How many of you hesitate because of the fear of God?

braincleaned

I turned atheist before I focused on the Borg. So being blasphemous is nothing to me; like they say, it's a victimless crime.

But how many of you stay put in fear of Jehovah's judgement?
Do you realize that the Borg plays on your belief?
Do many of you fear the "what ifs" of Faith, and the idea that they could be right?

Please share your thoughts on this. I want to understand...

Witness My Fury

Indoctrination can be hard to break, after all we used to really believe this stuff so why wouldnt it be hard to break.

I remember the 1st time i vocalisied out loud that there is no god I felt odd and slightly conflicted.

But once the curtain has been pulled back and there is no wizard there really is no going back to that nonsense, but even so years can go by before it is fully peeled away.

SuperBoy

I remember years ago, when I was still a faithful JW - at 17 years old - going on a trip with college.

On one night we all went out to a nightclub. I had never been to a nightclub before, and was feeling very uneasy about it.

I rationalised that I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to.

We got to the nightclub - it was called Babylon. I kid you not. And you had to descend this spiral staircase to get to it!
I was appalled, but went anyway and had a great time.

But - at the time - I felt I had displeased Jehovah.
Even now, 13 years since I left, I still have "What If" moments - especially around newsworthy things on the world stage. Ukraine/Russia; the Middle East etc.

And then I remember how unhappy I was and it can't be the truth if it makes people so unhappy.

How can so many of us who have left have memories of the smugness, unfairness and simply bizarre behaviour of fellow JWs.
And if I saw that in every person I met I would be the first to say that I have the problem here. But that sect does attract nutcases.

And then I think well JWs might not have the true religion, but what if there is one?
And then I listen to Stewart Lee and Richard Herring, whose arguments about religion are a joy to listen to.

Things like, "Why would a god, who can never age, inflict aging on things he created? And watch it happening. Again and again."
"We're always told that we are just like ants to god. That's how small we are and yet he loves us. BUT IF YOU EVER, EVER, EVER ACT LIKE AN ANT THEN YOU WILL DIE!" "We are better than animals because we have freewill... BUT DON'T EVEN THINK OF EXERCISING IT IN A WAY THAT I DON'T APPROVE OF!"

I will be the biblical fool and proclaim that there is no god. So I live my life to this motto: Love Life, Be Kind.

Finkelstein

The JW religion is one that utilizes fear to the fullest, firstly by attracting people by use of its literature, then deeply

indoctrinated these individuals with further implications of fear. Not just the fear of god but even losing your friends

and family if you decided to not support the doctrines expressed by the WTS.

.

For most people leaving the JW cult is arduously difficult because of those reasons.

Once a person has been inundated with the imposing thought of life or death , they're going be emotional insecure for

sometime until it becomes apperant that imposing fear was pretentiously made up by virtue of ignorance and indulgent

man made corruption and with regards to the WTS. that certainly is the case.

braincleaned

Thank you for sharing... yes indeed, we all follow our own path to recovery...

steve2

Behaviour that has been learned in the formative preschool years is pretty much a part of the individual's "personality" and becomes an ingrained feature of their "response" repertoire. That's why there's a saying among priests in the Catholic Church, "Give me a child until he is 7 and the Church will have him for life". Fear is located in pre-verbal parts of the brain such as the amygdala, whereas reasoning functions are located elsewhere, such as the prefrontal cortex. People can "feel" fearful even as they say to themselves,, "This fear is irrational". But behavioural change is possible. It doesn't require prayer or self-castigation but plain and simple determined ha work, including exposure to feared objects and learning they are not dangerous

OneEyedJoe

When I was first starting to have doubts about being a JW, I had the fear that I was doing something wrong and I was going to be punished for it. The way I got over it was by examining my motives, and I determined that I was really motivated by a desire to know the truth (the real truth, not necessarily the WTBTS's truth) and if that was something punishable by death, then so be it. I decided that if god would punish someone for having pure motives and seeking the truth in spite of what they're told by the FDS, then I didn't want to serve that god anyway. Upon my discovering TTATT, I was able to start to accept my inner athiest feelings. I similarly reasoned that if the god of the bible existed, then he could read my heart and know that I was not motivated by laziness or desire to break the rules he set for me in the bible or whatever selfish motivation that we're always told that those who leave the cult have. If god is truely all-knowing and the epitome of justice, then he couldn't possibly punish me for coming to a conclusion that I (using my supposedly god-given powers of reason) found to be inescapable.

Someone posted a youtube video a while back where an athiest laid out similar reasoning (only articulated much better than I'm able to) for not having any fear of "what if I'm wrong." The reasoning really is air-tight. If you are honest with yourself, and your motivated by a desire to know what is actually, objectively, true and you come to the conclusion that there is no creator, then there really are only two options for what would happen if that creator exists. Either he's all-knowing and perfectly just, in which case you get a free pass or he's not a just god, in which case why would you want to serve him?

Focus

If gOD exists, she's evidently infinitely morally inferior to (even!) me.

Therefore, Occam's Razor assures you there's nothing whatsoever to fear from her, as she doesn't exist.

__

Focus

(" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/281308/1/A-precious-gift-to-all-from-Jehovah-channelled-via-Focus " Class)

flipper

BRAINCLEANED- To Jehovah's Witnesses the governing body = God or Jehovah. the alleged " faithful & discreet slave " = Jehovah so many JW's STAY in fear of this power by allowing themselves to be controlled in their minds by false promises false hopes, and unscrupulous men with criminal motives and intent. The only way to combat that is giving them access to DIFFERENT information outside the WT organization

witnessofjesus

Yes, I just recently finished my study of the 'two books', their "Bible Teach" and "God's Love" books of study, and decided that the religion just wasn't for me, or for my family, and so we informed the elders of this, and have since been 'cut off' by a few of the so-called 'friends' because, according to them, we've 'turned our backs on Jehovah' and are unfit for their continued 'friendship.'

With 'friends' like that, who needs enemies, is my question? I thought it odd that they 'dis' fellowshipped me before I was even 'fellowshipped' in the first place, but I'm thankful that this has happened.

It has opened my eyes to their sectarian ways, and the fact that to the average JW, their religion is their god, and to leave their religion is to leave god, and that's really sad to say the least.

I find it a trickery of sorts to use their "Bible Teach" book as a lure, a nice piece of 'golden' bait, that talks about God's love and such, and then to have the "God's Love" book put a choke hold, a noose of sorts, around your neck, as they attempt to 'tighten the rope' on which they hope to hang you, and so while I'm disturbed that they have treated, or mis-treated me, in this way, I am glad that they have done so. If they had not acted in such absolute contradiction towards everything they've been teaching my family and I the last 2.5 years we've been faithfully attending their meetings and assemblies and conventions, then they might have had the oppotunity to baptize me next Summer in 2015.

Not anymore, they have proven yet again, that they are their own 'worst enemy' and it's no wonder their kids 'grow up' and leave their twisted faith, because it is a religon of 'fear', must like the rest of Protestantism and just isn't for me. I want to be involved in a religion of love, and obviously, the god the JWs worship isn't the One I serve, and as such, I reject it as a fantasy, rather than a reality.

Thank you guys/gals for this forum, and I ask that you continue to pray for my family and I.

How many of you hesitate because of the fear of God?

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