You sure showed him!

I can see the tears welling up in his eyes, across these years, miles, and Ethernet cable. You can too, but chose to ignore it. The important thing here, in your eyes, was being right. You couldn’t swallow a bit of pride, and show a bit of tolerance to humor your father?
So, how was your relationship with your father after that?

I appreciate your article here.
I wanted to add something to what you had mentioned. You brought out that one should not give up in trying to see if the JW will have a change of heart.

I agree to a point. As a former JW of 25 years and as one who has tried to reason with JW’s, I have found that it is almost impossible to get JW’s to think outside their box unless they personally already have doubts. This is very important. It is this way for many reasons.

As you mentioned, JW’s usually have their entire personal and familial lives wrapped up into their world-view. Trying to add doubts to that world-view may not be the best for them. I say this because despite what we skeptics feel about being free from indoctrination and having a free mind, many people rely upon set world-views for their peace of mind. If we are not prepared to help them continue on a path of deprogramming, we may not be doing them a service. The road coming out of a world-view as tight as JW’s is very difficult and not easy and has led many who have not been able to cope well to suicide.

We must ask ourselves if the satisfaction we personally gain from sparking someone to take the difficult road to thinking for themselves is greater than their well-being in their current world. It might not be since it often is all the JW has. Will you be able to offer them comfort and courage when they need it? Will you be able to be there for them during those tough times?

It is not a simple nor easy task to deprogram someone and to help them see outside of their carefully constructed world-view. Especially when this world is closely tied with friendship, family, and love. Remember, when JW’s leave the religion, they often ostracized by the very people who love them the most. They can lose entire families and friend groups. They are often left completely alone without reliable support.

This is why I focus all energies of debating/discussions with JW’s only if they already have doubts. If they already have doubts, then it may be a sign that they have embarked upon the critical thinking path and they might be ready to proceed.

Thanks for the good article.

In a previous life,
you killed and raped,
cutting off the heads of kids,
tying them to your shields
so their kindred knew fear
before they fell beneath you.

You do not remember
your guilt,
but; you know them to be true
because I knew.
Why else would I beat you so?

Before you could walk, I beat
you with the hand,
the belt,
the wall,
and best of all, the closet.

You suckled the tit
of fear and pain
but you grew.

After school, I beat
you. Question after question
until you missed
and I began the lesson.
You became smart
and still you grew.

Older,
you had twelve inches
on me. You would not stand
still so I clutched
your hand and followed
you around the room;
told you to stop crying
with every lunge of the belt,
the switch,
the hanger.

You learned.
The pain
became yours.
I beat you never
again.

You are a Viking.
The son of Odon
and the Mother
who beat you so!

Having and incredible knowledge of the love of God and his immeasurable desire to assist those who ask for help; peace; direction etc. I find it sad that anyone like your self find his presence that distasteful.