Posted by Skeptic [Skeptic] on April 04, 1999 at 11:27:23 {th2VaRoznYUIzFICAknMQ0vvLkUBWM}:
In Reply to: Missing the Cong. posted by jimmyjames on April 03, 1999 at 22:08:16:
I too miss some of the friends from time to time. I wanted to go to the Memorial just to say hi to people I've not seen in years.
My experience aa a JW had its bad times, but had its good times too. I used to belong to the cong where the Memorial was held this year (before it split; i.e., under its old name) and those were some very happy years for me and my family.
I like most JWs I know as people, they are very nice as most people are.
However, I do not miss them that much for the simple reason that I never felt that I had friends as Witnesses. My friendships with Witnesses always seemed superficial, with the exception of one or two. And I know a lot of Witnesses.
As things turned out, I was right. When I became inactive, any "friends" I had disappeared. I know now that their love was conditional.
The last cong that I attended had this to an extreme. They were very nice people, but they only wanted to socialize to "encourage" you. If they visited, or had my family for dinner, it quickly became obvious that it was to "encourage" us in the truth, not to get to know us as people. Too bad, because otherwise they were a very nice cong to be in. As long as I didn't grow a beard. :)
SS