I hate my mother too! My mother stood up in my face and told me that Jehovah will replace me with new children in the "New System of Things" because I read Raymond Franz' book Crisis of Conscience. How do you argue with her? I have been trying so hard to find something that I can actually use to make her see the real light!! I was brought up a JW so my childhood was anything but ordinary. My father was disfellowship a long time ago for smoking and then my mother fell away. Only recently having started a new job with a co-worker is a JW has she become fanatical.
They are going on a trip to Bethel (from Alabama) riding a bus full of JW and she was indignant that I didn't love Jehovah because I refused to go (she was paying afterall). If there is anyone out there who has taken the Bethel tour, maybe you can answer this for me: will they see behind the scenes or only a carefully arranged tour? Will they eat any meals at the long tables in the cafeteria that week?
I am trying to find some piece of material that will help me convince my mother that this is not Jehovah's organization. She is not concerned with any of the inaccurate predictions for Armageddon saying the Bible says no man knows the date or the hour. I ask her who has been keeping up with the 144,000 since biblical days began until 1914/1918/1935 when the vancancies were supposedly filled and she said Jehovah has, that he is the Time Keeper. When I asked her why I can't worship Jehovah privately without the aide of the WTS, she quoted the passage about "...where two or more are gathered" so it isn't possible to believe in Jehovah without the WTS because that is Jehovah's organization. Enough already. I can't argue with her I suppose because I don't have enough material to present her with. When I told her about the Beth Sarin house she didn't know anything about it but believed that if the WTS President built it and deeded it to the Oldies then it must be for a good reason.
She keeps reminding me that the WTS is a non-profit organization and that they give the literature away. I remember distinctly when she purchased it from the Kingdom Hall then sold it at the "cost of printing". Why has this changed? If the WTS is so rich why don't they distribute the wealth to helping each congregation pay the light bill rather than having each congretion pay the expenses for a Bethel Brother to come give a talk?
My mother has built a library of all of the old yearbooks, every book that was pratically ever written by the WTS, and yes, even the old records! She didn't find it odd that they used to play the phongraph at people's doors at all. Now she tapes every talk and converts them into CD. She has gone off the deep end.
Now she is drilling me to go to the Memorial. This would be the first year not being in attendance. Should I go because Jesus commands us to "do this in Memorial of Me"? If I don't do it at the Kingdom Hall, where else can do this in rememberance of him? Can anyone help me with this? I am going insane!!
