Am I a lost cause?

Virgogirl

I've been faded for many years now. My parents are very active and often mention missing my phone calls because the meeting ran late or they went to dinner afterwards with the "friends." Yet, they never try to coax me back, or in any way plead wwith me to return before it's too late. They are elderly and I'm their only child. This strikes me as strange! Wouldn't a parent be pushing hard to bring their child back to the meetings, if they truly believed the end was near? Maybe they don't 100% believe in it themselves, or they don't think the end is near?

stillajwexelder

if they truly believed the end was near?

Many do not believe the ned is truly near

FlyingHighNow

Take as a blessing. I wish my sister would even speak to me and my little brother.

carla

I guess I'm a lost cause too! Husband has never really tried with me. Not really. Certainly not like what I read about here and other places. Maybe the problem lies with us 'apostate types' (yes I know I'm not one technically) is that we know the literature better than they. I think it still throws him for a loop if I say, 'are you sure that is current? because..... then he is not sure. I am so mean.

prophecor

Maybe it's more of a social club for them, as I've heard it here stated before. Maybe they don't believe with the same force as you would think they do, otherwise, I believe they would be trying to twist your arm, or guilt trip you out.

Scully

I've been faded for many years now. My parents are very active and often mention missing my phone calls because the meeting ran late or they went to dinner afterwards with the "friends." Yet, they never try to coax me back, or in any way plead wwith me to return before it's too late. They are elderly and I'm their only child. This strikes me as strange! Wouldn't a parent be pushing hard to bring their child back to the meetings, if they truly believed the end was near? Maybe they don't 100% believe in it themselves, or they don't think the end is near?

I'm in a similar situation. In the 10+ years since I quit going to meetings, not ONCE have my JW family members attempted to find out what happened. Not once have they encouraged me to go back.

On the one hand, it seems incredibly selfish of them to focus on getting themselves through Armageddon™ and helping complete strangers to Come In To The Truth™ when they ignore their own flesh and blood.

On the other hand, if they can continue to avoid that confrontation, it helps them preserve their Faith™. I'm sure my JW family members are aware that this was an incredibly weighty decision that was not made on a whim or without careful and prayerful consideration. Personally, I get the feeling that they are terrified that if they find out what made me quit, it will compel them to quit too. They have far more invested in the JWs than me - over 35 years in - it's the only social structure they know - their financial resources have been eaten up by the Organization (on top of which they had very little in terms of retirement planning, since they weren't supposed to have needed it anyway) - and it's got to be horribly painful to have one's faith and those dreams shattered - it was for me, and I still had the better part of my life ahead of me and have a couple of decades to get things in order in terms of my education and career and retirement planning.

Then again, you could be right. Maybe they aren't as sure of the end coming Real Soon Now™ and don't want to see us throw away our lives the way they have done.

Frog

Tis unusual in my experience vg, but it seems that all parents react in different ways. There are those parents that get a good wake up call when their kids leave, and they decide that no religion is worth sacrificing their children for. Then there are those that shun their kids from the outset, and a few years on realise it's not working so decide to meet half way. Then there are those that are permanently in a state of denial, and like to keep their head in the sand. I'm not exactly sure where your folks sit. Perhaps it's just that they can see how confident, happy and resolved you are and are just well aware that anything they had to say on the matter would be easily refuted?...if this makes you a lost cause, then I hope I too am one:) frog x

wheres caleb?

How could you possibly be a lost cause with people who could never know their own fate?

People who speak in absolutes are so scary.

I recently had an elder make an impassioned plea for me to come back to meetings. I can honestly say that I love him, but do they really love me?

I have spent a lot of time analyzing your question in my own life. All I can say is, you are not - but it is up to you to realize that.

Am I a lost cause?

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