CRIMINY SAID
This correspondence exchange with my nephew has been an eye-opener for me. Of course we talk about mental indoctrination on the boards all the time and even share our own stories of how our eyes became open one layer at a time, but watching it happen with my nephew is a lot different than talking about it or even experiencing it myself - given that I was too swallowed up in my own emotions to really observe the process.
I was angry. Oh, I was angry when I discovered how thoroughly duped I had been, how stupid and unscrupulous I had behaved while a member of that cult. Even as many times as I had shunned others while still one of The Governing Body's Witnesses, when my family did it to me after I disassociated I only wanted revenge. "How DARE THEY!!!" My clinical understanding of indoctrination was irrelevant. Who were THEY to judge me?
I see the layers peeling away from my nephew's mind and it has softened my attitude toward the rest of the family in ways I was not expecting. The anger has practically disappeared, replaced by a sense of understanding, acceptance and a willing patience.
The best word that describes it is, "refreshing." _________________
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