Does Anyone Still Believe in God? (page 2)

Iown Mylife

Live and let live. My experience the last few years is that you have more fun if you can stop worrying about things you can't control, God's existence being one of those things.

Marina

millie210

I have put that question off to one side for now.

I cannot cope with leaving the religion, the fall out from my uber duber family AND wrestling with an issue that has plagued man for centuries.

When I get all that down to a dull roar I will begin to look at other things such as eternity and God and so on.

I think this is the right way to go about it for me. I dont want any beliief system I set up to in any way be a "response" to having been raised a JW.

I dont like the idea of hanging my future on a reaction to a negative. (the JW religion)

When I first began participating on this site, I realized there is a formula that is supposed to be followed of leaving, poking fun at the religion, look to science and lastly, become an atheist.

That feels like pressure.

I want to have my own experience - something the JWs do not allow.

I do wish there were more opportunities for friendly discussions about the topic but the folks here that believe in God are pretty quiet and the atheists are as zealous as the JWs.

NOT all of course, some are very respectful and patient but that doesnt seem to have been the waters I waded in to each time I tried to enter a discussion.

So I just quit.

That is when it dawned on me not to try to do it all at once. Take my time.

Daniel1555

You can believe in God AND think that evolution is true, that homosexuality is allright, that the acts described in the bible are just cruel stories invented by power hungry humans.

At least I do.

Saintbertholdt

Hi Millie,

When I first began participating on this site, I realized there is a formula that is supposed to be followed of leaving, poking fun at the religion, look to science and lastly, become an atheist.

Not at all Millie...do your own thang girl. Oh you answered that already with "I want to have my own experience - something the JWs do not allow."

Well yes do what you think is the best and you definitely don't have to become an atheist. Those like me that arrived at the realization of atheism, got there through our own catharsis. The best advice I saw online regarding the leaving process was (I am paraphrasing): Take some time off after you leave the organization. God understands perfectly. Then when you are good and ready, then start looking for that which (or for whom) you seek.

I do wish there were more opportunities for friendly discussions about the topic but the folks here that believe in God are pretty quiet and the atheists are as zealous as the JWs.

It is true many atheists are very zealous but those enthusiastic objections only really came to the fore after a group of religious folks decided to drive airplanes filled with fare paying passengers into some tall buildings. It dawned upon atheists that these people meant business and if religion went unchecked, well heck maybe we'd all be back herding goats and stoning rape victims in no time at all. Since then religion has become somewhat of a sticky topic for atheists where before they would have shrugged and returned to their crossword puzzle.

Crazyguy

We can't prove it one way or the other and if there is a God it doesn't care about us so why should we care about it.

fukitol

millie210

Saintbertholdt25 minutes ago

It is true many atheists are very zealous but those enthusiastic objections only really came to the fore after a group of religious folks decided to drive airplanes filled with fare paying passengers into some tall buildings. It dawned upon atheists that these people meant business and if religion went unchecked, well heck maybe we'd all be back herding goats and stoning rape victims in no time at all. Since then religion has become somewhat of a sticky topic for atheists where before they would have shrugged and returned to their crossword puzzle

Interesting comment Saintbertholdt,

I honestly never thought of what you mentioned but I can see how that would have jarred many previously quiet people in to being more vocal. That would include atheists, why not?

Sounds reasonable.

I had thought that the problem I had here specifically was that the personality of some seemed to still be so "Witness like"- super determined that they are right...THIS TIME. Just like they thought they were right - last time...(jw).

I dont want to be recruited I want to be persuaded.

One of the biggest draws to me is a life well lived. ANY one who is bitter, cynical or jaded is not standing where I want to end up.

Life is amazing and beautiful and ripe with possibility.

I always liked the JWs that reflected that mind set. Unfortunately, it has been proven to my personal satisfaction that the leadership doesnt have any substance (if it ever did - I am still reading old threads and learning the history of my "religion") and since everything works off a trickle down principle, the religion is running dry. So I am looking for greener pastures.

Optimistic people who are intrigued with the mystery of life as much as the documentation of it.

millie210

Daniel1555

True.

I have a gay family member that I am extremely close to. I dont feelthat a literal take on the Bible and a belief in God have to line up entirely with one another necessarily..

The Bible is a book. The other (God) is an entity.

That is not to say that the Bible has no merit, there is merit in many things if you look at them from how they were intended. Many Holy Books exist, all working off that premise and bringing comfort and peace and wisdom to their readers.

Who was it that said - we dont see things as they are......we see things as we are?

I dont know much currently as I am wiping the hard drive of my belief system for a re format

But I do know that the fundamentalist JW approach to interpreting the Bible was incorrect.

Saintbertholdt

Hi again Millie,

The one thing that still sticks with me that the Watchtower organization gave me is a vision of paradise. I think that is where humanity should be heading. And I do not mean a theocracy or some such thing, just a world in which we would all want to live and when we go to our rest we would be sure that things would be ok.

cofty

We can't prove it one way or the other and if there is a God ...

Yes of course we can.

As soon as the person posing the question carefully defines what they mean by "god" we can prove beyond all reasonable doubt that it does not exist.

"You can't prove there is no god" is a fallacy that depends on being entirely vague about the subject of the sentence.

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

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