become stronger not weaker and he might experience real joy and Christian freedom for the first time in his life. You never know, it could help him to eternal life.

If I push him I'll tell the truth and can prove him the bible is not the book he thinks he is, then he probably would enjoy any so called christian freedom any more. It will be a real freedom.However I think he is already free. Danny

JamesThomas

Dear Danny,

I'm with those who feel it best to not push your agenda. Be a friend who accepts him as he is. Be kind and understanding. Discuss beliefs only if and when he wants to.

I could not disagree more with jeffacake. There is no god who will punish or destroy us if we do not accept and love him. How do I know? There are several reasons, one being that it is humanly impossible to honestly, truly and genuinely love someone who threatens you with death, destruction or some other form of punishment if you don't. Such tactics do not breed love, but rather fear and insanity (Stockholm Syndrome especially). Anything which brought forth the wondrousness of this infinite universe would certainly know that, though the religious children of an imagined lesser-god, do not.

In the end our beliefs don't matter. For all they are, are futile mental concepts and interpretations which attempt to shrink and reduce to an understandable form, That, which is infinitely beyond understanding, our true Source and Sustenance which we could never really be separated from even if we wished it.

Again, the best thing you can do Danny, especially at your friends age, is be a gentle and caring friend who keeps his mouth shut unless ask.

j

jaffacake

Jaffacake:
I think you owe we all have an obligation to make the truth available to people. It is then up to him.
Do we?
If he would read ISoCF he need not be destroyed.
If he does not read it, he is going to be destroyed? Get a bad taste from this sentence....
His love of Jehovah and Christ can become stronger not weaker and he might experience real joy and Christian freedom for the first time in his life. You never know, it could help him to eternal life.
If I push him I'll tell the truth and can prove him the bible is not the book he thinks he is, then he probably would enjoy any so called christian freedom any more. It will be a real freedom.However I think he is already free.

Danny, Perhaps not an obligation, I wouldn't push, but if he is responsive I believe the truth should be made available. What I mean is that he can be told the truth brutally, which I would discourage, or you can expose the watchtower whilst still allowing him to retain his belief in God and eternal life. Such a book would might give him a belief that he has attained salvation, that the watchtower offers no one. You cannot disprove the Bible, only that it cannot be taken literally, that it contains many apparent inconsistencies and errors, and it cannot be inspired verbally. To many christians however, this enhances rather than diminishes its value. He cannot be happy or free in the org, can he???

Es

I think maybe just leave him be....like so many have said he prob already knows and disagrees with bits of the truth but maybe thats all his got and all he has ever known. Being so late in life i would let him continue in it as he seems happy to do that es

potleg

I'd say don't push but don't be afraid to raise questions either or tell him how you feel. Even though he's old he may be quietly searching for something more. Many older ones are bitterly disapointed at the way the society has failed to live up to it's promises and teachings over the years.

DannyBloem

He cannot be happy or free in the org, can he???

Jaffa, (and others). This is what I hear all the time. But I just do not get it. Why can't somebody be free inside the org? Or happy?

In what way isn't he free?
In what way isn't he happy?

Danny

LittleToe

The analogy of the budgie in a cage is a good one. Would you release it into the wild, where it likely cannot fend for itself?

He might well adjust, as sone here have, but as you age it gets harder. Some even lose the will to live (and you don't need to be 72 for that to happen).

There's a list of events that cause stress in a life. Amongst them are things like marriage, divorce and job change. I suspect that leaving a cult should be HIGH on the list!

Should I push him over the edge?

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