Well, I just finished Crisis of Conscience (except for the appendix). Really eye opening! I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the chapters describing his expulsion but he seemed to present it fairly and extremely accurately. It amazed me that the people he worked so close with for so many years, even his friends, turned on him so quickly and refused to help in any way when he most needed it. It makes me feel ashamed of the ones I’ve known who have been DF’d and I shunned them. I really has reaffirmed to me that the org. is just a man made, man lead organization. They add to and twist the bible when convenient. The changes and decisions they make rarely have any real scriptural support, in fact, the changes are usually decided on then scriptures are found that can support it. I was thinking about it a lot during meeting yesterday. The Watchtower article we were studying had to do with “New Light” and how it is such a blessing. It talked about past “new light” changes and how the bible supported them (one of them had to do with the change on the view of the “superior authorities. The old understanding was it was Jehovah and Jesus and it was change to the Nations of the earth. I wanted to raise my hand and comment that this change was actually a revival of the original teaching before it was changed to the now “old light”. As if Jehovah gave the original teaching, correct light, then changed it turning off the light so to speak, then changed it back turning the light back on. I didn’t raise my hand though)
I am also amazed at the similarities between JW’s and Catholics. The Watchtower loves to bash Catholicism for things it itself is guilty of. I was reading and old WT article last night that dealt with the Bible and Science. From the beginning it was a catholic bashing article yet almost every thing they accused the catholics of they themselves are guilty, the most amazing one being the harshness with which both organizations deal with different or apposing views. The WT chastises the catholics for this yet is blind to it’s own rafter of DF’ing for so called apostasy. I also really appreciated the end of the book where he talks about where do we go when leaving the org. This is a question I face. He sums it up nicely by saying we don’t need an organization. Jesus invited everyone to come to him, we don’t need a man-made organization for that. In fact it is a man made organization that has really alienated it’s followers from Jesus. I have never felt any spirituality or personal relationship with God and His Son. This is the major reason I have never been motivated or sincere in my life as a JW. The book really has helped me to realize what I know is true of the JW org. It has also given me confidence that whatever the future hold for me as I fade I have my whole life ahead of me without the fear of destruction or guilt.