HELP!! Trying to find right religion brough up as JW

emmamess22

Hi all. I was raised as an on again off again (when convenient for flighty mom) JW. I have recently decided due to the birth of a daughter that it was time to get it together and decide what to do with myself spiritually as she was going to church with her Baptisit dad and I felt awful. So, I've been using the reasoning book and reading the bible and trying to decide what's right.

Spent hours looking at Christmas online....saw it was traced to Pagan celebrations and decided not to do it.

Heaven and Hell....the Bible says we'll inherit the "Earth" in a zillion places....so we can't be going to Heaven or Hell.....RIGHT? Wouldn't hell just be eternal death (sounds pretty unfun to me) and Hell be where Satan is kept once he's done with? Wouldn't Heaven be the paradise? But I don't know about the 144,000....are they the only ones and the great crowd referenced are merely "in sight" of the throne and not at it? I don't understand what Armageddon is. Just a big old killing of everyone not a JW!?!?!?!?!? And then a resurection of already dead (righteous and unrighteous?) Why would God choose to resurect righteous AND unrighteous at the same time after having killed lots of unrighteous?

crucificions were how people were punished. That's historical fact of what they did. Studies have shown that if one was merely impaled with hands above head they would only live ten minutes to an hour due to inability to lift up a little to fill lungs. Jesus was alive long enough to be made fun of and reproached and forgive the dude next to him etc. etc. One could argue that Jesus could die whenever he wanted becuz of who he is but if that were the case, I doubt the criminal next to him would waste THEIR ten minutes making fun of him, they'd be trying to breathe. PLUS if he was outlasting the usual amount of time, the ones crucifying would take notice of the extraordinaryness of it all and rethink it and prolly take him down right?! Why is the JW way the only one that teaches that it wasn't a cross? Is it really wrong to wear one (idolatry?) if we do it for our own symbolism of what it was that was done for us? ( I don't wear one, but my fiance's mom does and I've been tormenting her about it.)

Is celebrating the birth of my daughter, whose day was the best ever actually a bad thing? Does that mean the day she was born I should have been like, "Great, who cares...put her in the nursery and hand me the remote control...."

Went to Baptist church with fiance the other day and felt so guilty I almost had to leave and vomit. But can't believe in RAPTURE....or can I?

HELP....so torn.

shamus

Until you truly research the bible and find out how it's complete and utter nonsense you will never be happy. Remove guilt from your life and you will find meaning. The bible is controlling you with guilt.

But let's just say for one minute that the bible is true; what is the 'true religion'? None. Many who followed Jesus never went to synagogues or churches.

JH

Welcome emmamess22,

It boils down to a personal decision that only you can make. There are good sides to the JW religion and bad ones, like most of the religions.

Keep on reading the bible, and try to find a religion that matches what you read.

Good luck.

Satanus

Baptists can be quite pushy w their religion, like the jws. I guess you feel like you have to find a religion as a sort of counteraction for your mates religion. That is too bad. You have seen a few things that the wt is wrong about. Why not just keep on looking at more bible background? Why not look at other nonbiblical religions? Why not try to keep a more open mind to other religions and even philosophy? There are truths scattered throughout many systems.

S

Double Edge

Hi Emm22... Welcome to the board. First of all, let me say that this board is made of many diverse people, most who are ex-jws, some who are still "active" jws but who have mentally "retired" from the organization, and a very few, like myself who have never been a jw (I have a close friend who is one). The board is a mixture of "believers", athiests and agnostics.

Secondly, because of your background, I'm sure you'll get some good advice from those on this board who have walked in your shoes. As for me and my non-jw experience, let me just say "relax". I believe in an all powerful Creator who is more interested in our welfare (love) then nit-picking as to whether or not Christmas has pagan origins. Life is a journey of discovery given to us by our Creator, and what you are looking for usually takes a lifetime. Keep it simple, as Jesus said, Love your neighbors...in doing so hang all of the laws and the prophets. Treasures are only found by searching and do you really think God is going to be upset if on your journey you check out various religions to try and discover the truth? Take care.

jgnat

Searching out your spirituality is a good thing. Feeling confused and torn is temporary until you work through what is important to you. I see the various churches as like the various trees in the forest. You have your tall cedars and your tiny fruit trees. Some turn glorious colours in the fall, others sprout delicate blossoms in the spring. Obviously God appreciates the beauty in variety, so I see nothing wrong in the great variety of churches that are out there.

I think God has room for praying grandmas and Christian biker dudes both.

You may want to go through an Alpha program in your area. A great many different churches run it, and there is no obligation to join THAT church when you are done. The Alpha program gives time to study the bible and gives lots of time to ask questions and discuss issues of faith. It is easy to tell if a church is running Alpha, they usually have a big poster out front that looks something like this:

http://alphacourse.org/

SixofNine

Welcome to the forum emmamess22.

I'm curious, why do you believe that there is anything supernatural about the writing of the bible? When I realized that there was no intelligent, logic based reason to believe that the bible was from a supernatural source (ie. god), I quickly let go of the idea that I needed to belong to any religion. My life has been all the better for it, even though I don't have the built in "community" aspect of belonging to a religion.

The bible is exactly what it looks at if you could look at it from a nuetral perspective: the writings of ancient Hebrew [b]men[/b]. The joke is on us for ever having believed it came from God.

Happy Guy :)

I don't think there is a "right" religion. I have no religion and I am perfectly content as I feel complete. I love my kids, I am kind to others and I do volunteer work for charities.

If I was in a position of needing religion in my life in order to fill complete, then I would try to find if there was one that was "right for me" as opposed to right. What is important to you in your life? What feels comfortable? and , Why the rush?

emmamess22

The rush of course, is that JW cloud of Armageddon being right around the corner (tomorrow...Thursday?!) as in, if I don't do this....I'm one of those getting the rain of fire killing me on Armageddon day.....see why there's been so much craziness?!

deep breath, sigh....

blondie

emmamess22 , you will see already that many people here already have made up their minds.

You have to make your own examination of what religion is, what spirituality is, study in a way you never did as a JW. Rather than letting an individual or a group of individuals determine what you will believe, whether it be JWs or some other religions group, or agnostics or atheists, etc.,etc., you will have to do the work.

I personally don't think you will ever find one "right" religion but you can find what principles you feel will help you guide your life as an individual, in your family, and in your community. You will find there are many that we can agree upon and when lived by make for a more peaceful life for all of us.

Before you reject the Bible, it would be good to examine and find out what you (not others) do not agree with. Is it possible to find something good in various areas and bring it together into a way you can live by?

This won't happen in a day, a week, or even a year. But you know that.

You don't have to rush into anything.

Beisdes I have it on good authority that Armageddon is not coming until 2034 (120 years after 1914, see Noah was given 120 years)

Love Blondie (waiting for the Big A for 50 years, soon, very soon, very soon now)

HELP!! Trying to find right religion brough up as JW

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