PLEASE TELL ME...

MerryMagdalene

HAVE I GONE OFF THE DEEP END WITH THIS ONE?

A brief conversation tonight with my JW mother, who has been ill recently, triggered this. I called to see how she is and she warned me that she has sent me a note and hopes it won't hurt my feelings. I think she is writing me off again. I'm DFed but she has some limited contact with me anyway, because she loves me and loves my daughter.

I was going to write to her, but just couldn't. She's a little fragile sometimes. Then I was going to write to my JW relatives, but then figured why not just go straight to the top? (Sorry it's so long.)

To the Members of the Governing Body of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society and the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses:

I want my mother back.

I have one mother on this earth, and she has one child, but you will not allow her to have an ordinary mother-daughter relationship with me. The only way she can do that now is if she is willing to suffer the same fate as me--disfellowshipping--which would result in her, too, being shunned by all her Jehovah's Witness family members and friends. This is no small thing as she is a 3rd generation JW who has been a baptized member for 55 years. It would also leave her feeling doomed to destruction since she accepts what you teach in that regard.

You have led her to believe that to disobey you is to disobey God, and, therefore, to continue our relationship would mean that she was choosing me over God. This places her in a very difficult position, and has greatly strained our relationship, causing much psychological stress and sorrow. Because I do not agree with all your religious teachings, even though I have developed new appreciation for the Bible, she worries that I will be sentenced to eternal damnation. To live with the horror of this, she must harden her heart toward me, and put even greater faith in you as God's representatives.Do you truly understand the position of responsibility before God and man that you have thus taken upon yourselves? You claim to be the Governing Body of God's ONLY spirit-directed organization, and that no one can come to God except through you (as Jesus' agents, of course).

Therefore, I hope that you will seriously consider the request that I am now going to make.

I was baptized by Jehovah's Witnesses as a minor, without fully understanding the ramifications this would have on the rest of my life. I gave in to the peer-pressure of the congregation in which I was raised and the well-meaning coersion of several elders, one of whom was my uncle. I did not know at that time what it meant to accept Jesus as my Saviour and have a personal relationship with Him, nor did I comprehend the grace of God and the action of the Holy Spirit. I understood the words of your teachings but not their full meaning and far-reaching implications, especially since as a JW I was discouraged from questioning those teachings or making any in-depth exploration of the Bible except in conjunction with your publications. Therefore, I am asking that you consider both my baptism and my disfellowshipping as null and void. I am also asking that you make a statement to that effect, notifying myself, my mother, and the elder's in her congregation of it.

If I am no longer considered a disfellowshipped ex-Jehovah's Witness then perhaps I will eventually be able to repair the damage that has been done to my relationship with my mother, benefitting not only us but my own young daughter as well. I will be able to present myself as I truly am--a prodigal daughter who has found her way home to her loving Father, having been drawn to Him through Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. She will be able to share her faith with me once again, this time as one adult to another, and she will be able to either accept me or reject me according to her own conscience.

It is my heartfelt desire that you, too, be either accepted or rejected on the merits of what you truly are, what you teach, how you govern, and what effect all this has on your members and your ex-members. It is for this reason that I am making this an open letter and will be sending copies to various news organizations, friends, and family members, along with a list of several informative and accurate internet sites they can go to for a more complete picture.

I pray for you and for anyone who is in any way involved with you. May you know God's mercy when you need it most, and may you show that mercy to others.

Sincerely,

Me

MidwichCuckoo

Very Gutsy Merry - very good.

They can't relate to any normal mother/daughter relationship for obvious reasons.

prophecor

The Truth about the truth will tell on itself overtime Meeg. It'll come raining down so hard on folks that there'll be no room to contain all the damage control that they'll need to be doing inside. Your mother, and everyone else who has hostages within the walls of the WTB&TS are due to come out. Don't give up on her, Meeg, even if she, in ignorance, gives up on you for the moment.

freedomlover

that's awesome Mary. I really hope something good comes out of it....

let us know what happens when you send it in. are you going to send your mom a copy also?

freedomlover

AuldSoul

I don't think you went off the deep end. I want to borrow the idea for myself. Could you imagine the effect if they got hundreds of letters along these lines in one week? Each worded differently, of course. But I think we should wait and let your letter have its effect first.

I don't think we are necessarily in the last days, but this Scripture seems to describe them:

2 Timothy 3:1-7 — But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up [with pride], lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. 6 For from these arise those men who slyly work their way into households and lead as their captives weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, 7 always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

Dansk

Amazing, isn't it Auldsoul, how the condemnatory scriptures so frequently used by Watchtower for decades are actually pointing to itself!

Ian

slugga

You must be a right hard nosed B*stard To read that letter and see the pain that someones in and see how easy it would be to put it right but then to ignore it. What harm would it do and think of the good it could achieve.

The org should tighten up its policy towards the baptism of minors, ban it and annul the baptism of everyone that was baptised under the age of 18 and preferably raise it to 33. After all Christ is the Example we follow not Timothy.

Hope this works out for you Merry

MerryMagdalene

Thanks for your kind words.

I have very little hope that the GB will respond to this letter in any way whatsoever, but, I do think they should not keep quietly getting away with the harm they do. If we keep our painful experiences to ourselves they get to keep their dirty little secrets. I don't want that on my head. I want people to know about the harm, even though I would prefer not to bring attention to myself. And this may not be major, earth-shaking, news-making harm but it still hurts and the effects don't easily go away.

I think you have the right idea AuldSaul. And the "no natural affection" phrase certainly did come to mind.

~Merry

LittleToe

You'll likely get a response telling you to go to the hall. The Elders of the local hall will also be notified. Your mother will possibly receive a visit, depending on how lazy the Elders are.

Sorry to hear that your road has hit a bump. Hopefully it'll level out again soon

Double Edge

Mary...
Well written. I've never been a dub, but I've been on this board long enough to know a "little". Now, my take on this situation is that you want the Society to take notice...right? if so, WHAT IF..... you send the letter by way of a quarter page ad in one of the New York newspapers..... yikes, would THAT get noticed. The headline would read... "I Want My Mother Back" I bet you would have a handful of reporters sniffing out a story. I wonder if the price would be reasonable enough for the members of the board to kick in a few bucks each. just a thought..... (are you listening Brooklyn?)

D.E.

PLEASE TELL ME...

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