· Cedars: Thank you for starting this thread!
I happened to see this magazine in a Laundromat. (I guess people really do read them while doing laundry!) I’ve stopped attending meetings for well over a year, when I finally had enough of the double talk about abuse issues. Well, I decided to take a look to see what the flavor-of-the-week was in reference to spousal abuse. I was very disturbed by page #9 and the bullet points. Usually bullet points are a checklist of some sort, attempting to prove a point.
Then I read the part about the ‘neighborhood shunning’, I had a moment of cognitive dissonance. “Neighborhood shunning? No. the only shunning I had was from those WITHIN the “loving”, organization. When I snapped out of it, I realized that it was more double-speak and hidden messages about leaving. Also that it WAS a checklist for abused Witnesses to use for reasons to remain in the abusive situation!
As with many of us raised in ‘the truth’ there are times when we wonder about our own reasoning on matters. It was a comfort to read this thread, because it was exactly what I was thinking. Thank you all for posting! It validated my reasoning.
It also appeared to me from the article, that again they are flip-flopping over the 3 reasons that one can obtain an unscriptural divorce and the other articles that have been outlined in this thread. How many people will take a hard line against leaving and stay in a terrible situation. What they don’t tell you is that even though you have valid reasons for getting an unscriptural divorce, you WILL be shunned!
· Lois: I agree. I’ve faded and am finally happy and at peace. My ex is still behind the literature counter and aux. pioneering. But who cares? They could make him part of the Governing Body and I could care less! Now is time to begin again!
· Joyfulfader. Ironically, you wrote about my situation. Funny, but besides escaping with my health and sanity, I never thought about protecting other women by an unscriptural divorce. I guess there are more positives than I realized.