1969: I was still studying with the JWs, attending meetings, and preparing for baptism. One of the requirements was that I notify my previous religion, the Roman Catholic Church where I was baptized as a baby in 1951, and demand they remove me from membership.
Catholic Policy: I wrote to my Priest in Southern California to follow-up on the JW requirement to write to the Catholic Church and demand removal. But, unlike most churches, the Catholic Church never removes anyone from the membership. They consider you a Catholic forever. But they do make a note on your file that you have joined another religion.
My Letter: I will post it someday when I find it again. But, at the time, the world was under a lot of stress in the late 1960s, and Armageddon by 1975 seemed like a sure thing, and so, being a young ambitious man, I wanted to prove myself and sent a scathing letter.
In the letter, I basically told the Priest that he was a son of the Devil, worked for a Harlot-Whore religion, and he would be especially targeted at Armageddon for his devil-inspired service. His only hope he had was to see how good and happy JWs are, and join us. LOL, Gawd! The Priest wrote back a terse, but kind letter, and sent my baptism Certificates to me.
1994: 25 years later I am out of the organization. I am taking stock of my life when I remember this nice, innocent Italian Priest I wrote to in 1969. His name is Father Zanetti. I visited the local Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon and where I talked to the Monsignor (Senior Priest or Pastor), and he finds Father Zanetti still in Southern California, but at a different Parish.
The Call: I got the phone number and called Father Zanetti. His kind Italian voice sounded much the same. I told him my name, and mentioned my letter from 25 years ago. He immediately said that he remembered my letter, and still has a copy. He still remmebered my name.
He said that he had never before or since received such a harsh, mean, scathing, terrible letter as the one I sent. He said that his eyes were in tears at what the JWs had done to my heart and soul that I could think to say such unkind words to someone I really didn't know.
I told him that I left the JWs, and that part of my process was to try and rekindle family, friends, and contact anyone that I may have hurt with my religion. I apologized to him and asked forgiveness for the terrible letter and mistake in hurting him. I was making a personal apology, but he also took it as an act of Confession, and gave me 'Absolution' over the phone. I didn't complain or make an issue. And again, he was in tears, but this time because he said that it was for me, that I was free of a terrible religion.
The $64,000 Question: He asked what made me leave the JWs. I told him the short story of seeing the religion say one thing, do another, violate the Bible, and mostly common sense and decency. He understood, and admitted the the Catholic Church, too, still has its own problems, but at least he is free to disagree and talk about it openly.
I told him of the books by Ray Franz, Crisis of Conscience and in Search of Christian Freedom. He was pleased and asked for a copy. I sent them as a gift, and told him that these might come in handy someday should anyone in his chruch start toying with the idea of being a JW.
The Point: The JWs had instilled in me something not kind or good. The sense of militancy, coupled with the JW urgency of the times before 1975, and the necessary ingredients were all present to allow me to show ugliness to another human being.
The act of going back and making amends was worth the time and effort, because it helped in the process of healing. Even if I was not all that guilty before God, considering my age and the terrible influence upon me, seeking forgiveness was still a small price for finally doing something to turn evil into good.
God blessed me that day, not because I acted at the urging of a religion or a belief system, but I acted from the heart and sought to heal another, and in that found healing for myself. - Amazing