by jambon1 95 Replies latest jw friends
everything to recommend having a personal relationship with Christ - Loz
A personal relationship with reality is preferable.
First sort out what is factual. If you think the bible makes sense you have never really studied the bible objectively.
If you think complexity is evidence for a designer you have a lot of work still to do to understand evolution.
If you can enjoy a sense of the "other" that aligns with known facts then good luck to you.
There is nothing wrong with you. I believe there is a Creator and my faith has been returning for some time. also. This time it is not blind faith and I won't be a sheeple. I felt more peace when I had an active faith. I have looked at a number of churches and the criteria I have is
not legalistic- no crazy rules that force you to choose them over your family or the rest of the world.
does not excommunicate
has youth and other groups -
active in the community with charitable works, real ones
does not believe they are the only true religion and everyone else will die-
I have been told that Methodist's are Christian lite and also like the feel of the Episcopalian churches. They seem open minded. I am choosing to stay with a Christian religion b/c it is where I feel comfortable. I have looked at a number of other belief systems and I think they are fine if they cause no harm but not for me.
Hi jambon1, According to Steve Hassan's BITE model, any organization, including non-religious organizations, can victimize their members and become a dangerous cult.
Forgive yourself for not ctrically thinking for yourself when you joined the WTBTS. Instead critically think for yourself and research your beliefs and feelings before making emotional decisions.
While I was healing from my divorce, I attended a faith-based recovery program. From that experience I believe that people's happiness is like a table with four legs of financial, physical, spiritual, and emotional support for a person's happiness. If anyone of those legs is unbalance your happiness will suffer. Maybe now you need to explore what is out-of-balanced with the spiritual aspects of your life.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
Lozhasleft There is nothing to recommend organised religions, but everything to recommend having a personal relationship with Christ.
cofty A personal relationship with reality is preferable.
And here is the great divide.
Cofty's statement should be posted on every school and church building.
The world will not move on from the fantasy of imagined support from on high, and the brake it applies to advancement, until reality rules.
Jambon said- In the process I kind of looked at myself as an atheist and was happy with that. I'd had my fill of religion.
No offense, but that's pretty piss-poor motivation to claim to be an atheist, since it's based on EMOTIONS, not logic. Your wants and desires for God NOT to exist means no more than the believer's desire FOR God TO exist: neither actually has ANY effect on the question of God's existence.
Yes, I'll say it for the theists to save them the effort: there ARE some uninformed atheists out there who fail to look at the evidence and simply don't WANT God to exist. That's simply not enough. I have even less respect for uninformed atheists as uninformed believers, since those who claim to be atheists have the emotional drive to learn the facts, but fail to do so.
Instead, I'd recommend to commiting to becoming NOT a theist or atheist, but to living as a rationalist, a skeptic, someone who demands to examine the evidence BEFORE adopting beliefs. If you haven't done your 'homework' (and the homework NEVER ends, BTW), you have only yourself to blame for wallowing in whatever limbo of uncertainty you currently find yourself in....
But where does that leave me? I've got a burning desire to read the bible again and when I do it sort of makes sense to me. But I could never be partof a religion again. Is there anyone else like this?
Then do it. You do not have to be part of religion to have faith in Christ and God. You might consider that just the opposite is true... because there is then nothing then standing between you and Christ (the ONLY mediator between man and God), telling you what you should or should not believe.
So go ahead and read the bible if you have a burning desire to do so, because that sounds like a burning desire to seek and know God. Pray also if you want, asking that your eyes and ears be opened while you are reading, so that you may see and hear and know the truth. Then listen and put your faith in God that He does hear you and will answer you, and that Christ - the one God says to listen TO - also keeps His promises:
"If anyone loves me, they will obey my teachings. My father will love them, and we will come and make our home with Him."
Peace and love to you, and may you be given ears to hear as you wish them.
Your servant in Christ,
tammy
A personal relationship with reality is preferable.
First sort out what is factual. If you think the bible makes sense you have never really studied the bible objectively.
If you think complexity is evidence for a designer you have a lot of work still to do to understand evolution.
If you can enjoy a sense of the "other" that aligns with known facts then good luck to you.
well great Cofty, you have just said anyone who does not see things your way is stupid. Why must people who no longer believe in a Creator try & remove hope from those who want it? What is the point?
The Beatles had a song and a line in it was " what ever gets you through the night is alright..". If you are happy with your belief system , then that is great. Why be the Grinch who stole Christmas? Most of us who have been out for a while know enough to not get fooled again. I will never blindly follow anyone , religion or not. Some of us still believe there is something bigger than ourselves. I know I do. In fact, I never stopped believing in God, I was just filled with disgust and loathing for jws and similar religions. I have recovered from some of this and find I want the Creator in my life in some form, even if is just volunteering to help others. In fact it was reading the Bible , (the nwt at the time) but without the help of the wts literature is what helped me see they did not have the truth. I highly recommend reading the Bible itself .
I sure wouldn't come here for spiritual direction. From what I've seen, it's more a therapy site for those who got duped by the JW's. It's understandable. It's useful, but pretty much only for that. A lot of angry ex-JW's who are flying off in all directions, and feel justified doing so. Try reading some of the works of David Reagan. Smart guy, does a good job of explaining things.
I do agree with a couple of comments above, Cofty and Adamah make good points.
The thing is that having escaped the lies of the W.T, why ensnare yourself in other stuff that is false, and leads nowhere ?
I understand the need to feel "spiritual", but if this is induced by falsehood, for example, many hallucogenic drugs will give you a great feeling of spirtuality, but they are a dead end.
What is necessary is for the fog of uncertainty to be blown away, so that any action you take is based on sound reasons. To "believe" in anything, to accept that something is true without PERFECT proof, is to stay in the fog.
So, as said succinctly by Cofty, you have a little work to do. Examine with a fearsome scrutiny all claims for religion, the Bible, whatever.
What you are left with when all the nonsense of "belief" is disposed of, is not emptiness, but a certainty that life is wonderful, exciting, and we will never stop learning and discovering new wonders, all the while being able to revel in the beauty of nature and of people.
Faith is for people who are prepared to admit they are both lazy and ignorant, do not let it return, it will do you no good.
Faith is for people who are prepared to admit they are both lazy and ignorant
Sometimes I wonder if you realize what you said.
I expect it from some people here... always catches me off guard when it comes from you.
Peace,
tammy
