Last night my father invited me to dinner to inform me that he was no longer speaking to me, and he had decided that the rest of the family was not allowed to either. This is because I have not been attending Christian meetings and am suspected not to be living the Christian lifestyle, which is "a dangerous and destructive influence" that the family must be protected from.He invited you to dinner to tell you he was no longer speaking to you? Did he stop speaking to you before, during, or after dinner?
His reason was you had not been attending "Christian" meetings and suspected not to be living the "Christian" lifestyle, and you have been neither disfellowshipped, nor have disassociated yourself? What scriptural basis did he use to stop speaking to you AND to keep the rest of the family from speaking to you?
as I exercised all the understanding of their culture I could muster,
"their culture"? You were an MS and you went to Bethel, and you are using this term? I've never heard it put this way in witness circles.
When they discovered earlier this month that she had friends outside of church, they became infuriated and placed her under house arrest.
"friends outside of CHURCH"? Once again, you went to Bethel. You were an MS and you use "CHURCH"? On an ex-JW discussion board?
While I'm famous around here for being a bad debater, I made a couple of points.
I was good at debating scripture.
So which one is it?
I read a bit of the other portions of your "story" and for all I know, you could have taken parts of the experiences of others and put them together.
Sorry friend, but your "story" looks kind of fishy to me.
JDW