Ms_ladyblue
Well-known member
I was baptized in 1982, almost two years after the unexpected death of my first husband. I was left with 2 children, a son 7 years old and daughter 4 years old. Meanwhile, their paternal grandparents ( not witnesses) were able to visit with the kids and they were able to visit with them… No problem right…
More than a year later I married my now deceased husband and about three years after that something happened that lead to my being taken to court…by my former in-laws.
Like I said, my ( first ) two children would visit with their grandparents but this one particular Sunday they visited, the grandparents had kids from Sunday school come over to play. After my kids came back home they were telling me how bad the kids were, cursing and throwing rocks and all sorts of things…unchristian conduct. So, my reaction to this was to phone the grandparents, letting them know that I didn’t want the kids visiting if they were going to have other kids like that over to visit and that if they wanted to visit with the grandkids I would have to be present.
Well, as you would expect, that didn’t go over well…at all. And right away they said that they would be taking me to court over grandparents visitation rights…and there was already a precedent set for that.
Now, the day I had to appear in court was very intimidating, to say the least. I was 30 years old and had never been in a court room. Then I had to get on the witness stand and answer this lawyer’s questions like, what was the problem with me allowing my children to visit their grandparents without me being there…so I told them what had happened. Then I was asked about my beliefs to which I replied what our beliefs were…not celebrating holidays etc. Then the judge speaks up and says, “let’s try not to bring up religion into this.” Which was really ironic because that was what this whole thing was centered around. Then after answering a few questions, one of his last questions was, “can you tell us the difference between the God you worship and the God we worship?”
I could only answer by saying, we worship only one God, Jehovah, and they ( or y’all) worship three gods in one or a trinity god.”
At that point, I looked at the judge and I could see him chuckling. 🤭
As it turned out, the grandparents only got visitation one weekend day a month. That was even less than what they got not having gone to court. Btw the grandparents hated witnesses in the first place which is probably what prompted this whole thing. So, if they would have just waited a day or so for things to calm down I’m sure we could have settled things differently.
Anyway, the court‘s decision didn’t last too long due to the fact that the grandparents realized how futile it was, not to mention an inconvenience because of the second weekend day visits we might have something planned like assemblies or having to go out of town for other reasons.
I don’t think the visitation schedule lasted 9 months.
Oh…the irony of it all!
But at least I was able to give a witness in that courtroom about Jehovah, albeit wasn’t grand or spectacular, it made me feel good knowing I was able to, in some small way give a witness about Jehovah. 😊
So, if anyone else has something to share concerning having been taken to court for anything connected with our beliefs, please share…
More than a year later I married my now deceased husband and about three years after that something happened that lead to my being taken to court…by my former in-laws.
Like I said, my ( first ) two children would visit with their grandparents but this one particular Sunday they visited, the grandparents had kids from Sunday school come over to play. After my kids came back home they were telling me how bad the kids were, cursing and throwing rocks and all sorts of things…unchristian conduct. So, my reaction to this was to phone the grandparents, letting them know that I didn’t want the kids visiting if they were going to have other kids like that over to visit and that if they wanted to visit with the grandkids I would have to be present.
Well, as you would expect, that didn’t go over well…at all. And right away they said that they would be taking me to court over grandparents visitation rights…and there was already a precedent set for that.
Now, the day I had to appear in court was very intimidating, to say the least. I was 30 years old and had never been in a court room. Then I had to get on the witness stand and answer this lawyer’s questions like, what was the problem with me allowing my children to visit their grandparents without me being there…so I told them what had happened. Then I was asked about my beliefs to which I replied what our beliefs were…not celebrating holidays etc. Then the judge speaks up and says, “let’s try not to bring up religion into this.” Which was really ironic because that was what this whole thing was centered around. Then after answering a few questions, one of his last questions was, “can you tell us the difference between the God you worship and the God we worship?”
I could only answer by saying, we worship only one God, Jehovah, and they ( or y’all) worship three gods in one or a trinity god.”
At that point, I looked at the judge and I could see him chuckling. 🤭
As it turned out, the grandparents only got visitation one weekend day a month. That was even less than what they got not having gone to court. Btw the grandparents hated witnesses in the first place which is probably what prompted this whole thing. So, if they would have just waited a day or so for things to calm down I’m sure we could have settled things differently.
Anyway, the court‘s decision didn’t last too long due to the fact that the grandparents realized how futile it was, not to mention an inconvenience because of the second weekend day visits we might have something planned like assemblies or having to go out of town for other reasons.
I don’t think the visitation schedule lasted 9 months.
Oh…the irony of it all!
But at least I was able to give a witness in that courtroom about Jehovah, albeit wasn’t grand or spectacular, it made me feel good knowing I was able to, in some small way give a witness about Jehovah. 😊
So, if anyone else has something to share concerning having been taken to court for anything connected with our beliefs, please share…
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