So I just wanted to jot down some thoughts and feelings about my meeting yesterday...
First, the WT, paragraph 16. I couldn't help but laugh to myself at the blatant hypocrisy. It says:
God’s Word admonishes us “to live with soundness of mind ... amid this present system of things.” (Titus 2:12) Having “soundness of mind,” or being sober-minded, should certainly come into play when the explanation of a diagnostic method or therapy seems strange or mysterious. Can the practitioner or the one promoting it explain satisfactorily how it works? Is it in accord with known facts, and do numerous qualified people view it as credible? (Proverbs 22:29) Or is the main appeal to the emotions? Perhaps the claim is that it was discovered or used in a distant or remote place, as if hidden from modern research. Does such a claim prove anything or even seem reasonable? Some diagnostic devices or forms of treatment are described as using a ‘secret substance’ or ‘body force.’ That warrants serious caution because God warned against “the use of magical power” and spirit mediums.
I couldn't help but find it so ironic that they preach this message when it comes to physical health, but when it comes to spiritual health, their message is exactly the opposite. When JW's come to the door, the message may seem 'too good to be true.' Are JW's in accord with "known facts and do numerous qualified people people view them as credible?" Hardly. Is "main appeal" of JW doctrine "to the emotions"? Yes, absolutely. Go to any convention and see if they don't throw videos around to pull at the heart strings. "Perhaps the claim is that it was discovered"? Sounds like 'new light.'
I still cannot get over the double standards these people have in play. If anyone applied these principles to their spiritual health while in the JW faith, they would be disfellowshipped for apostasy. It makes me sick.
On another note, I got counseled by one of my elders because I was eating tictacs too loudly during the meeting and coughing too much. I went to the meeting sick because "I wanted to be there." My elder told me next time I needed to sit in the back room as to not disturb others. I said I had never sat in the back room ever and if I did now as a DFed person trying to come back, how would they be able to tell that I was paying attention and that I was studied? I was told that they wouldn't be able to tell so I might as well just stay home.
Ughhhhh! I'm so close to being done forever. But I'm continuing it hold out because my family has been communicating with me since they can "really tell I'm making an effort to return to Jehovah, and as long as I'm doing that they can keep some social communication with me."