by Plato 12 Replies latest jw friends
It’s me again, your favorite Greek philosopher xdd.
I was wondering if any ex-JWs around here have since indetified with other Christian denominations. If that is the case for you, how has it been? Do you feel more welcome? What do you find about the theology and douctrines?
I also would like to hear non-Christian religions members and what they have to say when comparing Christianity with what they now believe!
Kinda interested in Gnosticism, too.
Also, are you a Christian that doesn't attend any church or doesn't identify with any specific religion? Do you feel that, at the moment, the best worship doesn't require a church?
I still somewhat identify with Christian ideology, I guess it's a case of feeling comfortable with the familiar more than feeling Christianity is inherently better. I attended the United Church of Christ (Congregational) church briefly, as my husband was raised in it and I found them to be welcoming and the services interesting. I liked the fact that they have no official doctrine, are active in charitable works, had nice music and are accepting of different belief systems and gays. Ultimately it just seemed pointless to attend church as an unbeliever, although I still miss the feeling of being part of a community and have not ruled out going again, even if just for the Christmas services, which are stellar. I freely admit it makes no sense, but it is what it is.
I truly say to each his own, but with that being said, myself personally, I could never understand why someone who left the Borg would ever get involved with another denomination of Christianity, or at least in an organized way.
I would be more prone to go towards a completely different faith, like Hinduism lol, than Christianity, simply for the fact that it would be a different beast all together, and a learning experience. Again, this is if I went in an organized religious way.
I think I still "lean" towards Christianity, when it comes to a religious mind set, but it is my own version of it, based on my own knowledge, and gleaning of information. I find it crazy to me, when I hear of someone who was a JW, left, and went back to Catholicism. I know specifically of an old family friend who did just that. I don't get it.
Again, to each his own though. If that makes you happy, then so be it. Personally, I would rather dive in head first into learning about evolution, than diving into another version of organized religion. I am at a phase now where gaining knowledge in subjects I am not as educated in, is my goal. I want to learn more about evolution, for example, if its real, how it works, what the facts are, so I will direct my time n energy in that direction.
I just don't feel that another form of Christianity is worthy of my valuable time and resources. Again, just my personal opinion.
Holy Roller! Tried that......great exercise on a Sunday plus I loved watching the women rolling around in the isles speaking gibberish. Great entertainment to start the week with. Passed on the ones with the snakes as that creeped me out.
I've been affiliated with an independent Bible Students group, they are NOT associated with any of the organized groups like the DAWN or the PBI. Just a small group that gets together on Sunday in private homes and study the scriptures.
I am currently reading material and watching a lot of videos on a couple of sites, ie Anthony Buzzard - restoration fellowship. Also J Dan Gill - 21st century reformation. They are both similiar in their understanding and often discuss the bible together.
I actually find what they say both interesting and faith strengthening.
I am not associated with any type of religious thinking, but I have spent a lot of time during the past ten years in a deeper study of Asian (i.e. religions that originated in Asia - which is all of the major religions) religious thought than I had ever made as a JW. (And I became a witness when the old book, "What Has Religion Done for Mankind." was in use).
Here's the study topics I've undertaken as part of my degree (at Sydney's Macquarie University);
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World.
Pagan's Jews and Christians: Athens and Jerusalem.
Myth in the Ancient World.
Early Christian Literature and Thought.
The New Testament in its Times.
Byzantium: East and West.
From Constantine to Theodora: Church and State in Late Antiquity.
The Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism.
The Classical Tradition of Thought.
Religions along the Silk Road.
As a Capstone Unit in Ancient History, I researched and wrote an essay examining Daniel 7's development of a second divine being in the heavens as driven by the hellenisation of Jewish thought. There are some topics on this site where I discussed that.
(That's out of a total of 30 study units I've undertaken.)
And at Sydney Uni, I undertook some study Units on a cross-Institutional basis, that covered elements of Buddhism and its spread across Asia and the connection between Iranian thought (primarily Zoroastriansim) and Indian thought.
Two other important study units in which I enrolled were, Critical thinking and Why People Believe Weird Things: Making Rational Decisions in an Irrational World.
All that as part of my key interest, the role of Asia in World History.
After all that, a conclusion far different from what I had previously come to believe as a witness.
As a witness, I was taught that there was a line of pure spiritual thinking, given (inspired) by the one true god that is contained in the bible and available to be understood by those to whom the one true god chooses to reveal his 'truth.'
I found however, that wherever cultures come into contact with each other, there is a (consciously or unconsciously) a sharing of ideas. Hence - no pure revelation of a god to anyone! Rather the development of interconnected concepts in fits and starts.
As a med. student you surely will have to understand the scientific method, which advances knowledge by a system of (briefly) observation and measurement, the formulation of a hypothesis and subsequent testing and modification. But as a JW, you cannot (lawfully) test any hypothesis advanced by the sacred and discreet slave. If you question the result they claim to have arrived at, you will be in trouble.
Apparently, (as some have discussed on this site), the only way to escape when you find yourself in intellectual conflict with the organisation, is to say that you can no longer believe the bible.
I had a vocal coach who was a Unitarian Universalist. She was one of the best human beings I have ever met. I started attending the UUs and really like it. It is not identified as Christian but rather allows people to choose from their own experiences and studies to have a personal belief system. They are very involved in the community. After the Haiti earthquake they helped build a self sustaining village there. They are very active in climate change and building centers where homeless can get warm, wash clothes, take showers. It is so refreshing after the JWs do nothing for anybody except the borg.
