Boy, and the welcomes just keep on coming. Aren't you all nice. Since I've actually been reading this forum for over a year, it feels like I've become accustomed to your different personalities and views over time.
I do love the diversity of people on here from different parts of the world. I will say that there also seems to be a few nutjobs but I won't mention names.
I would like to say though straight up is that I'm not use to commenting too much on forums so I may not always articulate as well as I should. Even though I may have different view points than others, I would endeavour to try and not personally offend anyone. Crazies are another story if they end up getting too ridiculous and out of control.
Hi Aussie Oz. I guess you could maybe count on one hand the amount of aussies on here.
Hi jamiebowers: Mum did get reinstated while she was still living on the Gold Coast. These were the chain of events that lead to her disfellowshipping. Dad left her and after a while started studying with a lady whom he ended up marrying. So he sought the divorce in order to remarry. An elders son who mum had grown up with on the Gold Coast offered her lift home from the meeting but ended up driving her to the beach and tried force himself on her. It was shortly after that she was disfellowshipped without a JC. It's not surprising though considering it was the late 70's and she was a single mother with 2 kids. After she got reinstated she moved with my sister to Sydney when I went to live with my father and she never went back to meetings.
My father and his family are still JW's. They live on the other side of the country so I don't see them much at all or speak to them. Not for any reason, just different lives. They aren't aware of my awakening. I don't know how they would view it because they're not die hard JW's as they a slack on a few things, but you just don't know how far that stretches.
The dual life growing probably had a lot to do with why I got drawn back in when I was 14. In Melbourne we have the violence of my drunk 1st stepfather, but either once or twice a year my sister and I would fly to QLD and stay with Dad and see all our family, go to meetings, but for the most part we were safe, in a stable place with family around that just happened to be JW's. The happiness there came from being with them all, not going to meetings. It did end up meshing things....happy loving family environment who happened to be JW's, so the JW's ended up being part of the equation of being happy and safe. In reality though, my father and his family are from South America and are very family orientated and loving and would be so even without the WTS (a couple of them have fallen away from the "truth" but are still exactly the same person they always were), but when you're young you're brain is still developing so it's easy to get misconceptions about things.
Boy, this was a bit of a long ramble. My life growing up was a bit complex so at times may be hard to explain certain things, but I'm pretty much an open book. Ask a question, get an answer.
