Deep thoughts: conditional love

by greenie 22 Replies latest jw experiences

  • mindmelda
    mindmelda

    It also depends on how you define love. Some people define it as an objective or ideal, some subjectively and emotionally. There's room for all definitions of love, from the erotic to the platonic, from the practical to the more sublime and esoteric definitions.

    English is an emotionally awkward language, there's only one word for the many kinds of love that exist.

    Myself, I believe that in the end, the love of God, which defines ultimate love for me, is probably as close to unconditional as love gets.

    It's people that make love difficult or complicated, but since God is love, his defining quality or essence, then there is no such difficulty with God.

    That doesn't mean I think God forgives everything, but certainly most things, and much more easily than humans do. God has nothing to lose by being loving, but humans sometimes feel that they do.

    And even if you define God as an ideal, or even a necessary or unnecessary fiction, then God still represents the idealization of love.

    For me, that's why we need God, even if there isn't one.

    Did that make any sense at all? I haven't had enough coffee yet. LOL

  • greenie
    greenie

    Thanks for your responses everyone. Heavy topic, but interesting what you all had to say!

    Paul from Cleveland - I love him very much (he's not my wife :) ), but with JWs you know as well as anyone else that you are talking about much more than religion. It's a whole lifestyle and culture. If you were not a Dub, how do you think it would feel to be married to someone who thought you would perish at Armageddon. I mean, I fit that bill, right? Because I am familiar with JWs (only now!), and I do not accept their teaching. In addition, his religion, and him if he's being totally faithful (read: programmed), teach that my religion is W-R-O-N-G and without merit. It is an unfair view, but what makes it even worse is that it is an unfair view based on fallacies. So he's disparaging me based on JW teachings that aren't even correct.

    Narkissos - I wouldn't say it's headed that way. I just vacillate in between wondering how in the world I got into my situation (A: he wasn't that forthcoming about his religious views and what they mean as far as culture/lifestyle go), then being angry about it (A: hey, I'm not the one that went to a Convention looking for a mate, right!?!), then being really hurt because it seems like someone I love very much tried to dupe me (A: no answer for this one...). Mostly it's the third one, the hurt part. We once talked and he said I'd need to think about if I could handle a life with him. Thinking back on that conversation makes me angry because I feel like he's actually the one who should be thinking about if he can handle a life with me, a life complete with holidays, politics, empowered women, Casper the Ghost (was just hearing from his family member about a "demonized" tv show), toasting, blessing people when they sneeze, charity work for the community, oh, and church. At least that's how I feel today. And it changes often.

    What do you all think of that, if anything?

  • AudeSapere
    AudeSapere

    Hi Again, Greenie -

    I was just looking back at a few old threads of mine and in the middle of one a poster, Xandria, had a good quote on the topic of 'conditional love'.

    I thought of you and wanted to post the link. Her post is toward the bottom of the page.

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/116771/1/Please-Critique-My-Response-to-Sullen-Brother

    -Aude.

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