by bubble 64 Replies latest jw experiences
Well i think living your life as a good person might be enough. It says in the bible as well what TYPE of person you should be. It doesn't say keep going to church/meetings. So yeh.
Someone mentioned living free of a religion for a while, i think you should try that. See how life goes.
If he is there, what does he want from me?
1 Timothy 2:11,12... do you believe that?
I think what I meant was that people have an inbuilt instinct to believe in something higher and more powerful. Not necessarily needing organised religion for that.
Ok, let's think about this for a moment. If you say there is an instinctual desire for there to be a higher power over us, where might you think that instinct comes from?
Who are are very first gods? Mommy first, then daddy. They may tell us that there is an even higher power, God. But what if they had never taught that? What if they had taught something radically different? Do you think a person taught in such a way would still have an instinctual desire for the existence of a higher power?
No OFG I definitely don't bloody believe that. Why do you ask?
Ok Daystar I see where you're coming from. So perhaps it is society that perpetrates the idea of a deity not human istinct.
I guess we'll never know for sure though.
What I want to know is, what am I supposed to believe now?
I notice you already believe that it is necessary to possess "belief".
And what is belief but holding something to be true which is not and cannot be proved true.
In other words, you seem to be saying:'
"I find it necessary to consider unproved things true. The last unproved thing I believed to be true bit me in the butt. What is another unproved belief I can hold?"
See? When I say it like that it makes you look silly or foolish.
But, honestly, it comes down to your premise in your thinking.
Why do you START OUT THINKING it is necessary in the first place to hold unproven things as true?
A false premise will____always____lead to false conclusions.
Why not just let go of that addiction to "belief"?
Can you do it?
Why wouldn't you?
Try for a year...just one year...hold only facts as worth thinking about and acting on. Live a practical life instead of a theoretical one.
Engage your rational mind. Sharpen it. Disable the imagination as far as illusion, delusion, conjecture, fantasy and magic-thinking when it leads to core values for your life.
You can live a very practical and worthwhile life if you develop values based on reality.
Unreality, fantasy and belief are for people who choose not to deal with the real word. They engage in a make-believe world that softens the edges of life and holds out bright promises of better things to come.
It is like putting your hand in front of your eyes so you won't see the speedometer going into the red zone so you can enjoy the exhilaration of speeding without facing the dangers involved.
Out of sight; out of mind is no basis for living. Belief is toying with the unreal and treating it as though it were very much more real than fact itself.
Give it up. It doesn't work for anybody very long.
I work in a bookstore in the Religion section. It is filled with books purporting to help believer's figure out why their lives are STILL A MESS even though they believe!
Get off the treadmill. More effort and more belief are a waste of energy.
Get on with simply living in the real world. It works.
Terry
The best thing about leaving the JW is that "supposed to" is no longer in my vocabulary or thinking.
I do know where you're coming from, tho, as I'm in limbo right now myself. And I'm ok with it. You'll figure out your beliefs -- look within, not outside (ie: "religion"). We've been pelted over and over again about how independent thinking is so awful, when in fact it's amazing...
Hang around here -- read lots, think lots. Read the bible if you want. Or don't. :) There are no boundaries on you, don't seek some out so quickly. :)
No OFG I definitely don't bloody believe that. Why do you ask?
just tryin' to help you narroww it down... (i don't believe that either, let alone the bible)
No OFG I definitely don't bloody believe that. Why do you ask?
I suspect he asks because if you don't believe that, why should you believe any of the rest of it? Is it okay for you to pick and choose what parts of the bible to believe in and what parts to ignore if they make you feel uncomfortable?
I would never use the Bible to sway my beliefs anyway. There's good and bad in it and it's not all 100% reliable.
