For those of you who are interested, the project I've been working on for the last few months is finally finished. I originally did a thread about it back in April: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/156497/1.ashx
It seems that alot of us still have family members in the religion and have not infrequent arguments with them about some of the beliefs and practices. From my own experience and what I've heard others say, when these arguments come up, they will inevitably say something like "the bible tells us we have to preach door to door" or "where is this 'proof' that Jerusalem wasn't destroyed in 607 BCE?" or "we know Jesus did not die on a cross".
There's so much information out there that you don't know where to begin and if you say "let me click on the internet to show you", the warning signs go up in their brains because of course the internet is run by Satan himself and they decline your offer. And since most ex-Witnesses don't walk around with Crisis of Conscience in our hands, quite often that's a no-go. Plus, like an animal knowing when they're on the way to the vets', a Witness automatically 'knows' was CoC is, even though they've most likely never read it.
I just thought it would be beneficial to have a hard copy of something you can refer to quickly, that touches on some of the main issues we have with the Organization itself. The categories are: Smoking, New Light, Blood, Disfellowshipping & Shunning, 607 BCE, 144,000 What Constitutes a ‘False Prophet’?, Date Setting, ‘This Generation’, The Faithful & Discreet Slave, Preaching House to House, The Cross, and Pagan Celebrations.
It's not a book or a novel that tells a story. It's just some facts and materials that I put together. I originally thought it would be about 20 pages and would take me 2 weeks. It's taken me over 6 months to do and is 148 pages (don't worry---it's double sided).
I don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm Einstein. Much of the information is from discussions we've had on here as well as other sites. I've written it from the view that it will be active (or at the least, doubting) Witnesses who will be reading it, so I've tried to make it as simple as possible. No offense, but as we all know, the average Witness is not well educated thanks to the strong disapproval of higher education. I've tried quoting from the Society's own literature as much as possible, so that they can see for themselves that we're not making our assertions up. I have used 'worldly' sources to in some cases (like in the section on Blood), simply because it was necessary, and unlike the WTS's literature I've tried referencing as much as I can.
It was suggested to me that I put it up on the internet, but I don't think I'm going to go that route. There's already more than enough information on the internet and I think it might be counter-productive.
Anyway, for anyone who would like a copy, just send me a PM. I've got a list of those who originally PM'd me, but that was several months ago, so I hope I remembered everyone. This project is absolutely free and available to anyone who wants a copy. I guess this is my gift to the ex-Witness world.
Maybe I'll send a copy to Crooklyn as a Christmas present this year.
...OUTLAW