Thanks for the kind welcome, everyone. You all know how to make a guy feel right at home. Thanks.
I guess I should tell you a little bit about myself. I?m not a JW, but I do know a little bit about the belief system. I?ve been closely involved with several JW?s over the past 10 years, mostly in business relationships. One in particular became what I thought was a true and trusted friend. I was wrong. When things changed, they changed very quickly. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life. The relationship went from talking several times per week dealing with both business and personal issues, to absolutely no communication at all. It was very, very strange.
Several weeks ago I began to do some research on the net in an effort to understand more about the JW religion in the hope that I would understand more about what might be going through my old friend's head. This guy is very bright and I have always enjoyed our conversations. He has always seemed to respect my beliefs, and I respected his. He never pushed his beliefs on me, though many of our conversations were in fact bible studies. Over the past decade we have spent countless hours solving the worlds problems and discussing every issue under the sun.
About 8 or 9 months I saw him start to make some really bad decisions, some of the worst decisions I could imagine, both in his personal life and in his business dealings. Nearly overnight he changed from a man who I once admitted to my wife was the only person on the face of the earth I knew I could trust, to someone who will now, without a second thought, tell a complete and blatant lie. He has done this to me on a number of occasions now, even when he knows that I know the truth. As well, I have personally seen him lie to others who are involved in our business dealings. When I have confronted him regarding his lies, he just looks at me and says nothing. No matter how long I stare back, he says nothing about his lies.
None of this makes any sense to me, and that is what brought me to your forum. I?ve been trying to learn more about the inner workings of the JW religion, and if it might be beneficial for me to try and speak with the elders of this guy?s congregation. His religion is quite clearly the mainstay in his life, and it is what guides his every move. But from the outside looking in, it appears to be a religion which condones lying, breaking the law, as well as numerous other things which one would never associate with Christianity.
Any insight you all might share with me would be greatly appreciated. This guy is more than just a casual acquaintance to me or I would just blow it off and say "best of luck" to him. This is a guy who at one time was closer to me than my own brothers, though in hind-sight maybe the friendship was only in my mind, and not his.
Again, thank you all for the warm welcome.
Kind regards,
Swamp Thing
P.S. KLS, I would love to hear the story about the swampthing...