To Be Or Not To Be?

by sacolton 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • sacolton
    sacolton

    If you were raised a Jehovah's Witness ... would it be better to:

    1. Stay in the organization and continue to be controlled. The years will be spent earning your salvation into "paradise earth" without cease. Your relationships will be conditional and superficial. The constant bombardment of fear may eventually lead to depression. Overall, you believe yourself to be happy within the conformity of the Society. In a nutshell, your whole life will be decided for you.

    Pros: The illusion of being in the "Truth" and the award of living forever in a paradise earth.

    Cons: You'll never know when the works will ever be enough to earn salvation. Burn-out. Exhaustion. Depression.

    2. Leave the organization and start thinking for yourself. Adjust to the hard reality of the situation that everything you've been told was a lie. Lose all contacts with friends and family within the organization. The constant shunning may eventually lead to depression or suicide. Get therapy. Attend support groups. Read Crisis of Conscience. Celebrate holidays. Emotional guilt-trips. Overall, you believe yourself to be happy knowing you are no longer in a high-control cult. In a nutshell, you will make your own decisions.

    Pros: Free will.

    Cons: Loss of family and friends. You may self-destruct due to the effects of being indoctrinated. Depression.

  • TJ - iAmCleared2Land
    TJ - iAmCleared2Land

    Crap. So either way, I'm gonna be depressed?! That sucks. ;-)

  • sacolton
    sacolton

    Depends on the individual.

  • FreudianSlip
    FreudianSlip
    Cons: You'll never know when the works will ever be enough to earn salvation. Burn-out. Exhaustion. Depression.

    Honestly, I never felt those things until after I left the JWs. Still, knowledge of the truth ("free will") far outweights the Pros associated with being a JW.

  • VoidEater
    VoidEater

    For me: Stay in and commit suicide. Get out and maybe not commit suicide.

    I think I made the right choice, at least I'm alive to type this...

  • Lady Zombie
    Lady Zombie

    For me: Stay in and commit suicide. Get out and maybe not commit suicide.

    I think I made the right choice, at least I'm alive to type this...

    For me as well.

  • Alexia
    Alexia

    Cons of staying in:

    -Become an alcoholic
    -Never marry again (at the age of 29) since I divorced my ex husband who “only” physically abused me, not commit adultery.
    -Never have real friends because BORG friendship is conditional
    -Never have free Saturdays and weeknights
    -Of course, the list can go on for most of us!

  • compound complex
    compound complex

    http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

    A variant by Franklin: "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power." (Poor Richard's Almanack, 1738)
    This saying has appeared in many paraphrases:

    "They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    "Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."

    "He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security."

    "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."

    "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."

    "If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both."

    "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

    "He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither."

    "Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither."

    The extent to which an individual might ponder and then implement the above is subject to countless variables:

    Does he recognize at THIS moment what he is sacrificing and for what ostensible purpose he does so?

    Is he absolutely content within his "little world" and assured that it's the best possible place to be?

    One born into a community knows nothing different. Even if he fights (to a greater or lesser degree) against the restricting confines that hamper free will and free speech, still, he may fear breaking out of the enclave.

    And the list goes on ...

    Thanks,

    CoCo

  • Fadeout
    Fadeout

    For me, the existence of the choice only became apparent once the decision had been made.

  • Quirky1
    Quirky1

    I'll choose #2.

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