Something that has helped me understand why people continue to go to church

by JimmyPage 33 Replies latest jw friends

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  Walt Whitman

  I have to agree with Designs. After a lifetime of being a JW (and really believing it) and then leaving -- I can't understand why someone would surrender a chance at rational thinking and participating in emotional, mental and intellectual freedom to enslave himself once again to fantasies.

  Designs wrote: [I don't know how to do that quote box.] "One thing I've noticed among JWs who Get Jesus or go to another Church is that they swap one set of Theocratic Language for another and now proudly proclaim they have found the Real Jesus."

  After exiting I tried a variety of churches -- yes, they offer community -- even went to the Unitarians, the Quakers and a Buddhist church. (Loved the meditation; couldn't stomach the reincarnation.) Still I felt like I was a willing participant in the "Big Con" or "the god-shaped hole" as Sartre said.

  Designs also wrote: "People need religion or religious sentiments because they just can't fathom being alone and self determined. Its the final frontier and they aren't there yet."

  That is spot on. Some people want or need to be deceived. Also most egos can't confront their ultimate fear of death and one's finiteness -- that the universe can, as it has for eons, exist without them.
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  FlyingHighNow

  Some of us are lucky enough to not be raised going to the KH. So when we leave, we can choose the churches or beliefs we were raised with or something else.

  You can go to church and still have your emotional and intellectual freedom. Especially if you choose wisely and go to a church that is not fundamentalist and encourages you on your own, unique, spiritual journey.

  Those of you who think churches tell you what to think, were probably raised in the org or raised unchurched and then got hornswaggled by a high control cult. Churches, most of them, are not cults.
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  FlyingHighNow

  After a lifetime of being a JW (and really believing it) and then leaving -- I can't understand why someone would surrender a chance at rational thinking and participating in emotional, mental and intellectual freedom to enslave himself once again to fantasies.

  This is my point, you spent your life in a cult. You can't compare the borg with all churches. Well, you can, but you'd be inaccurate. There are some cultish churches, but most are not cults.
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  Walt Whitman

  Hi Flying High Now: If you're happy and feel fulfilled -- that's great. Humans are social animals and we tend to like being in communities that makes us feel safe and maybe share a joint purpose and understanding of the world.

  My point was after leaving the JWs, I did try and invest myself in the more progressive Christian religions, e.g., Episcopalian; Presbyterian; Lutheran, United Church of Christ, etc. But just couldn't buy into it. I even visited some fundamentalists churches, including a black church, and while the singing was great, the demonstration of emotionalism and drama was, to me, disingenuous.

  Concerning a belief in god or gods -- is there any empirical evidence that such entities exist?
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  FlyingHighNow

  But just couldn't buy into it.

  Why do you think anyone expects you to buy into their church or belief systems? Jehovah's Witnesses expect you to buy in, but Episcopalians certainly don't. They are so respectful of others' beliefs that they do not even criticize Jehovah's Witnesses. Most churches are not trying to con you. You were conned by JW's. It doesn't mean everyone else is out to do the same thing.

  I don't feel the need to prove to you that there is a god. To me, life is proof enough. To you, nothing short of God visiting you personally, will prove a thing. Human beings cannot sit down and design and make living beings. We can grow them inside us, but we can't put together a living, breathing, human being. And if you believe in evolution, the raw materials to begin the whole thing in the first place, they had to come from somewhere. I believe our material universe had its beginning in the brilliant mind of God or Gods and he/she or they set off whatever processes that brought us to where we are today. You think they just appeared, these raw materials just appeared and evolved into the world we see today? To me, that thinking is far more magical than believing someone thought of it all and started it all.

  Whether by direct design and creation or a purposeful evolutionary process, I believe God makes much more logical sense. Does that prove anything to you, oh believer in the even more farfetched? No. And that is a-okay with me.
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  Walt Whitman

  Wow! Don't really understand why you're being so hostile and defensive. I'm just participating in a discussion. Does it make you angry when someone discusses religion and it doesn't join your beliefs in lockstep?

  flying high now wrote: Does that prove anything to you, oh believer in the even more farfetched? No.

  Read your comments again. Judgemental, much?
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  designs

  If God is not in the constellation Pleiades like Russell promised we're all doomed ....
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  Walt Whitman

  Wow, Designs! Learn something new everyday. All this time I thought he was a monstrous, amorphous, methane cloud lurking behind the Orion Nebula. Thanks for setting straight.[ahah! I've learned how to use these little smiley-faces things]
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  designs

  lol
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  FlyingHighNow

  Not angry, Walt. Lol. I'm very happy JWN gives a forum where we can express ourselves, since we couldn't do that at the Kingdom Hall.

  Concerning a belief in god or gods -- is there any empirical evidence that such entities exist?

  I was addressing your question. Not in an angry way, just in an assertive way.