It's crazy isn't it. I sometimes wonder if someone is just experimenting with us like a bad kid tortures ants.WHATSGOINGON 11 minutes ago
I look at creation and it is so complex, our feelings and emotions are something that could not have evolved (in my opinion) and the earth is so beautiful it seems crazy to think it all just happened.
For me the worst thing is not having a helper anymore
by John Aquila 27 Replies latest jw experiences
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John Aquila
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kepler
I think one of the most damaging things about an organization like the WT is the after tase it leaves in the mouths, minds and soul of those who were caught in its path.
In this forum I usually come down with the rationalist side - looking at Biblical texts from a different point of view.
And since the effect of the WT was to tear up things in my life because of the people it influenced, I have to say that I never believed in what it said. I was just brought up on grounds where its seeds wouldn't grow. It was not something I had any demonstrable control over as a child or adolescent - it was circumstances.
But I can't buy the idea that prayer is useless or that no one or nothing hears.
I don't believe that if the WatchTower falls, so does God or Jesus or anyone else who stood for what was decent.
If we don't have an afterlife, I disagree with Dostoevski. I believe that integrity is not meaningless and that we should conduct our lives as if there were. I can't think or understand any better choice.
Our parents, our friends and those that cared about us, but we did not care about while they lived or never knew, somehow perhaps they are watching over us. While Protestantism "protested" because Catholic authorities seemed to dangle the fate of the dead in their hands with the notion of indulgences, the movement got it wrong thereafter. Those that are dead and alive, their fates are still mingled, I believe. And if that is true, it is because of a creator and purpose. Our purpose is to leave this campsite in better shape than we found it. To do so, sometimes a few moments of prayer and reflection are required.
No, a lot of moments. And don't give up.
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James Mixon
You are stranded in the middle of the ocean, no water or food, do
you pray?? Will you talk to God??
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SecretSlaveClass
Praying when your life is in danger if anything will only give you false comfort and prevent you from making an accurate evaluation of your situation which WILL save you if just some of the elements are in your favor. Prayers also causes people to think their god will fix illness, financial woes and troubles in general. that cancer could have been cured if modern medicine had been looked to for an answer and not some deity. That bad investment could have been avoided if faith was put in a finacial professional instead of god. Prayers can prevent persons from accepting responsibility for their decisions and actions. It often prevents people from applying themselves and solving their issues themselves. Clear thinking saves lives, not prayers.
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LisaRose
look at creation and it is so complex, our feelings and emotions are something that could not have evolved (in my opinion) and the earth is so beautiful it seems crazy to think it all just happened.
I had the opposite reaction. The more I learned about our bodies and DNA and science, the more I became convinced that we had to have evolved, which helped me to see that God did not exist, so then it seemed kind of pointless to pray.
I do think prayer works for those who believe in God, because it makes you feel you have given your problems over to him and can stop worrying about them. It also works because prayer is a type of meditation, and meditation has proven health benefits.
Since I do not pray anymore, I started meditating and it has helped me a lot, more than prayer ever did.
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Half banana
It is more charitable to believe the scientific evidence of evolution than to attribute the indifference to suffering, as shown by the hyenas, to a creator god who made his creation eat one another. And don't anyone say there was a perfect world before Adam sinned; we have evidence of Hyena tooth marks on human bones dating back hundreds of thousands of years.
As regards the lack of heavenly help John, it was only an illusion in the first place. JWs are taught DEPENDENCY, in real life we become self reliant which ultimately is more grown up and satisfying.
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Vidiot
I'd given up on "Jehovah" helping me with anything long before I started fading.
In retrospect, it probably contributed.
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BluesBrother
I believed I had the Almighty Creator/God watching over me,
I was never one to see the hand of God in the happenings of my life. I figured that he had better things to do than fuss about my little life. Who was I to expect that?
However, I do miss the comfort of believing that "everything will work out fine in the end". I had conviction that if I only stayed faithful to "The Truth" the everything would come right in the New World, for me, my family and for all obedient people.
When I lost that faith I felt very alone........
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Phizzy
" When I lost that faith I felt very alone........"
I think that most of us who had a real faith in the existence of a loving god felt that emotion.
I now equate it with losing my imaginary childhood friend, not everyone had one of those, but those that did will recall a sense of loss once that imaginary friend had gone.
It ain't no big deal really, just part of growing to Adulthood.
We've just lost one more imaginary friend than some people manage.