Crap Shoot

John Aquila

What would have happen if I was not home when Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my door?

There was a group of us living in a small trailer in the mid 60s when and old pioneer brother knocked on our door and placed all kinds of books and magazines with us. All of us took it seriously and studied and started attending the Kingdom Hall.

I got baptized and followed through for the next 45 years.

One of my friends quit the JW, went to school to become a doctor and when he finished med-school he got killed in a car accident.

Another one of my friends quit the JW and got involved in drugs and was shot in the head by a drug dealer

Another one of my friends inherited a fortune from his grandparents, quit the JW and spent all his life chasing beautiful women, fast cars, and beautiful homes. Today he is single and old, and living in one place for no more than a year and then moves to another location.

Another one of my friends met a girl who was not a JW, quit the JW, married her, bought a small home had lots of kids and to this day is still married to her, and is quite satisfied with life.

I’m not sure what happen to the other friends, they quit the JWs and I never saw them again.

Would life have been better if we hadn’t opened the door to that old pioneer brother?

I’m not sure if it would. It might have been worse.

It seems like life is just one big Crap Shoot.

The Searcher

Life is what you make of it - each and every day.

I'm thankful for where I am today, all things considered!

Bugbear

I think that a ”cult” might stable a person with problems for a while. But when that person discover that he is on the wrong track, it could go even worse. Those who remain in the “cult” are captured in a routine manner that helps them don’t do anything that the cult doesn´t approve.

Bugbear

DesirousOfChange

The general morality traditionally taught from the Bible (and by JWs) can help a person avoid many problems in life. But JWs as a group, do not have any higher or better standards of morality and ethics than many other groups of people.

IMO the greatest harm as a result of being a JW is how they limit the potential a person has in life. The "ban" on higher education is the greatest example of this. Many talented young people will miss out on great opportunities in life.

Doc

Driving Force

The JW way of life gives someone a level of stability in life, if they never had it before. I did have a level of stability before I became a JW, but answers to life's questions were missing.

The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything being 42 wasn't sufficient, so I became a JW.

But being lied to and manipulated was not what I expected, it took me 28 years to realize.

3rdgen

Your story is interesting.

At least 5 of you quit being JWs

One of you became a doctor

The fact that he died in an auto accident could happen to anyone.

Drugs can kill in more ways than one.

None of you were better off for being in a cult.

Life is often random.

kairos

I have often wondered what would have become of me if I had rejected the "truth".

I always liked to brag how "the truth" saved my life. As if I was leading some sort of tragic life heading for death. That was not the case.

Now I'm catching up with all of my old interests and hoping I have enough time left.

OnTheWayOut

Yours is a common theme of science fiction time travel- change the past and do you muck everything up or make it better? If someone kills Adolf Hitler's father before he meets Adolf Hitler's mother, then what?
Some believe that things even out. There was a Japanese factor to World War 2 and perhaps Germany would have found it's way to the axis side no matter whether Hitler took them there or not.

Perhaps, if you didn't answer that door that day, you would have been found another day.

Others (myself included) subscribe to radically different outcomes were it possible to change things. Although it is just philosophy and not mathematics, many serious scientists suggest that traveling back in time would not allow any change. They state that were someone to interfere with the past, then in all possibilities, they ALWAYS DID INTERFERE WITH THE PAST and nothing ever changed. They believe that any ability to tinker with time would eventually have been discovered and all of time would be unstable because of it and it would unravel to the point where none of our universe could exist anymore.

I know that's not really where you are going. But I feel it is important to consider that "What if...." is not really something we can dwell on for any serious progress. It is just a curiosity and nothing more.

John Aquila

many serious scientists suggest that traveling back in time would not allow any change. They state that were someone to interfere with the past, then in all possibilities, they ALWAYS DID INTERFERE WITH THE PAST and nothing ever changed. They believe that any ability to tinker with time would eventually have been discovered and all of time would be unstable because of it and it would unravel to the point where none of our universe could exist anymore.

Man, life can get pretty mind boggling, there is so much to learn and not enough time. That's the only thing that bugs me, I Want More Time.

stillin

That's a heckuva story, John. I also came "out of the world" and I feel certain that I saved myself a LOT of trouble by being a witness for 30+ years. I wish it hadn't been necessary for me, but I see things a little clearer now.

I still have a sense that there is some sort of Justice at work in the universe.

Crap Shoot

Share this