That which prevents FMW from admitting that she has ever told even one lie (and thus making her supremely unqualified for God's job) is from the same source that we used to drink from 5 times a week. Most of us imagine that the culprit that facilitated our illusion of righteousness was the WT, but it wasn't. Think. What kept us going as Witnesses? I can't speak for you all, but for me it was imagining myself right with God by sinning less (growing toward perfection), living a clean lifestyle, and hope of a better life in the future. ALL THREE turned out to be complete illusions, though they seemed very real at first. I believe Paul says it best for me in Galatians:
We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping... How do we know? We tried it - and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! 19 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work.
That's the bottom line for me.... it didn't work. The formula was false.
FMW calls me pathetic for asking her the kinds of questions that people don't normally ask. Let me show you what is truly pathetic:
For we have previously charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, there is not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers' venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known.
Now, as a witness it was understood that these kinds of statements described everyone else except us right? I mean, we lived in a spiritual paradise right? When we read this we would naturally think about it applying to our neighbors. I know I did ....... probably much the same way FMW now thinks about me even through the denial of her sin. Thet're all illusions from the sin principle activating our minds. What is the response that we get from witnesses when we now show them their bloodguilt and heartlessness? Stop, and read the above verses again with witnesses in mind and see how much of it fits. Isn't that how many now think of them? What changed?
Are you starting to see what I'm getting at here? As we move our position, (now out of the WT) the target changes. We now levy the guilt at that which we once were. What stays the same though? Of course we stay excluded! This is the sin principle operating in our minds. It is much more powerful that we can psychologically deal with ...... alone. It shoots right at the heart of our survival mechanisms.
But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.On our very best day, our good is as filthy rags to God. Why? It's because of the sin principle not because of the good acts. It includes our motives and our desire to self exalt, and to hold up snipets of good as if it can redeem or wash away the bad that we practice. There are many layers of it, and it is deceptive by nature. Our good acts do deliver temporary relief and does have value. It is the wrong direction for identity though, because the basic design of the man/woman is one of being and not one of doing.
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord
Many people cannot fathom why The Lord would permit suffering, not just FMW. There are some things here that can tell us definitely where the answer cannot be found. The primary source that this answer cannot be found is from ourselves. As a finite sinner, a liar, etc. it is impossible to judge the Lord either experientially or morally. Experientially, because his experience is infinitely different than ours, and morally because of the sin principle. This is why faith is absolutely essential. Not because God wants it for some arbitrary reason. It is because it is required as a comunique between our two species. For example, think of children that cannot be given a sharp knife despite their protests. They must take it on faith that we know better as adults because of our "infinite" more experience.... even though they can clearly see it as a superior tool than their toys. If they disobey, they will get punished. But things run much smoother if they take it on faith.
I've found God's punishment to be a favorite subject among some atheists. So far, no atheist has described a system of laws to me without consequences. From the law of gravity to speed limits, they all have consequences when broken. Otherwise, there would be no law. When the "Law" was brought to the old West (USA) the first thing they did was build a jail. Why? No punishment....No LAW. When cowboys feared the punishment they understood the LAW. Their "wisdom" began when they "feared" the punishment.
Likewise, atheists have no real wisdom because they have no fear of the Lord. Some atheists like to spend their time judging the Infinite Mind. Now, logically they know that if he does exist, that this is a complete waste of time because unless he reveals something to them, they have about as much chance of accurately judging him as a snowballs chances in hell. In other words, the object of their invective is acknowledged to be infinite, but they know they are finite (some of them). So, they find more fertile fields in just challenging faith in general. Which, I might add is also a complete waste of time because faith implies relationship. When God is living inside the Most Holy compartment of your being, just like he said he would and just like it was pictured in the OT temple, challenges to your faith mean less and less as the relationship grows. Instead of a demon posession, it is a God posession, but one agreeable to our new nature, the new spirit from the Lord when a person is born again.
Many also promise freedom from abuse from religion. I must admit I almost fell for the I-get-my sense-of-right-and-wrong-from-something-called-social-conditioning. Children are generally told not to go along with what everyone else does but to follow what the teacher says and to do what they were taught and know to be right. But as adults, apparently you must check with social conditions to find out the current feeling of right and wrong. In other words, the social conditioners and corporate marketers have a fast moving chariot that you must check with for the current new light.
Did God ever exist?
Why don't you ask Him? It is the only source that you can get an accurate answer from.
