Thanks for posting on the message board despite all of us "apostates". If there is one thing this message board lacks, it is jw's to debate with, and i appreciate your posting here. It is always fun to look at the other side of things again, and allow my brain to question the decisions i've made.
My other part of the post is this question: God blessed us with a free mind. The ability to reason. The ability to make our own decisions. Of course, JW's believe we will be punished if we exercise our right to believe something else, but that is not the point i'm going to make. My question is, how can anybody not realize that those who are "strong" in their religion have, in fact, just closed their mind off to all other reason?
Churches exalt those who continue on in the religion, ignoring anything but their own beliefs. I remember as a witness, i felt good not believing anything but what i was taught, and holding firm to it. I pose this question to all who are on this message board:
Is it better to hold firm to a belief we are taught, to be strong and unchanged, or to have an open mind and constantly be changing our beliefs as we retain more information?
To answer this question, imagine their is no middle ground, since the former part of the question is so far to the right of the scale, the latter must be exaggerated in order to maintain balance. Can't wait to hear your replies.
I personally try to look at both sides of a subject no matter what, but unfortunately i have trouble changing my beliefs even when i do look at both sides of a topic. This is something i will try to overcome in the future.
P.S. Yes, i was trying to sound intelligent in this post, so if a certain part of it doesn't make sense, blame my failed attempt at greatness. ;-)
"No cool quote yet. but i'll think of one soon."