This is a little long, but funny!
Background info:
2 weeks ago I'm at lunch with my mom and my non JW neice. Mom brings up the problems with the Catholic Church and starts bragging to my neice that JW's who molest get disfellowshipped. I couldn't keep quiet and piped in that just was not true. I started naming people that she knew personally that were pedophiles that got away with it.
3 days ago I picked my mom up to take her to an appointment. 2 minutes into the car ride she point blank asks me if I still "believe it's the truth." Caught off-guard, I asked her what prompted that line of thinking and she said that the things I said 2 weeks ago scared her. I didn't want to get into anything with her (she's 79 and already went through my dad disassociating himself years ago) so I basically told her that I had some issues with the society but that I was going to "wait on Jehovah." That seemed to appease her.
This morning I get a phone call from her. Keep in mind that she is a bit ditzy at times, but she said that there was a good article in our paper about how Jehovah's Witnesses disfellowship pedophiles. On my way to work I pick up the paper to find the following article:
"Dissenters face excommunication"
Louisville, KY - As a pillar of his church, William Bowen sat in judgment of fellow Jehovah's Witnesses who went astray. On a few occasions, Bowen supported the ultimate punishment - expulsion from the tight-knit religious group.
But now the lifelong Jehovah's Witness awaits judgment himself from fellow members of the faith."
This must have been where she stopped reading as she was under the impression that Bill Bowen was disfellowshipped for molesting.
Continuing with the article,
"The 44-year-old former church elder is among four Jehovah's Witnesses threatened with excommunication - or disfellowship, as the denomination calls it - for sowing discord in the faith by speaking out against the church's handling of allegations of child molestation. Bowen complains that child-sex allegations are generally not reported to secular authorities by the the Jehovah's Witnesses."
As soon I got to work I had to call her. I told her that she needs to reread the article, that Bill Bowen was not disfellowshipped for being a pedophile, but rather because he is against the way the society treats victims of sex abuse. I continued that he sat on way too many judicial committees where the victim was threatened with being df'd instead of the pedophile and felt like he could no longer sit back and tolerate such behavior.
She agreed that it is wrong for people like that to get away with it and that the society better get it's act together. I made it a point to mention that witnesses are not different than Catholics or any other religion, and she agreed.
I had to put my final little dig in by saying that the society really blew it when they disfellowshipped Bill Bowen and the others. It's as if they are trying to keep everything buried under the rug instead of owning up to their mistakes. She agreed with everything I said.
Now, will any of this make a difference? Hell no! She is going to a 2-day assembly this weekend and will no doubt call me after both days to tell me "what a wonderful assembly it was."
For those of you that are still reading this, thank you!