by pistolpete 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
This magazine says it all!
And many of the older jws believed at one point in their life that they would make it through the Great Tribulation and into the 1000 year reign of Christ WITHOUT DYING.
Which is why so many jws stayed in so long.
Is the main reason why JWs ignore all the Child abuse, the end of door to door service, and the closing of Kingdom Hall for almost two years----because they still believe they WILL NOT DIE?
Yes to both questions... of course we believed that .... it was our faith and the WT promised it. We were special, the unique generation that would not have to die.
Today though the oldies are resigned to death and resurrection, but the end result will be the same.
I haven’t discussed it with any young dubs but I suppose they still expect to live on through to the New World
PISTOLPETE:
You might have a point about why these older JWs stick with the religion. They want their ‘everlasting life’.
I don’t know if I ever Truly believed this. Maybe it was a nice mental exercise but that’s about it.
When I ‘Faded’ from the JW religion about twenty years ago, one of the first things I did was rid my mind of this ‘paradise earth and no dying’ teaching. I needed to do this because I felt this was a cruel trick to play on my mind. In no time it was purged from my mind and I wondered how much I ever believed it in the first place.
no, really not at all. I hoped though and believed , that the father would intervene to prevent us all being killed in, or, because of a 3rd and last war. Of course is was done through the M.A.D. doctrine that would have killed the warmongers too. as to
b) to obtain everlasting live is not a driving force in her life, the young ones?
preoccupation with death, and wt doctrines too is a quaint tick of the irrelevant older ones.
Jehovah's Witnesses is a religion based on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Such beliefs, which are the basis of Western culture, are egocentric. This belief propagates the idea that a person is separate from everyone and everything else. This belief in turn generates the Ego which creates anxiety over death as the Ego the belief "I MUST live!"
In addition, Jehovah's Witnesses are asked to "sacrifice" their life, that is to say "Don't do as you wish to do. Do as you are told to do." What are they told? Put all your time and energy into the religion. They are told there will be eternity to enjoy life after Armageddon.
For older Witnesses I believe the Sunk Cost Fallacy comes into play.
Of course I believed I'd never die. That was one of the reasons I was so arrogant as a kid. I thought everyone around me would die and so, they were unimportant and I was dismissive of their input in my life. There is a saying that kids are raised by villages. However, as I believed most of the village would suffer the wrath of God, their opinion didn't matter any more than the rocks I kicked away as I walked to school.
The result was that I was completely disconnected from everyone even though I lived with everyone. I was the perfect product of JW's indoctrination.
I felt that way until I was about 18/19. I started studying other religions and while I still believed in my religion being the correct one, my view of God changed. It did not make any sense for me that a God of love would kill everyone solely on the fact that they were born into the wrong religion or wrong part of the world. At the same time, I realized that I would very much likely grow old and die in this world.
It was around that time that I started to have a sort of a death whish, driving like a crazy ass hole, hoping that I would inadvertently die in some big car accidents. There were other factors at play in my life at the time, but I can honestly say that the thought that I die and instantly wake up in paradise was very appeasing to me. I thought, if Armagedon doesn't come to the whole world, it could come tomorrow for me. I viewed death as some sort of time machine where my death would bring me into a future earthly paradise in the snap of a finger.
However, life didn't turn out that way. I had a very big accident and amazingly, got out without a scratch. Not so with my sister, she died in another car accident of her own making. When I saw the pain and suffering that caused to everyone around her, I felt I could no longer be careless with my life.
Years later, I came to the realization that the JWs were utterly wrong. Once I left, I also realized that the concept of God and life after death didn't make much sense either. So, here I am, in my 40s, married with children, enjoying life, understanding that all the struggles I go through are worth it for these small miracle moments in my life. Like watching my wife walk down the isle to get married. My kids giving me hugs. Heck, even enjoying the warmth of the sun in the summer while floating in a pool. Small perfect moments.
THIS IS JUST ANOTHER STRAW ON THE PILE THAT PROVES HOW #^*%ING RIDICULOUS THIS SECT IS.
Imagine thinking that you won't die. How can anyone forget that every living thing on this planet has a life span. Lives and dies, but some liar sold folks on this bullshit. Unbelievable really,.It really is.
Right up there with 'we live our life according to the bible". Who does that? The scriptures aren't a guide to how to live. It was ALWAYS used liturgically for worship, not as a guide on what to do. Too many examples of what not to do to be a guide.
TTWSYF
The oldest jw true believer relative that I still have is going to be 90 in two years. He finally had to get a cane to walk because his hip is giving out.
He was born in and has been an elder for years. But he recently stepped down and doesn't plan to ever go out in field service if it resumes again in the future.
He has seen it all;
(1975, switching from President to Governing Body, introduction of the elder arrangement, the internet, the expose of all the child sex abuse in the organization, the closing of the kingdom Halls and the end of the door to door field service for almost two years, and the Overlapping generation,)
And yet just this past weekend I sat down with him and he gave me this 20 minute speech, that Proved that HE WOULD NOT DIE.
He discarded all the mistakes the Organization has made in his lifetime and is thoroughly CONVINCED that Jehovah will not allow him to die, but will usher him into the Paradise earth without tasting death.
It doesn't matter what the organization does wrong---in his mind---HE IS NOT GOING TO DIE.
It's exactly as StephaneLaliberte posted in his comment;
I was completely disconnected from everyone even though I lived with everyone. I was the perfect product of JW's indoctrination.
And yes LHG-----The promise of EVERLASTING LIFE, is what keeps them trapped in that organization. It's also what keeps them living in poverty for the most part. At least those who truly believe that they must sacrifice everything like a nice job and retirement.
It was at one time in the past a "nice" thought. Now however after seeing my grand-parents die, my parents die, and some of my nephews/nieces die, and realizing that there is one thing the Bible got 100% correct. (Ecclesiastes 3:19) . . for there is an outcome for humans and an outcome for animals; they all have the same outcome. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit. . ." " I realize that the "nice" thought is just that, fantasy.
Now I am getting close to the end of my own natural life and I intend to make the most of the time I have left, for just as surely as one does not exist anywhere before they are born they will cease to exist anywhere when they die.
It was at one time in the past a "nice" thought. Now however after seeing my grand-parents die, my parents die, and some of my nephews/nieces die, and realizing that there is one thing the Bible got 100% correct. (Ecclesiastes 3:19) . . for there is an outcome for humans and an outcome for animals; they all have the same outcome. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit. . ." ~ FedUp
Same thought here. My grandparents were of "the generation that will not pass away", but of course, they are ALL DEAD. My mother and her siblings were all actually born to late to qualify. They were not even born by 1914. They are ALL DEAD except my mother who is now conceding that she will make the New World via the Underground (Resurrection).
We've had enough discussion about the reasons that my family and I left (officially inactive) that I think she has lots of doubts about everything in the Cult now. But at her age, there is no where else for her to go. She's that faithful elderly sister that everyone dotes over. The kids call her "grandma".
As far as most R&F JW's? Yes. They still really believe the bullshit!
