Time has passed; things have quieted. It was a nice, relaxing time, with a few JW hiccups here and there, just general gossip and harassment from the wife's parents...nothing new.
Then, my sister met a wonderful guy. And it just so happens he's a JW....that's where the similarities with the religion end. he's patient, quiet, non-judgemental, kind. He loves my wife and I, and the feeling is mutual.
This guy is decent and real in every way, which I'm very happy about. But, this opens up another can of worms.
After their engagement, they announced that they want us in the wedding, and because of our 'slightly' apostate status, they couldn't have the talk in a hall, or have it given by an elder.
When my father asked three elders in the back room why he couldn't have it in the hall, good old anointed PO told daddy that we were dangerous, and that he would do everything in his power to make sure that no elder gave the wedding talk, unless we were taken out of the wedding. Now, although my father is an ass many times, he stuck up for us this time.
'This is my son and daughter, and I love them, and they WILL be in the wedding.'
'Not in our congregation.'
'Fine,' my father said indignantly (as he reported), 'transfer my records to the ******** congregation. This is my last meeting here.'
As my father walked out, the PO shouted, 'Don't think that changing congregations will make it any easier to have that wedding in THIS hall!'
My father was surprised at the harshness of the 'brothers'. When I asked him why, he said he always had wanted to see that brotherly love that was so often talked about. I told him he'd never find it in the witnesses. He just looked at me sadly. He's still going, and quite happy in his new congregation. But that only lasts for so long as we all know.
My sister was getting heat on two fronts now. Her man was getting hounded by his father about us being in the wedding, and the poor lad lied to his pop because he was so afraid of his wrath. Such is the control of the witties.
Amidst these little dramas came the UN debacle.
I remember going over my mom's when no one was home. I think I was doing the wash when we began complaining about the witnesses again.
Now, my mother had been a quiet dissenter for years, hated service hated the meetings, and hated the people in the hall. But she just couldn't quite get herself to renounce everything. Until I told her about the association with the UN.
Then it all come crumbling down for her.
During the conversation it went something like this:
'Yeah, no one even talks to me anymore, I don't even know why I go.'
'Well, as if that weren't bad enough, they're in the UN....whatever.....such crap.'
My mom was silent for a few minutes.
'What about the UN?'
I told her and showed her the stuff that Hawkaw posted.
That did it for her. Now she's a full blown apostate. Even calls the witnesses a cult, which infuriates my father to no end, but it's still funny to me.
Then it came to my wife's parents that Water and I hadn't been to a meeting in a couple of years.
We got a call one afternoon in the fall from her father. I knew exactly what they were talking about because I heard the word UN, many, many times during the conversation. I made sure I played Jimi Hendrix's Freedom in the background, and loud.
Her father cautioned her against reading apostate literature.
She cautioned her father against blind faith.
It wasn't the nicest of conversations. Water was pretty upset afterwards.
I think that's what started the offical, 'Ashi and Water are apostates' line.
It got worse after I found out from somehere in the forum that one of my old friends DA'd herself because she was molested and nobody believed her. I was infuriated. Now I know why people refused to talk about her hospital stay with me.....she had tried to kill herself. Now I know why she DA'd herself and left her husband-to-be. People didn't let me know the truth because I would have made in issue out of it.
I felt so guilty that I hadn't been there to support her. I was never her best friend, in fact, I had always considered her a little shallow, but no human deserves to be treated that way, and I was probably the only person with a history with her that could understand her plight. But she was gone, moved somewhere far away. I hope she's happy now.
Anyway, one of the times that my father interrorgated me as to why I wasn't going to the meetings I said in my best witnessspeak,'I don't spiritually dine with hypocrites.'
I told him about the UN thing, the Nazi stuff, the girl's molestation, etc. He was shocked, but felt better after he went to good old PO again and asked him about it.
'Well, AshiDad, I haven't heard about anything like that, but I'll look into it.'
Meaning-I'll look into disfellowshipping your son.
So far, my family was moving towards getting out. My mother was moving in that direction, my little brother and sister refuse to have family studies, (which resulted in a few bad experiences with my father as a lot of you already know), and other good news that I'll report in my last part of this caper...
Ashi and Water Goddess---Officially Apostate