Yeah I was a little "afraid" of DF'd people. I was even afraid of being disfellowshipped as a young boy, and as a young man. Then I found out the truth about the Troof... And suddenly, I would tell others, "Listen, what's the worst that can happen? Its not like the elders are going to take me and turn me over their knee and spank me." So I did as I pleased, and let MY conscience be my guide, sure I'm DF'd, but I don't regret it. I needed to be DA'd or DF'd in order to live the life I wanted, a life of FREEDOM!!!!
I remember seeing DF'd people, and ignoring them, being scared of them, and most of them looked like they were going through hell... EXCEPT my mother. She never let it bother her, and she would make a scene if Dubs didn't act polite and speak to her. She was raised a Baptist, and believed strongly in manners, she found it completely absurd that some people that she knew would try to avoid her. I also remember seeing an apostate once. He was a very old man, and would stand in the parking lot at my friends hall, and try to have conversations with Dubs or try and pass out HIS literature. I was warned to "STAY CLEAR OF THAT EVIL MAN!!!!"
I also remember when I questioned my Dub grandma (been in since 1965) about 1975 and Ray Franz. I was about 13 and I told her that I heard that 1975 they predicted the end of the world. She was furious, and denied it, saying it was the people that "went ahead of the organization". She asked me where I found the information, and I told her, "Well, mom has a book at her place that I've been reading, its questions to ask a Jehovah's Witness. I thought since it was about our religion, I would read it, so I read the whole thing." She became enraged and told my dad, who never did anything about it. She did however make up some line about Ray Franz being a "jealous man, and he was trying to seek fame and fortune. Don't ever look up anything by that terrible man, its all lies, everything you need to know is in the magazines or I can answer for you."
I was so sick of hearing that "EVERYTHING I needed to know was in the publications", that I got really curious what they were hiding when I was about 17 or 18, and then really started looking in college, and at that point I was only going to please my family, and keep the elders away.
