I have recently been in fairly regular contact with a long - time jw friend who, despite my da status, decided to put our 25 - year long friendship before the shunning doctrine. She has visited me, discreetly of course, several times, and has read on JWD and other sites when she has been here. She recently watched some of the child abuse videos on silentlambs, and all she has seen has caused her to doubt the truth of the wts, after 45 years as a baptised jw, with many of those years spent regular pioneering.
It was the local dc a couple of weeks ago, and she only went for half a day, and missed the rest of the sessions, and she hasn't been attending all of the meetings lately either. Only last week she was here chatting on the live help facility, and I lent her COC then. She has read it in less than a week, she just couldn't put it down, and has come to a few conclusions as a result.
She feels that she can no longer go in the ministry as she does not believe that she would be preaching the truth. She does not intend going to any more meetings, which will inevitably attract the attention of the elders, and I know from personal experience what sort of line they take with faders, but she is ready for that, she hopes. She has many questions to ask them, and I doubt they will be able to give the right answers. She is not ready to leave completely by da'ing: she has many of her family in the org, and doesn't want to lose them just yet. I have reminded her what usually happens to people who question too much, and that she may not get to choose whether she stays a fader or not, but she will face that when it happens. Of course, I have assured her of mine and dedpoets support if the elders do try to crack the whip with her, and she is pretty sure that she will need all the help she can get.
She is coming here to see us in about an hour, having just phoned me. She will no doubt be reading on the board when she arrives. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a pc at home, but is thinking of getting one, so I suspect we will soon have another newbie to welcome! Dedpoet has offerred to help her choose the right system for her and install all the software, he's good at stuff like that, so maybe it won't be long before she's set up. In the meantime, we have told her she is welcome here, we may well be the only friends she has soon.
I know this last few months haven't been easy for her, trying to ignore the doubts that she was feeling, then gradually being unable to ignore them, and finally coming to the realisation that she has spent all her life, and she is 59 and was brought up in the jws, in a man - made religion. It's a stunning realisation that you haven't really got the truth, and never did have it, but I do know she is a very strong person, and is honest enough to admit when she is wrong. I am looking forward to her coming here, we both are, and I will update you all later. It's going to be an interesting evening, I think.
Linda
btw her name is Marion