A warm and fuzzy call from my brother..

by freeflyingfaerie 4 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  freeflyingfaerie

  ...as a newly appointed elder. It was our first real conversation in 3 1/2 years.

  Coincidence? I don't think so.

  It was a 'sheparding call' on his very own sister. I felt a mix of love and disgust all at once. Love for him.. disgust that he is a pawn in the religion.

  I know this is the best he is capable of right now, playing by their rules. It was good to hear his voice, but sickening how mechanical the religion makes people. he said he is concerned about me, my welfare, especially my spiritual welfare.

  I asked him calmly why he just now tells me of his concern...I know the answer.. now as an elder he is allowed to talk to his 'df'd' sister under the guise of sheparding. It is the only way he knows

  It is his way of showing love

  I love my brother, I love my family. they are good people stuck in a loop

  He began by asking if I believe in god

  I told him I ponder the metaphysical all the time, am spiritual in my own personal way, have a profound reverence for nature and 'creation' all around us...but no longer believe in a god as i once did..a god that promotes slavery, stonings, is constantly judging humans from above..no, never again

  ..and I told him it would be impossible for me to belong to a religion i now know to be hypocritical. A case in point, the societies involvement with the UN. they demonize the UN as 'the image of the wild beast', yet registered and were accepted as a UN dept of Information Non governmental organization. To be accepted as an associate of the UN, an organization must support and respect its charter. The first of these states the purposes of the UN..the first being "To maintain international peace and security..." . Another, "To develop friendly relations among the nations..." . So did the society now decide not to leave it in jehovah's hands to bring peace and security? And then, once the societies status as an associate to the UN was exposed in the media, the society mysteriously retracts their status of associate. hmmmmm

  It was too much for my brother. He is not ready to hear facts that expose the religion for the lie that it is. He is not ready to question his entire belief system.

  It is sad. I was there once. It may happen one day. The light may come on. he may find the courage to do the unthinkable...research for real answers to his doubts and questions (because every jehovah's witness has them). He may one day listen to his inner voice. It's there, all jehovah's witnesses have one, even as much as they try to supress it

  Love to all

  Faerie
• 

  exwhyzee

  I know it's difficult not to "spill your guts" about everthing you now know but it sounds like you did pretty well. I've found that being a little "Coy" about my new found discoveries goes a long way in piquing the families puzzlement over our simply having walked away. The more you explain, the more they think they have you on the run. When questioned I've said " I know that if I tell you what I've learned about the religion, I could come of as someone trying to lead you astray and that isn't true. I simply wish that I had been allowed to know the whole picture before having spent so many years building my life around an organization. Like what??? It's up to you to find these things out on your own like I did.
• 

  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  It was a real eye-opener when I became an elder. It was nothing about "deeper spirituality and inspired understanding." It was increasingly about obeying the company line and always "doing more." I wish you luck with any possibility of waking your brother up to TTATT.

  Just a suggestion, if you think it might work for starters with your brother, is to remind him that with authority comes responsibility. Mention that you trust his judgment on most things, but that you have a concern and would like to have his promise on one thing in particular... After reading about the Candice Conti case ruling and how elders continue to put priority on contacting WT Legal Department first, ask him to promise that if he ever hears of a child molestation case, he will help the victim contact the police ASAP and do everything in his power to protect the child first. If a child has been molested, the police, hospital, forensics, investigators, counsellors are far more experienced in determining if a crime has been committed, how serious, and how to help the victim. Additional suggestion, warn that if you ever hear that he is named in a case where he stalled a victim while calling WT Legal Department, and ever did anything to protect a pedophile and put other innocent children at risk... YOU WILL DISFELLOWSHIP HIM!

  Chances are, he will be very eager to assure you that he would do the right thing and have the police contacted. And that will be a good thing, because it is a crack in his trust of and complete obedience to the organization.
• 

  freeflyingfaerie

  Thanks exwhyzee~

  I did explain to him that I find it sad that there is a division between us. And that if I had known at age thirteen, as a child, that should I decide as an adult to believe differently I would lose all family and friends over it....i would not have gotton baptized. I didn't realize as a child the gravity of that choice. And on becoming an adult, I was already so immersed in it, was so 'faithful', that my entire life was then revolving around the religion.

  He seemed to listen.

  Maybe backing off of controversal topics is wise...but then again, I vividly remember others helping, shaking me to my senses by bringing things up directly, things I didn't want to hear..but couldn't ignore forever. There's a delicate balance between exposing lies to them and not setting them off into defense mode. I have to think, though that they are absorbing some of what I say. I sure absorbed things people told me about the religion along the way, and when I was finally ready, I actively did something about it. The challenge is to keep calm, not be unneccesarily derrogatory and sarcastic, and repeatedly reassure them of my love and respect despite our differences.
• 

  freeflyingfaerie

  Billy, that is brilliant...you put it so well. Love it

  I will absolutely use that idea...absolutely, that's how I feel