Well, I got a letter today from some JW relatives—my aunt and uncle. I must admit to feeling a mixture of conflicting emotions about it. On the one hand, I know they are genuine and good people and have always helped my family and been friends through good times and bad. On the other hand, they are zealous jw’s and everything they say and do revolves around that. That is fine, but the condescension gets old.
The letter was typed, something I’ve always found a bit odd but I don’t complain because my handwriting is not the best. However, when I write a letter to a friend, I’ve always made it a point to hand write it. However, that’s a tertiary issue.
They begin with a short paragraph asking if I’m in law school—they’d heard I was, and ended the paragraph by using the jw phrase “the legal field can be an interesting vocation.” What struck me as odd is that I’d told them I’m in law school the last time I saw them which was sometime last fall. I suppose they forgot.
With the second paragraph, they jump right into the emotional appeal, mentioning being by my childhood home place and thinking about my mom who has been dead now for five years and about how they’re looking forward to seeing her again. Now, I know they didn’t mean it this way, but I feel it’s a low blow to use someone’s dead mother to try and use it as reasoning for believing something. Immediately they said that “higher education” tends to make one “skeptical,” and then mention lies on the internet.
At this point they’d lost me. I admit to being excited about getting a letter from them, since I don’t get many personal letters. However, of the one page they wrote and 4 paragraphs, 3 of them were about jw stuff and all about getting me back. I was disheartened that the only mention they made of themselves regarded seeing my old home place and the only thing they asked about me was if I was in school. As I’ve said, they are good people, but still everything else in life is put secondary to the misguided watchtower beliefs.
So, I’m halfway through the second paragraph. The concluding sentence of the second paragraph is where I find one of the more insulting sentences in the letter. “…we would like for you to read this information over with at least the same open-mindedness as you would if it was something else.” This upset me. First of all, it implies that I have a tendency to be close minded regarding jw stuff, or would if they didn’t ask me not to be. Secondly, it implies that I’m open minded to everything but jw stuff.
The remaining two paragraphs read like a Watchtower article, citing 6 scriptures, and ending with wanting for my mom to be able to see me again. I need not cover it in detail. Then, finally, they attach an article from the May 17, 2007 Watchtower about the resurrection.
I’m disappointed that they went to the trouble to write me a letter, put a lot of effort into it, but not accomplish any communication nor show more than minimal interest about who I am. I’m disappointed that they don’t want to give me the option to decide for myself what I believe, and I’m a little miffed that I suspect they counted field service time writing this letter.
I can’t decide if I should respond or not. I know that nothing I could say would alter their beliefs, and I’m not sure I’d want to if I could. And as confident as I am in my beliefs, reading this kind of letter and old Watchtower article plays weird tricks on my emotions—I almost feel sick to my stomach. Ah well, if you’ve read this far, I apologize for wasting your time. Just felt like writing about it somewhere.
Cheers,
JD