The other night I was at my in-laws house for dinner. They are both Jehovah's Witnesses and try every now and then to plant some thoughts in our heads to get us concerned. This night was no exception, with small words and phrases popping up through the evening. With all that is happening in the news, there is always a story or two that can fulfill their many prophesies. They mentioned the sniper attacks, the troubled economy and the possible war with Iraq. They were mentioning that we live in "uncertain times" and the end could happen at any time. My wife and I kept quiet and let their thoughts fall on deaf ears. I could tell this was frustrating them, and then my father-in-law spoke up and said, "how can you not see what is happening as a sign of the end?" To which I responded, "How can you see everything that happens as a sign of the end?"
You see what I have learned in my life, is that people really just see things the way they want to see them. When I was a Witness and preaching door-to-door regularly. I honestly listened to the news thinking that this story I was watching was another sign that the end was upon us. I remember being in a earthquake once and immediately thinking, "this is another sign that the day of Armageddon was even closer." Very few things went by without me wanting to see some sort of reason to apply it to all of the prophesies that we were reading about in the Watchtower and Awake. That murder was caused by Satan, that landside was demons, and basically anything happening was just another sign of the end, and Satan's influence behind them. It seemed so normal then, but what about know?
Sometimes I have to remember that relatives still in the religion still think this way. I have to remind myself of this, as I sometimes feel my positive outlook on things offends their negative anticipation about everything they read and learn about. When I see and read about the news, I do not see only evil and terrible things on the horizon. I see that there is today what their has always been in this world, people who like to do harm to others. That there are natural disasters, and famines and huge forest fires. Yet none of these are really anything new, that could not find a sister event on smaller scale in the ancient past. The reason they make such a big impression today when compared to ancient times, is really very simple in my mind. Their are more people on this planet, and more places where people live. Thus if a earthquake takes place, or a war is involved. It only stands to reason that a few more people are going to be harmed, killed or affected in some way. I call that type of thinking rational logic. What then is the Witness view of my wife's parents?
I think the Witnesses use the news and current events as a means of feeling good about the things they have doubts about in their heads. They might see that something the religion is doing is wrong, or that something is mistaken. Yet they feel fear in how everything around them is linked to some warning, and thus they stay quiet and hope that things get better soon. The only thing I find disturbing in this thinking, "that destruction will offer up some sort of mental healing to their anguishing life." Is that is the same type of thought that people have when they think about suicide in this life. The suicidal person will see everything that is happening as one more reason why they need to take their life, they will look for reasons for depression while telling themselves that they are not doing such a thing. In the end, they are a weakened person who has a hard time looking for a reason to live again.
So to me the term "that we see things the way we want to see them" is very truthful of my Witness life. When I was in I wanted to see horrible things, so that I felt my religion was right. I felt some sort of sick joy in thinking that these terrible events meant that the day was soon upon us when God would slaughter billions in our sight and all the while we would be smiling. Does that make the Witnesses a organization of suicidal emotional thoughts. Whether it does or not, the thoughts they dwell on can not be of any benefit mentally to get some sort of sick pleasure out of the worlds hurt or destruction.
So as I stared into the eyes of my father-in-law as he asked me that question, "how can you not see what is happening as a sign of the end?" I really felt a bit of sadness that he could ask that question, but never understand my response.
Do you know how this feels?
My thought
Dragon
Edited by - kenpodragon on 21 October 2002 21:36:41