by nicolaou 106 Replies latest jw friends
I would like to think it is possible for translations to exist that had no ulterior motive.
I didn't mean to indicate an ulterior motive, dear Oompa (may you have peace!), not at all. I simply meant that all "water"... if not drank directly from the Source... will have SOME "pollution" in it... whether the pollutant was intended to sully the water... or clean it up...
Peace to you.
A slave of Christ,
SA
I'm still an active member.
You have my sincerest condolences. It can't be easy. What's your plan?
And peace to you.
A slave of Christ
SA
Sorry on slow response r.e.core beliefs.
I did a web search on jw core beliefs and also tried to find old wt articles but no success so far. Does anyone still possess the wt CD's? If so, could you please do a search? The study article discussed core beliefs that have never (supposedly) changed e.g. jesus being god's son not part of a trinity, jesus invisible kingdom is in power and the generation not passing away, plus one or two more...
Must have been the 80's or early 90's.
Being very rational, I always had trouble excepting fanciful stories as if they were actually true. But things started to really fall apart when I got to Jeremiah 25:12 in my diligent attempt at bible study: "when seventy years have been fulfilled I shall call to account against the king of Babylon". The plain reading of the order of events blatantly contradicts JW chronology. Further research ensued (only using JW literature at first), and I was able to properly piece together all of the related details of the bible consistently with the known chronology of not only that period, but of the entire Judean divided monarchy. I sent a letter to the Watchtower Society, politely requesting clarification. They sent the elders on to me, who were unable to defend their own beliefs. They chatted amongst themselves for a few months and then decided I'd disassociated, against my explicit written direction, and without having disclosed any of my research to other members.
In answer to what caused me to have doubts. It didn't happen one day and the lights went on. It was very gradual. I can remember at about 6 years old, praying to Jehovah to rescue me from the injustice of complaining about a bad haircut, and being sent to my room. I got no answer from Jehovah, so I prayed to Satan. He didn't help either. I can even remember asking at that age, for my father to prove that god existed. Even still I remained in, till the age of twenty, but I didn't leave over doctrinal matters.
You can can gather as much evidence as you like on anything to prove whatever you want. I actually still beleived all the crap for many years after I left, until I started to see the injustices and humaness, the coverups, the lies, the favouritism, the inequality. I suppose I was an idealist that beleived that if this was the truth, then people who have the true God in their lives should behave in these ways.
I don't need to read a thousand witness books to see the forest through the trees. I can only make so many excuses for God and his phoney people.
There were things that made me think way back in my childhood, but I didn't have the guts to do enough about them. Got close once - I decided to go to the library to get a book on bible prophecy but the one I could find by searching on the computer was out on loan and I didn't go back to get it.
Coasted along into adulthood feeling happy to be part of the social group but not experiencing the apparent enthusiasm that others did. Never did much in the ministry. Gave in and got baptised as I was fed up with worrying about it.
It wasn't until something happened in my life that made me consider how I would choose to verify my supposed beliefs and course of action that all the doubts became pertinent again. I just knew I wanted to do what was right.
So I decided I'd have to research and sort myself out for good, one way or the other. I had lots of things I wanted to study, but ended up spending the most time on investiaging the modern scholastic view of the bible, particularly apocalyptica. Needless to say, the belief system completely fell apart.
I plan to write and post the story in more detail one day.
...I shit you not, Jehovah answered my prayer, when I woke up the next morning I didn't "believe" anything...Every day since has been a naked journey, looking at what generations of people have thought before me, trying to draw my own conclusions/decisions, and being absolutely sure I know nothing and this life is more extraordinary, strange, terrible and wonderful than I think most people understand. We were impossible, everything we have thought about what we are is probably bullshit, and here we are, what are we? "Spiritual enlightenment" and peace have come from completely losing my faith in god. Its not a sad thing somehow, its liberating...
Thanks for the interesting post Bring_the_Light. I agree that admitting we don't know shit is liberating. We shouldn't have to know - we're human.
So many newbies coming out of the closet on this one. Cool
Amen to that Vinny!
Just because the Bible labels doubt as a negative thing doesn't make it so. Doubt is great!
There were two instances that were going on in my early 20s that made me start to think I no longer wanted to be part of this faith.
The first one was between my father and I. He attempted to forbid me to have anything to do with my sister because she was "an apostate." I don't think he understood how much it really hurt her and negatively affected her. I saw it, because I disobeyed him and continued to speak to her anyway. It just seemed incredibly unfair to abandon your children just because they don't take the same view as you do on things.
The other instance was when I became good friends with someone I met in pioneer school. I felt like there were members of her congregation who were ostracizing me because I didn't think exactly like they did. That hurt so much it made me cry. I remember thinking that growing up, all the kids in school thought I was weird for my beliefs. I didn't mind because I felt like I had a safe haven within the congregation. But now to have that taken away from me?? It made me feel so alone and upset.
I stopped going to meetings a couple of years after that. But I went back because I was not ready to deal with the consequences of fully leaving, namely the cutting off from friends and family. Three years ago, I was ready. I left and I haven't set foot in a KH since. I'm still on my own, but at least it's on MY terms and I don't have any lemmings in my life to make me feel inadequate because I don't think like all the other clones.
My heart
@Nicolaou
Such a good thread - bumped for a newer "overlapping generation" (which of course wasn't about when this thread was started!).
