Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I'll be hanging around here, I hope to post more and not just look.
Ranchette- I appreciate what you wrote. At the moment my wife is very much pro-JW. In the past I've tried the hard core approach, with the things I learned about our religion. Now I understand that I need to use more tact and subtlety. I'm trying. I know that many were/are hurt by the things elders say and do, I've tried to balance my elder body by being as "liberal" as possible and take up for the friends when and where I can. I'm not trying to be anybody's Knight in Shining Armor, I just think the elders, COs, DOs, etc can be a bit more reasonable. Perhaps I'm being naive.
Farkel- you are absolutely correct about making a difference. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that benefit from this 'net thang!