Oh, and here is something that I shared in here once in private, I think. This is part of a letter that I wrote to my mom on the one year anniversary of my shunning. You might find some points in there of interest. I had spent a year on here picking up lots of interesting points and I put a lot of the new things that I learned into this letter. Here is an excerpt from my letter:
You know, I always wondered why nobody ever gave us one of those "Return To Jehovah" brochures. It seemed odd that our families never tried to save us after we saw my brother who was disfellowshipped. You were at least nice enough to acknowledge my goodbye letter. Nobody else ever said a word. I've seen the JW Broadcasting episode where we are to be discarded like a piece of bad bread as common trash. I've seen the videos from the convention this year and how it depicted those outside. I've read through the RTJ brochure. The stories portrayed are nothing like the reality of those lives that go on outside the organization, and the reasons given for people leaving aren't accurate either in most cases. It makes me wonder why they would intentionally skew the reasons that people leave. In fact, one of the biggest reasons I left was that I took it upon myself to prove the truth of what I'd been taught. Many people believe that atheists are people that have never read the Bible, but atheists are often so because they have read the Bible.
Light and darkness, truth and untruth, are to have nothing to do with one another. Like the illustration that was often given, would you drink from a cup of pure water with only a little poison in it? Truth is a beautiful and often subjective thing, unfortunately it is hard to find if you have an open mind. I know that when you sought out answers to your questions you were searching for it. I remember as a kid one day we left grandma and grandpa's house and you had been in a debate of sorts with Bruce. I remember you and dad laughing, maybe in the car, about how he said that "my truth may not be your truth", and you all found it absurd, as did I. There can only be one truth, right? And you and dad set about instilling that truth into us kids. You tried to inculcate it on our young hearts, and we kids eventually wanted to make you proud and do the right thing by getting baptized, the repercussions of which are hard to grasp by little people still playing with toys.
I understand that you feel that you have the truth or you wouldn't be where you are. If that's the case, then it is interesting to ponder a few questions that should be simple to answer. After all, God wouldn't want to confuse us on a matter as important as true worship and when our very lives hang in the balance.
What is a generation? It is a simple answer that we all know seen in geneologies in the Bible, even in the books of the Bible for which the term "generation" and use in prophecy are derived.
Where are blood fractions mentioned in the Bible?
What was the context of the verses in Acts 15 where Paul makes decrees about blood use, and what does that show about the proclamation?
What if a person is none of the things listed in 1 Corinthians 5, nor is called a brother? Why couldn't you eat with such a man even if formerly he was called brother? If a person fornicates once, why are they forever labeled a "fornicator" unless they come back to Jehovah's Witnesses, even if they go on to lead a clean and moral life? Does that fit with example after example of ones in the Bible seen as faithful that had moments of poor judgement?
Why did God command that even children be slaughtered in the Bible? Why were women seen as mere property to be taken as spoils of war and used sexually? We are commanded to love and appreciate creation, even animals, so why were the most vulnerable humans used as war fodder at God's command? His own creation that he loved so much that he sent his only Son to save were taken advantage of and exploited by his command. It doesn't make sense. The Hebrew Scriptures and Greek Scriptures read as two almost entirely different books.
On that note, Job lost his children and then had more children later and people seem to think that it somehow made up for it. Do you see any flaw in that argument? If things go as you believe and you have new kids in the new system, will that make up for the losses you've suffered? The organization and those in it have used those verses in very odd ways. Again I'll say that human life should be valued more than that. Humans are real people with feelings and individual personalities, not objects to be thrown away like common trash.
The original lie was that humans would not have to die, and would know right from wrong. Who else has a similar message today?
Why would any loving father give his children instructions that were hard to understand and then kill them if they couldn't figure it out? Isn't Jehovah the superlative example of a loving Father?
Have you ever looked at the origins of the Bible? Do you know who determined its composition? Have you read any books not included in the final canon? (if nothin else you HAVE to read the Lambdin translation of the book of Thomas, particularly the last verse, lol) Have you looked into the languages used, the lack of punctuation, and the fact that YHWH is found nowhere in the Greek Scriptures?
Have you checked the quotations used in publications and ever wondered what is written where the ellipsis occurs in their place? Some omissions are quite interesting. On the same note, some of the quoted "experts" that they use are quite interesting and not as impartial as one might think, some even later edited once it is found out who they really were.
Do you know what the Australian Royal Commission is? Have you ever watched the testimony of the organization in it? Did you even know that it was going on or what it was about? Do you know which religion was identified as having the most flaws in their process for handling child sexual abuse, and yes, Catholics were also under trial along with other religions? Why does the organization fight lawsuits tooth and nail over sexual misconduct with children by members in positions to exploit young ones, even going so far as to redact any relevant information in such cases, agreeing to pay hefty fines rather than comply with judge's orders such as in the case currently going forth in San Diego? These are all legal matters with information freely available.
What relationship has the organization had with the United Nations, and how does that coexist with other regulations on mixing in company with certain organizations?
Can "The Truth" be the truth if lies of omission are involved, not just comission?
What does Romans 14:1-4 say? How does that mesh with shunning? How about Mathew 5:43-47 (verse 47 there gives Paul's direction in 1 Corinthians 5 some direct issues) or Luke 6: 32, 37?
What does the July 2009 Awake mean when, on page 29 it states that "no one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family"? Aren't you glad that your family didn't shun you when you left to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses? Why is that if worldly relatives raised a fuss about one becoming a Witness it is called persecution, yet when one leaves the Witnesses it is called love?
How many times has the organization incorrectly predicted the end of this system of things? And no, those predictions weren't as innocuous as you've been told. What did they really say?
When was Jerusalem destroyed doing a simple Google search? Is there evidence for that date, even according to the 2011 Watchtower on page 24, see footnote? If 607 weren't true, what would that mean for 1914? Had other dates been predicted prior to 1914? How are the calculations done to reach that date? What constitues a year, or the days in a year, and how do we know that?
Who introduced you, and subsequently us, to the truth? Were those people known for good decisions, or more for physical abuse, verbal abuse, and what seems to be even the raping of children on some level? Are the people that you are around now pictures of mental and emotional health and well being?
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed due to their immorality. Lot's wife was killed for merely turning around. Lot then doesn't obey and go where he's told, complaining until he gets an alternate location. His daughters then get him drunk and sleep with him, apparently not so drunk that he still couldn't function in that capacity as he managed to somehow impregnate both of them (dude was potent or story was made up), and somehow that stuff is okay. Do I really even need to pose a question here?
What about the dinosaurs? What about the flaming sword guarding the Garden of Eden when swords weren't even invented yet? What about creative days being figurative but talking snakes being literal? How did kangaroos get to Australia without leaving any fossil record of their journey when all animals were on the Ark with Noah? Where did the excess water go since there isn't enough water on the planet to cover the entirety of the earth in a global flood? How could the Ark hold all of the species if they were taken by twos, much less sevens? Why did people in Bible times have the benefit of miracles yet we're just supposed to believe in something we haven't seen? What about fossil evidence that pre-dates Adam and Eve? Why are the great crowd at the Memorial when they weren't commanded to do so if it was only for the anointed? Or was it that Jesus instituted something that all were to participate in, in which case why do only the anointed partake and not everyone?
There are just so many questions and so few answers. How can 8 million people claim the have "The Truth"? How can you claim to have it? How can you laugh at the thought that others feel they have it when there are so many unanswered questions on all sides of the divide? Is it possible that you're living a lie? It certainly is if you lay claim to truth and are unwilling to put it up against facts.
