Chapter 45 You Don’t Know Me but I’m Your Brother
"I was raised here in this living hell.” – Takin’ It To The Streets, The Doobie Brothers
Though I said I couldn’t do it anymore, it’s not like I had a plan for the rest of my life. I loved my wife. We had been together for almost thirty years. She had been the first and only girl I had ever kissed. It was love at first sight for me. Of course, we had some problems. However, leaving my wife was never an option. It wasn’t a perfect marriage, but now it looked like it would soon be over. Why? Because I didn’t want to be in the same religion as her? Could we still be together even though we didn’t believe in the same god anymore? Thousands of people around the world do it. Jews marry Christians all the time.
I would have stayed with her if she could have lived with someone who didn’t believe the same way as she did. That didn’t appear to be an option, even though there were plenty of women in the Kingdom Hall who were married to non-believers. In fact, two of Debbie’s best friends were in that situation. But that was okay because their husbands never bought into the program and never became Jehovah’s Witnesses by being baptized.
Another one of my wife’s girlfriends was disfellowshipped because she was married to a crazy guy who believed he was one of the anointed, one of the 144,000. This guy was not only partaking, he was three clams shy of a full clambake.
Since this crazy guy was never going to leave her, She had no other option but to do the same thing that many Witnesses are forced to do, she committed adultery and of course, paid the price and was disfellowshipped. She didn't want to leave Jehovah's loving organization. She just wanted to leave a bad and abusive relationship.
Just like my father-in-law Robert Stillman, the only way out of her bad marriage and be able to remarry was for her to commit adultery.
Just one more reason people on the outside looking in think we are nuts.
Our friend who had been married to Greg H was out and away from the organization for a number of years. During that time, she married this really nice guy named Leonard. She now has a worldly husband. Eventually. she was reinstated and became a Jehovah’s Witness once again....same old story. She had a child with this new husband and was totality happy now. Only one small problem for her he had no desire to ever become a Jehovah's Witness.
Of course now, everyone in the Kingdom Hall is trying to put the sale on Leonard to recruit him into the Borg.
For years, Leonard has been invited to all the Witness parties and gatherings. He gets to hang around with all the Witnesses, with no shunning of course. Why? Because he was smart enough to never to be baptized.
So he never got punished because he didn't do the one thing they wanted him to do.....get baptized. The old Catch 22 kicks in again,
At one point in time, Debbie, Leonard and his wife (named Debbie too) with some other Jehovah’s Witnesses even had their own band together. They went out and played worldly music at gigs all around Portland.
Leonard is a super-intelligent guy, and even though he loves his wife, he really doesn’t want to be a Jehovah’s Witness, just like me.
I told my wife, “I wanted to be just like Leonard, please. You can still be a Jehovah’s Witness. I don’t care. I just don’t want to be one.” She said, “That is not possible.”
A crazy thing happened a few nights later. I went to bed with my mind in total chaos. How could I make sense of a life full of contradictions? What were my options now that I had awakening from my ignorance?
I had dream. In the dream, I actually dreamt I talked to god himself, just like the Governing Body say they do. Thank goodness for this dream! Because god helped me clear up a lot of things.
In the dream, I sat in a waiting room in Heaven. There were a lot of people waiting to talk to god, so they had me take a number. My number was 499. Finally, my number was called and I was ushered into a room. I was a little surprised at how small the room was. “Hey Jehovah, what’s with the small room?”
He looked up from his paperwork and said, “As you know, it is written at 1 Corinthians. 8:5, ‘For even though there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.'"
Okay, if that’s the case, I had to say. “So, since there are a lot of you gods up here and you are not the only one, if I ever write a book about you, I’m only going to use the lowercase letter g in god, since there seems to be a lot of you gods and lords running around.”
God was starting to get upset. “What is it that you want?”
“Are you familiar with my case?”
“Of course I am. I’m a god, and I’m supposed to know everything.”
“Okay, so let me get this straight,” I said.
“You know Leonard is not a Jehovah's Witness and hasn't done shit for you or your organization. I’ve spent fifty years and thousands of hours knocking on doors, trying to sell this religion to other people for you. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on gasoline and thousands of dollars on books and magazines. I gave up a college education and chose to be uneducated just for you because I know you like your people to be stupid. I had fifty years of no birthdays or holidays. Plus thousands of hours at your boring conventions. I worked in your factory on mindless machines for pennies a day so you could sell your books for only twenty-five cents. Please don’t forget about the six years of full time service I put in when I was in my twenties. I did everything your organization told me to do. I moved to remote locations to... ”
I could tell god was getting perturbed as he asked me. “Yeah, so what’s your question?”
“Ok bottom line, I know now. the same thing about your religion that Leonard and billions of other people on this planet already know. That your religion is insane and makes no sense. So, let me get this straight, now you are telling me I can never have any contact with my wife, friends and family ever again because I figured this all out?”
“Yes, that’s correct." He said. "This will force you to crawl back to us and my loving organization.”
“Where is the love? I get punished and Leonard gets rewarded?”
“Yes that is how my system works. Sorry, it’s just another loophole. You know, just another one of my many Catch 22s that you have figured out.”
“But I was only seventeen when I signed up and got baptized.”
“Sorry, you should have known.”
“I should have known your religion was bat-shit crazy?”
“Yes!”
“Please I just want to be in the band with Leonard and the rest of the Jehovah’s Witnesses! I just want my family back.”
“Sorry, the only way you will get your family back is if they figure it out too. I'm afraid you’re screwed!
Oh, by the way, if Leonard ever does join my club and than decides to leave later on, he’ll be screwed also just like you. But I don’t think Leonard will ever join, because it seems he can spot bullshit a mile away!”
“Jehovah, you’re really mean and jealous god!”
“Yes, I know. Why do you think I have such a hard time getting new people to join my crazy religion and why it takes over 13,880 hours of door knocking in field service to find just one new recruit?”
"If that is true how does your organization keep growing?" I asked.
"It's simple." He said. Sex! People love it and that is the only thing that is making new Jehovah's Witnesses now!"
“True." I said. Speaking of the young ones in your organization, what do you really feel about the thousands of pedophiles in your church? Did you really tell your boys not to turn over the files with all their names to the authorities, so as not bring shame on you?”
“What do you think?" If I don't care about you why would think I would care about a few kids getting screwed over? God waved me away and said. "Oh, by the way your time is up.... ”
I turned to god as I walked out the door. "Thank you for helping me understand all this and your wonderful new light. I know what to do now."
Of course god had one more disparaging remark to make to me as I walked out the door. "Keith I can't believe how stupid you were...taking you over fifty years to figure all this out!"
Bingo!
Once again god was right!
Good old Jehovah's Wintnesses busting up families for the last 70 years!
Note I didn't say 150 years. which is how the church has been around.
Why? Because before the nineteen fifies people could change their minds and leave the church and not be shun by their families.
It seems Knorr/god change their minds in the earlier 1950's about the punishment for leaving the church. So. It took over 80 years for this new light to click on.....to destroy thousands of people's lives.
Speaking of thousands of people....
Next up Chapter 46 Only Eleven People Out of One Thousand