Further to my first post above --- Last year I saw pretty well all of the expose' programs on the A&E channel by Leah Remini and Mike Rinder dealing with Scientology, their experiences in that cult and the experiences of others as well. The one thing that stood out for me was what Leah Remini said near the end. In contrast to the advice we so often hear when friends or family member become "sucked into" a cult like Scientology or Jehovahs Witnesses that we should pray for them (still not bad advice) and try to maintain contact but remind them of the good times you all had earlier in your lives together ( still not bad advice if it is possible to do so --a BIG IF ) but that we should not "hassle them" or dispute the JW practices or beliefs etc. That is called the "soft approach" . What Leah said was that the "soft approach" does not work as it is fighting a concerted brainwashing system. The answer is to do what she and Mike were and are doing --ATTACK !!! and DESTROY !! ---- That seems to be what the Vast Apostate Army has decided to do.........as well as all those people like David Bridges and Bonnie Zieman in Sherbrooke or Montreal Quebec and others have done by writing books about getting out.
The problem is also often how do we get through to those who just shut out or ignore anything to do with religion; they help nobody even themselves. Secondly as has been proven many times the ex-JWs need a reasonable substitute towards to direct their desire for a spiritual life; that is where the mainline churches (especially non-RC because of child sexual abuse issues with priests being also widely broadcast ) must come into play. I especially note mainline churches ( such as Episcopal / Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian Reformed, Presbyterian, Baptist, some Pentecostal etc. ) not the literalist, overly fundamentalist ones which often exist as unattached to a wider group and almost disappear after a popular preacher retires.
We want to encourage the ex-JWs to think, to debate, to ponder and to ask questions without fear of criticism !! Now will a branch of ex-JWs dot com or dot ca etc. start to clue in the mainline churches and to help them set up a program of de-programming ?