So, I've been out for 2 years now. Just picked up and walked away from the wacky religion that tried to control every part of my life through fear and guilt. I've been wondering as the months go by what would happen when an elder finally showed up at my door and pressed the issue as to why I ceased all activity and then tried to reactivate me. Would I fly into a rage and tell him to get the heck off my property? Would I chase him to his car while screaming obscenities at him? Or would I calmly get into a debate with him about TTATT and archeological discoveries? Would I feel compassion for him and view him as a victim of fear and superstition, thus avoiding any controversial topics and part on good terms? Depending on the day and my mood, any of those scenarios are possible.
I have no wish to DA for the sake of my wife's side of the family still in. But if push comes to shove, I'd willingly attend a JC and teach them what real truth is. If I had it my way I'd do whatever it takes to wash my hands of the whole fear mongering bloody lot of them. To hell with their fear, guilt and obsessive worship of a man made organization and its capricious, violent, baby butchering deity.
So, today was the day when that persistent, nosy elder finally caught me home and completely off guard. I was sitting in my garden near the gate of the entrance of my house, watching the butterflies flit about in the butterfly garden. Suddenly the elder comes up and starts speaking to me.
At first I was livid that my peace was ruined by his visit. These people cant take no for an answer. He's been calling on my house once a month now for the last six months and up until now we were lucky in not being home most of the time. The few times we were home, we'd retreat to the interior and avoid what was likely to end up being a confrontation between him and I. It's just bloody bad luck that one of my neighbors is also a return visit of his, giving him the excuse to show up at my door from time to time.
Well, he starts in on the small talk ignoring the look of irritation on my face which any good publisher would know to be a sign for them to make a quick exit. Well, surprisingly, my anxiety and rage quickly dissippated to nothing as I thought, what the hell, it's a beautiful day and what can this harmless old dude do to me?
So we engaged in meaningless banter and he went on his way. But before he left a troubling look came over his face. He said, " I should probably tell you that we can no longer go to the kingdom hall near here anymore. Our congregation and the 2 congregations sharing the hall have to start attending another hall that is 30 minutes from here. Our hall will be sold off."
I was so happy! 7 congregations being squished into a small hall that is way off the beaten path of where I live. Good riddance! Almost every day I had to drive by that hall and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Now it will be gone! Poof! What a delicious ending to an unsavory visit. I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Japan, the JWs are in decline!