To All Here..... just a question....

by 7robert7 63 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Tatiana

  Hey, ballistic. I know you from another board! This is only my second post here. Can you figure out who I am???
  I'm sooo glad you're here. I don't feel so lonely now!

  Love....me
• 

  Free2Bme

  Hi,
  I'd just like to say it's been a long journey since I became an ex-JW to the point I am at now. I believe in God, a creative force, but struggle to reconcile my concept of Him with the biblical god.
  I puzzled over some things I read in the bible as a Witness but I accepted it as the Word of God as such. Now I look at it without the rose-coloured glasses and quite often don't like or believe what I see.
  Check out some interesting and sometimes funny stuff:

  http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/absurdities.htm

  http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty.html

  Free
• 

  Zep

  Having been raised with the bible from young age. I always believed in God. I found JW's, (or they found me) and i thought they had the truth, had all the answers with all that prophetic dribble. Found out it was a load of Bull last year. That was a little let down but i could still belive in the bible, i could still have faith. Started questioning that and ended up totally rejecting the book...that was bad. But I would look around and see design everywhere, so i could still believe in 'A' God. Studied evolution and decided their was no necessity for a creator. So where am i now?. The only "Christian" that makes sense to me now is Rev Shelby Spong...He said once: "your God is too small". People try to box the concept of God into a nice neat package and pin the concept down. I like to have a very Mystical idea of God. I think i believe in some kind of force that could be termed "God"...but other days i'm just a blatant Materialist that believes in nothing Transcendental in life. Who knows?. I still use prayer at times! I think its a healthy habit to cultivate!
• 

  ballistic

  Hi - Yes I know you, er honest!
  errr (thinking hard)

  are you Xena or April?

  nice to see you here too!
• 

  Tatiana

  It's me, April, ballistic. How did you guess? I've been reading here for a while now, but just decided to post. Still trying to navigate around. Maybe you can help.
  Thanks for the welcome. Think I'll stay a while.....
• 

  jurs

  That all depends on the day, the hour and sometimes the minute. I never doubted in my entire life that God existed even before I became a JW. It wasn't until I realized that I had been brainwashed that I started to really wonder. I think there is a God. I think the bible is inspired. I doubt I will ever again have that rock solid faith. I completely believed once before and I was wrong. Whatever I choose to believe in the future , I've decided not to invest so much of myself into. Its not worth it.

  JURS
• 

  TweetieBird

  Ditto to what Jurs just said, that completely sums it up for me as well.

  "By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero
• 

  MrMoe

  Quester-- no I never went through that anger at God stage. I think God is somewhat liek a parent, on a large grand yet spiritual scale. A parent cannot control thier children and if they could, what kind of life would that be?

  I know I may catch some slack for this statement, but the pain in life makes the goods things so much better. When my mom died it hurt like nothing else. I will always love her and she will always be a part of me. Losing my brother was tough, too, but a lot tougher on him and my parents. Then I gave birth to my daughter, a true miricle of life to make a child and feel it grow inside of you is so awesome I cannot explain, and a piece of my mother lived on in my child. I don't love sorrow, but accept it as a part of life.

  And just as an adult does not wish thier parent to control thier life, so god does choose at this point in time, even if a parent had a child that is misguided or downright mean. It is not for me to tell God what he can and cannot do, just as it is not for me to deny my parents or the govenment in which I live. I never met the President of the United States, so does he really exist, or is he fictional? Why didn't God have a begining? Maybe because he is far supierior to us beyond what our puny minds can imagine and is not made of flesh and bone.
• 

  Quester

  Thanks for responding, MrMoe.

  No flak from me.

  I think this issue is a biggie for a lot of people.
  So I enjoy reading people's experiences of how
  they deal with this and remain believers.

  I know it's not an easy one answer solution.

  In my own life I have experienced good come from bad.
  I kinda like me--battle scars and all.
  I have become "strong at the broken places." (Hemingway)

  We may not know why, but we do have a choice of how we
  respond.

  Quester
• 

  Abaddon

  Cutting through a bit to what I see as a core of this thread I would like to ask a question to all;

  Can you hand-on-heart not kidding yourself say that your belief either in god, or in the non-existance of god,

  a/ is the result of careful research as part of an attempt to reach some form of objective overview on whether god exists or not, in as far as such a question may be determined.

  b/ is the result of an unshakeable presentiment.

  c/ is a belief that you haven't really challenged or examined in any way.

  d/ is something that you're nor even bothered about.