just finished talking on the phone with my mom. She filled me in with the latest about my old JW acquaintances from before I was DF.
1) brother bethelite from the the big city Bethel branch fighting depression, feelings of inadequacy and overweight (when I knew him, five years ago, he seemed fit and balanced, a "model bethelite"). He could not take Bethel anymore. He's seeking counseling. and trying to get off his arsenal of antidepressant drugs.
2)Brother elder xxx part of my dummy JC, recently DF for getting involved with a young woman, after being kicked out from his home by judicial order ( I mean the law of the country) for (verbal, I want to guess) abuse. The good news is: his son got into med school! yeah! that would had never happened had his dad been around in his household.
3)GOOD NEWS!!! Sister BRILLIANT got rejected from Bethel. She had tried hard to fit into the branch, offering translational and legal advise. good. they rejected her. now she won't have to be a janitor to prove herself. She got married to one top bethelite and found him a great job outside bethel. their loss.
4) brother xxxx 40 yo virgin, bethel elder (WOW, he finally achieved the ambition of his life) part of my JC, falling apart from neurosis. Harsher than ever on the flock.
My mother expressed her discomfort that after the way I had been raised I felt the way I did about the above facts:
brother # 1) I hope he sees the light about what WT is doing to its minions, breaks free, and gets a life. He is a good boy.
brother # 2) I feel bad for this victim of victims. and I am glad that his family is free of him.
sister # 3) Another bright intellect will not be wasted to the WT cold and discarding machinery.
and brother # 4)...He is a S...head and he deserves to feel as bad as he does. well, I kind of feel bad for him. Will he ever see the light? I think not. can I pray for him? I don't even know who to pray to anymore.
Every time I look into the eyes of a JW I see a story of lost, of tragedy. What did I do to deserve to be out of this? I broke their rules, and in that moment that defined me as a "bad person". These people's lives are totally screwed up and are going on for the worst because they try to do what they deem as right. It is SO sad, and it makes me angry. What if I had not gotten drunk that one fateful night and made out with this not free to be remarried guy? Would I still be there, following rules and trying to be a good dubbie? I am so thankful things happened the way they did for me, but what about the thousands trapped in the WT machinery? We just look and hope for the best.
Rowan