Did you feel uncomfortable going into churches when you were a JW?...

by Hecklerboy 23 Replies latest jw friends

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  Hecklerboy

  I remember going into churches when I was a JW for wedding or funeral and feeling a sense of dread. I thought the demons were going to come out of the walls at me. And of course I had the self-rightous attitude that the church would be destroyed soon in armegeddon.

  Recently I've been helping teach a karate class at a local Baptist church. The one thing I noticed is how warm and friendly the church is. I'm not talking about the people, but the church itself. Lots of saying up about Jesus and how to be a good person. The entire place seems very inviting. Unlike a kingdom hall that is very cold and uninviting. They seem more like a library than a place of worship. I don't go to this church, just helping my sensei with teaching a new class. Who know though, maybe one day my wife and I will start attending.

  Man I just thought of something, I'm going to get a double whammy if the local witnesses find out about this. I'm practicing karate in a Baptist church. Two definete no-no's. I could really care less thought.
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  Elsewhere

  Yes... I was thoroughly programmed to get a severe case of the willies when I went anywhere near a church.

  It took a few years, but I was able to remove that annoying little virus program.
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  kid-A

  I was always blown away by the architectural magnificence and beauty of "pagan" churches and would sneak in whenever I could just to look at the art and statues. I remember thinking when I visited the Vatican, how truly pitiful the JW "culture" is, not only are their robotic lives controlled in every detail by this corporation, they have to endure the added indignity of sitting 5 hours a week in those hideous, soul-sucking pre-fabricated 'boxes' painted in puke green and brown earth-tones........
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  insearchoftruth

  I know my wife, even though she has been inactive, is very uncomfortable in a church, and when she sees me take communion all she can think about is how I am sinning. That in addition to a prominent display of a cross and the church I attend being Lutheran is very into liturgy and ritual, she has no idea what to think of it.

  Any ideas from you all of a less ritualistic Christian church which may not be as daunting to an inactive or ex jw??
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  kid-A

  Any ideas from you all of a less ritualistic Christian church which may not be as daunting to an inactive or ex jw??

  Unitarian.
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  KW13

  The faith i am in now and the faith i got into sometime after JW's was the Church of England.

  I found for a long time i couldn't commit or attach too much. Part of me was scared that the JW's had the truth but eventually i sorted all that out and got confirmed at my church.

  All the fear was gone after going once in respects of how i pictured churches, i also saw how full our church is compared to what the society claim. The WBT are so ready to write articles concerning how my religion will be ended by their God 'jehovah' and preach that to people, but if i have a point back its apostate.
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  MerryMagdalene

  I'm practicing karate in a Baptist church

  LOLLove it!

  I just went to a church for the first time last Sunday and, like you, found the building itself very warm, comfortable, and inviting.

  And things seemed set up to put a guest at ease. There were extra Bibles at each end of the pews, easy access hymnals, boxes of tissue, and they gave my little one a bag full of crayons, colorbooks and Bible stories to entertain her for the duration

  ~Merry
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  MerryMagdalene

  When I was a JW I don't remember ever going into a Church, but I do remember the overall phobic reaction of most of us in the cong to churches and crosses was almost vampiric. It seems amusing now, in a way, but pitiable too.

  ~Merry
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  insearchoftruth

  Are you talking the Universalist Unitarian church?? If I remember correctly don't they attempt to affirm most anyones belief??
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  FairMind

  Having grown up as a Baptist I have never felt uncomfortable going into a Church building. Most JWs I know are very uncomfortable about going into a Church but I’ve always viewed them as being superstitious.