Watch From Home
The lowest rung on this ladder does not even require leaving the
house. Voices Worth Hearing
gathers the channels I recommend: former Witnesses who examine the
organization with evidence rather than bitterness, and Catholic
teachers worth a Witness’s time. Nobody sees what you watch.
Go and See
The next step up is a visit, and it is still not a commitment of
any kind.
Your First Mass walks
you through a Catholic Mass from the parking lot back out to it:
what happens, what it means, what will feel familiar from the
Kingdom Hall and what will not. You can go this Sunday or next
year, and no one will know you were there unless you tell them.
Weekday Masses are shorter and more sparsely attended, if a quiet
first look appeals to you.
When Watching Is Not Enough
There may come a point, if the arguments have done their work, when
you want to talk to someone. Call the nearest
parish office
and say exactly what is true: that you were one of Jehovah’s
Witnesses and you want to understand the Catholic faith. Priests
hear far stranger introductions than that, and a visitor from the
Watchtower is not the novelty you might fear. If what stops you is
the fear that Rome is simply another Governing Body,
that fear has its own page.
The formal path into the Church is called
OCIA:
instruction over the better part of a year, in a small group, with
no fee and no obligation to continue. Nobody is baptized or
received by surprise. You can walk through the whole of it and
still say no at the end, which is why it is safe to begin.
If the Arguments Have Not Persuaded You
Then nothing on this page applies to you yet. The argument pages
are not going anywhere, and neither am I. Leave a comment where
you think a case fails — without your name, if that is safer
— or write to me privately; I answer what I receive as
time permits.
Take the Time You Need
My wife and I walked away from the organization in 2000, and the
road from there did not end quickly, or anywhere we expected. I
would distrust any page that tried to hurry that walk, so this one
will not. When you are ready, the door is unlocked. If you are
never ready, you were still owed the evidence, and I hope these
pages gave it to you honestly.
If You Want the Rest of the Argument
Everything above assumes the Watchtower questions have been
weighed. Two further sections exist for readers who want to keep
going. Protestant vs Catholic
Church is for anyone who accepts that the Church never fell
but wonders why the road should end in Rome rather than at the
nearest evangelical door. Atheism
vs Christianity is for anyone who left and wonders whether God
went too. Neither is required. Both are there.
