| How are "hateful" atheists helping struggling witnesses on JWN or society in general? |
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Healthworker, I think this is a very important question and a very good thread.
For now, I'll answer the question personally.
I came here in pieces, shattered, badly damaged from my experience within the Watchtower. I knew it was wrong and false, but it took me a very long time...well, OK, 8 months, not long at all by the standards of those who have suffered a lifetime's psychological abuse but a little bit longer than I was an extremely active and zealous unbaptised publisher. (I was turning in auxiliary-pioneer-level hours every month. Yup. Crazy. )
"Hateful atheists"...I'm sure you are using that term satirically; I certainly hope so.....very much helped me here and offline in the "real world," in many ways: (they don't exist only on JWN, I've had atheist friends for years.)
by helping me stand firm in my anti-JW stance at a time when I was being bombarded in real life by JW's desperate to get me back.
by helping me think for myself
by adding wit and intelligence to emotional disaster
again, by helping me to think for myself
by helping me get rid of JW thought and, eventually, bit by bit to remove and physically eject every scrap of JW literature and material ffrom my house
by extending friendship
by enabling me to feel free to express myself and my own independent thoughts
and ultimately by finding my own base line, which was a very strong underlying belief in two things: the existence of God and that his nature was completely other than that insisted on by the Watchtower.
From then on I had, personally speaking, a massive struggle to find what I, myself, wanted to do in real life with my belief. Was I going to do nothing? Was I going to stand on the sidelines, just enjoying life on the forum (which I do, very much.)?
Personally I had my own solution to find, and it wasn't through a process of logical argument but just waking up one morning and knowing what I was going to do, and that was after months of thought and the forging of friendships here and searching my own mind. In the end, I just knew what I was going to do.
What that is doesn't matter here on this thread. My point is that atheists have been and are very much part of the mix of the discussion on this board, and they, by being themselves, even by some of the very one-sided attitudes that they hold and demonstrate....atheists have most definitely helped me to find myself.
I found I had to stand up for my own firm belief in the existence of God. They could see that I wasn't going to shove my point of view theologically down anyone's throats, and I won't. My solution is my own. But it was atheists who in more ways than you can imagine, and that includes real firm friendship, who despite themeves enabled me to find myself through the whole thought-soup and free-thinking and very very compassionate and supportive culture on this board.
That's just me. Others will have a different perspective no doubt, but for me, hey, thanks, atheists!!!
