Please help me edit for correct facts. I want no misrepresentation here.

by AK - Jeff 24 Replies latest jw experiences

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  stillajwexelder

  right on!
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  9thWonder

  The 607 issue and, of course, mis-treatment of victims of sexual abuse were huge factors for me.

  For me, it was learning the origin of the religion. Plain and simple if this was God's "chosen" organization, wouldn't they have gotten it right the first time. Rutherford, the blood issue, military service, 1914, voting, Christmas, birthdays are all reasons for expulsion today. God knows what he expects of his people...he would not make this is a guessing game...many people have lost their faith and their lives because of the guessing (or outright lies).
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  AK - Jeff

  Having reviewed your thoughts - THANX!

  I have added a bullet regarding 607, and one regarding child molestation.

  Pennycandy - your thought on semantics in the UN point is a good one - I will adjust the wording to that one also.

  Thank you all - Jeff
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  Carol

  Jeff, that letter was so well written and beautifully kind I wanted to cry! Thank you for sharing.

  Carol
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  AK - Jeff

  I posted the original draft here two weeks back - as you can see it has completely changed directions by now - I wanted to make it more likely to be read. Most likely the individual points will be ignored or treated as lies anyway. The main point is that he knows we have not just flipped a coin and decided to leave without reason. I doubt if he will ever contact me again in either case, nor attempt to check any facts unless he does. So the re-declaration of my love and concern for him is the main motive now I guess. Any thoughts?

  Dear xxxx -

  I have started a letter to you at least a dozen times since your visit to our home a few weeks back. I do cherish our friendship, and appreciate your having stopped to speak with me. You asked a poignant question. I seek to reply here.

  I will attempt to explain, only in principle, the reasons we stopped attending meetings at the KH two years ago. I want you to understand that our leaving was not due to being duped. I am not the sort to be easily duped. We became aware of great issues of importance in the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses, matters that could not be properly ignored and brushed away. I do not seek to list or categorize them in this letter, but be assured that I speak the truth when I say that God simply could not approve of what I have found in a religion that claims to be His exclusive property for dispensing ‘truth‘. The things I have uncovered are scandalous, and I would have not believed them myself, had I not spent hundreds of hours confirming each and every fact. You know I am not a liar, no matter what else you think of me! I would not sacrifice decades of my religious life to sloppy investigation of such serious matters. Well, what can one do when confronted with a struggle of obedience to God, or obedience to religion? I had a true Crisis of Conscience. Due to having acted on our consciences, we have been subjected to gossip and hateful slander by most of those we had called ‘friends‘. We have been condemned as evildoers in spite of no trial or even accusation. That I should have a clear conscience should be no reason for others to hate me - but they do. Some have even used the term ‘apostate’ to describe us - a term of the greatest hatefulness in the witness culture. We seek to mount no defense for acting on conscience, for none is called for. We have acted in accordance with what we know to be right and proper in the sight of the Father and His Son. It needs no excusing.

  xxxx, I spent decades telling others to examine their religion to make sure it was pleasing to God, yet I never really made the same investigation of my own. Most witnesses never do, nor will. It was the lack of Christ-like love that compelled us to take that closer look. What we found upon examination impelled us to leave quietly. Having known me for what, 15 years now, do you think I would just repudiate the ‘truth’ without cause? I hope you know me better than to think I would abandon what is ‘right‘ in favor of what is ‘wrong‘. Trust me when I say we have not been ‘overreached by Satan’. We have learned the Truth about the ’truth’, and what we have found is the basis of our decision. There was nothing ’shallow’ in this decision. It also was not easy. It is far more convenient to just go on believing one has the ‘truth’, than to act on contrary knowledge. Enough said. I make no attempt to bring you to my way of thinking, for each must stand on his own faith.

  Please know that I love you dearly. That love is unconditional, not the conditional sort that is practiced by most witnesses. In fact, though they reject us, I have no reason to reject most individuals in the witness faith. I love them. I pray for them. Sadly, friendship is legislated within the witness framework for those who ‘stick with the truth’, meaning really for those who stick with the religion known as Jehovah‘s witnesses. I have chosen not to try and judge others in that manner any longer. They must and will do what they believe God has told them to through the so-called Faithful Slave.

  We seek now, to live by the Bible. We had to reject a religion, to be faithful to God in all things. But I know I am not perceived that way in the witness community, nor in your eyes. My conscience is clear. My faith intact and growing. My trust in the Father and His Son implicit and lasting. I accept that the ‘truth’ resides in Christ alone. He is the only way to life;

  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 WET

  May the Father bless you. I think of you and xxx with great love. We hope to see you again. I miss our great times and intelligent conversation. But alas, that is most likely ended. But the choice is yours. You can call me anytime.

  I trust you understand why I leave this letter unsigned. Not due to fear of witness ‘justice’, but due to the convenience of not complicating life unnecessarily thru religious legalism. In Christ, then. Agape!