In the case of believing mates or relatives, they may be motivated by good intentions by having a genuine concern for one's "spirituality." My wife and I would have preferred a slow fadeout. But our children knew of our doubts and questions. They were the ones that sent the elders to help "adjust our thinking." However, it soon became apparent to us that the only reason for their calls was to determine whether or not we still recognized the Watchtower as God's organization. When I expressed doubts about the Watchtower's interpretation of Matthew 24:45-51 the elders invited me to a meeting at the Kingdom Hall to further discuss the matter. However, I found out that this was going to be a judicial committee meeting. In my correspondence with the elders, I requested to know the specific charges, the scriptural foundation of these charges and the names of my accusers. (I suspected that my accusers were the elders themselves who were also serving in the judicial committee.) They refused to divulge any of this information. So, I refused to recognize their authority to judge me. I was eventually disfellowshipped "in absentia" for apostasy.
Such is the "justice" that one can expect from those appointed elders in the congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Fortunately, three of our four children left around the same time we did. But the pain of separation from our oldest daughter and her family as well as my wife's family is still deeply felt by both of us even after more than 24 years.
