Posted by Cygnus [Cygnus] on April 03, 1999 at 23:14:58 {Ed9c7782HM0jaXWvXmfUL4bdfUTIaI}:
In Reply to: Missing the Cong. posted by jimmyjames on April 03, 1999 at 22:08:16:
What you say is for the most part representative of my feelings as well. I don't necessarily blame the individuals who caused me some grief, either. I blame the system.
If I felt that I could attend meetings without the intolerable nausea associated with sitting through Watchtower regurgitation sessions, I probably would go with my wife once in a while. I know it can't be easy on her associating by herself after many years of having a partner "in the truth."
I
have a JW friend on AOL who knows my theological positions, but still asks once in a while if I am going back to attending meetings. Since I am not doing anything much worse than when I was a JW (I have the occasional smoke here and there
-- not highly unusual for some name-only JWs BTW), I'm sure I could associate once again, and I would like to hang with some of the guys (after all, one feels most comfortable with the people one has a history with). The problem is, the
issue of inactivity and rumors of disbelief would eventually surface, and the likelihood of "stumbling" people is great. That being the case, I don't pursue any relationships with anyone, out of respect for their adherence to what they
believe to be right. And I don't see any "reform" taking place any time soon with dissenters from the faith.