In my one literature class today we exchanged our writing papers so that they could be analyzed. I exchanged my paper with this somewhat older women(about 30) who is somewhat an independent type student given that she is going back to school and is married with two children. My paper briefly mentioned something about Dubs and she admitted that she was raised a witness as well but left when she was 18. Strangely, even before I handed her the paper, I had this inclination that she had been touched by the all important "truth". However, even though she was never baptized, she admitted how much hardship it had caused to her family. Basically, her family had become very divided due to disfelloshippings and certain parts of her family including her mom and dad wouldn't even talk to each other.
I was happy to hear that she was no longer a dub, but I believe she just replaced one belief system with another because she then went to go on to talk about how important it was to have God in your life and how that really helped her get over her witness past. Well, atleast she's not a witness anymore. Before, I didn't say that I was a witness to anyone but more and more I'm letting it slip out just so I can move on with my life and in a way to give a counter witness. I haven't gone out of my way yet to disparage dubs, but if someone does ask, I will let them know how I feel. Does anyone else out there bring up their past when meeting new people in your daily life other than this board or have you completely moved on? If done correctly, do you think that making statements about the WT is productive? If you do mention your past to someone at work or school, what has been their reaction? Do they feel sad for you or do they try to save you with their own belief system?