by Jourles 29 Replies latest jw friends
Jourles,
I am sure you will do well with the elders. Based on what I know about you from reading your posts you are a really cool guy. I agree with jgnat that you will make them squirm.
I do agree with JT and the rest that you should tread lightly in view of the fact that your wife is still heavily into this.
Hey, this is better than a soap opera. I can't wait for the next episode. I hope you will share it with us.
I wish you the best.
Chester
It's astonishing to me how any fair-minded person, even a hardcore JW, could fail to see through the Society's real motives for not wanting an audio record of any conversation. The noble time-honored principles of Western jurisprudence and guarantees of fairness, i.e. full disclosure of evidence, transcription of all proceedings, and public access of any and all interested parties to the trials, are routinely trampled on by the WT thugs.
I guess Court Stenographers will not inherit God's Kingdom!
Jourles,
1. Personally I think if you are no longer interested in being a jw, you may just wish to excuse yourself from the entire meeting at the last second . . . previous commitment and such. (Don't tell your wife ahead of time.) Then your wife will receive a bit of encouragement and the "WT Police" will go home, end of matter.
2. If you get into a debate with those spiritual nazis, it will upset your wife. Not only that, as mentioned in other posts, they will see you as a threat to the safety of the congregation spirituality and disfellowship you for apostasy.
3. If you really wanna go wild, leave the recorder running while your wife and the elders discuss your "spiritually endangered conditionTM", after you have made your exit. Just make sure your wife doesn't know about it.
Whatever you decide, I wish you success in your decision.
ESTEE
I guess Court Stenographers will not inherit God's Kingdom!
You here that MegaDude?!?!? You're DOOMED!
Jourles,
I think leaving the pedophile and UN issues out is a great idea, for the very reasons you stated. Using the blood issue as an excuse for spiritual weakness sounds like a good way to send the message, "when you can satisfactorily explain this, I'll come back with bells on."
We know we can't change their minds on doctrine (until they are ready), but I think it's good to let them see that they can't come to you with empty platitudes and expect you to have a Road To Damascus experience. If nothing else, it should buy you another 5-6 years before they send some unsuspecting newbie elder to 'encourage' you again.
While I think it's good advice to be careful about getting caught trying to record the proceedings, I say go for it!
Hmmm (who thinks the days of pre-committee-meeting friskings are fast approaching)
Well folks, it appears that I may have a little bit more time to think about what I am going to do/say. I will be leaving town this weekend for a week and Saturday is a no-go for a visit. So if anyone would like to meet up in Chicago, let me know! My email is open, so is this thread.
Jourles,
Im sorry I cant give you any advice since I have never gone through this myself. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must be for someone to be checking up on you in your own home.
I have heard through the spiritual grapevine that I too will soon be receiving a shepherding visit. Can't these people just leave me alone?
Duuuh, I guess our email was taken away - [email protected]
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions folks. I still do not know exactly how I plan to "speak my mind" with these elders once they come by. It may just come down to me keeping my mouth shut and barely giving them any answer whatsoever. Blame it all on work or something, I don't know.
Honestly, I go through mood swings(can a guy get those?) and on some days I feel like I want to break away for good regardless of the consequences. But most of the time, I feel like keeping my piehole closed and just keep trodding down the yellow brick road oblivious to anything the WTS spews forth to save friends and family. I don't know. I have already given out waaaay too much information about myself on this board. Some day I might just get pinched for posting here and then there goes everything out the window. I want to stay anonymous, but then again, I really would love to meet everyone I could. And to meet people from here requires giving up that anonymity. I was scared shitless when I attended last summer's fest in Detroit. I was so paranoid that a jdub lurker was reading the board and would decide to show up and take my picture to hand off to the CO in my circuit who would then pass it out to the elders. Now I almost don't care. But then I do.... See, there are those swings!
My apologies for responding so late, Jourles, but I just saw this thread. I'm in a very similar predicament as you except that I haven't set foot in a kingdom hall for over 5 or 6 years. I also have a hardcore (unthinking) JW wife who told me a month or two ago that the elders in her cong were interested in making a shepherding call on "us." I also have a spry little four year old daughter who I love more than life and who I aim to raise. So far, I haven't been blessed with the presence of the Ministers of God nor have I had to do much planning with that eventuality.
As others have already said, I understand (and caution you to seriously weigh) the effect the actions you have planned might very well have on your family. That understanding is THE ONLY REASON why I've decided to go the punk route and play Theocratic Warfare™ with the bozos instead of stepping up and being the straightforward and openly honest MAN that I am when *my* fateful day arrives.
Good luck, Jourles, on whatever you do. And good luck to your family. I'd be very interested to know how this turns out.
