by Sofia Lose 52 Replies latest jw experiences
Has anyone here looked into something else?
Definitely not!
By the time I managed to extricate myself from the JWs, I had already had enough of religion (in any of its forms) to last a life time.
(Or, to use the vernacular of the region in which I grew up in, I had had a complete "gutsful" of the bloody thing!).
Bill.
I'm happy to see this post. I feel something lacking in my life and would like to find something to believe & practice.
I can't worship the God of the bible (see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/95804194/A-Most-Evil-and-Stupid-Book-The-Bible-s-Moral-Depravity-Contradictions-and-Absurdities#download). So even though Christianity is a good story, the old testiment God is full of hate & anger and I can't reconcile them.
Yet I feel something missing. They say religious people are healthier, happier and live longer. But where to turn after being so heavily indoctrinated against all these other faiths?
Has anyone tried New Age and or Science of Mind? I've been dabbling in their beliefs for almost 2 years. But I have an internal fight every time the speaker says & proclaims things as facts with no backing or proof. As a JW, every doctrine & belief had a scripture to back it up (yes I now know they were twisted to meet their needs, but I still could look at the bible and say "this is why we believe what we believe". The only references in these new age churches is books written in the last few decades.
My daughter looked into Buddism, but there was an extreme Buddhist that was pushy and just as narrow minded as any JW, so no. I tried a liberal Christian Church, nice people, I saw some benefits, but since I don't believe in God it was hard to see the point.
Have you tried meditation? It's like the best part of religion, without the woo. It's been scientifically proven to lower blood pressure and decrease anxiety and depression.
After I left the JW's, religion was the last thing on my mind. but I think we are still made to have some type of spirituality.
Everyone has different needs, the reason there is religion is because some people need the social interaction.
I tried a christian church, the singing was beautiful and it makes me happy when I go, but I have decided i don't need to serve god by attending a church.
I have found yoga and meditation this gives me peace of mind, clarity, and I helps me get in touch with who I am, I have been doing it for the past 2 years and I love it.
One of the biggest thing that has changed for me is accepting people for who they are, we are one family and the judgement is gone.
I'm Jewish, ethnically and religiously.
I didn't know about my ethnic background when I was a kid and got baptized as a JW, so it was a culture shock to be sure to revert back into the community. And I didn't do it because I had some need for another religion or had a spiritual vacuum that needed to be filled. It had more to do with cultural identity.
Judaism is also not a religion about faith in that it isn't Christianity that judges people on what they "believe," what creed they claim allegance to, what doctrine they mentally and emotionally declare they acknowledge. Belief in God is not so much a mental acknowledgment of matter of faith. For Jews it's about how you respond to God. You can even be agnostic or secular (atheist) and still be considered a Jew. Religion for Jews is not about what doctrines you mentally acknowledge, it's about how you respond to the world and try to make it better not just for you but for everyone else.
I learned that the Christian and especially the JW view of Judaism was warped. As a JW I believed that Jews saw obedience to the Mosaic Law as a means to salvation. In reality Jews don't even have a doctrinal concept of salvation. Since Jews don't believe in original sin, they don't believe there is anything to be saved from. The Mosaic Law is seen as the opposite of slavery to the Egyptians, a way to exercise one's freedom to be their own individual. While most Jews don't observe many of the laws as they appear in Scripture (because the believe that changes in history often demand a reinterpretation of things), they do see its demands about living responsibly in the world as the most important.
As such I've learned to view atheists as upright and good as any religious person can be, as well as learn that religion or any type of ideology or creed is no guarantee that an adherent of such is not capable of evil. I view myself as no more "right" or having "the truth" as any other person, and that my first duty to another is to be their neighbor and not their judge seeking an opportunity to convert them to my views.
Scripture is studied critically, ritual is preserved as culture, and living life now (not just for some eternal life tomorrow) is seen as a duty to society and our responsibility to use our gifts in building it up. So it is very different from just believing some obscure doctrines. And it is not viewed as the "only way" to live. It wasn't always easy to become this after leaving the Watchtower world of black-and-white rules, either as you can see it is very different, even alien by comparison.
