Gumby,
I think as time goes on and each one of us continues to adjust our lives trying to fit into the rest of the world we go through various phases of thoughts on god and religion, some cling onto the basics and some toss it all in the garbage.
The problem here between Christians and the non Christians is simple. Since each one of us are exJW's we will have to spend the rest of our lives dealing with what that religion did to us and our relationship with our families.
On a personal basis some of us have in the past and still do feel a bit socially retarded. We did not learn simple things that non JW's learned growing up. Dating, school dances, sports, teen parties and other things that seem trivial in the whole scheme of things but as far as social growth and emotional acceptance they were as important as any academic lessons we learned growing up. Instead of a healthy childhood we learned how to hide our true feelings and even more tragic, we learned how to lie to ourselves. We have to continually ask ourselves how do we really feel about everyday things. Do we think one way or another because of our past programing or can we actually form an objective opinion based on our own thinking? That makes a lot of us insecure and self doubting. The mind fuck from the religion is a hard thing to see and even harder to adjust.
All those social things should have been a part of our life and part of our growth. The Watchtower society stole that from us and now we are all dealing with the effect of that psychological theft. We are not JW's anymore but we don't seem to quite fit in with the rest of the world. We are misfits, understood and accepted only among ourselves. The religion turned our parents and friends into liars and they took from us what should have been our strongest foundation in our lives. They are thieves and liars and as long as they put on a happy face and polish the door knobs bright and shiny at Bethel they think all is well.
There are things in life we don't quite understand because we were never allowed to learn and we make stupid and embarrassing mistakes because of it. We fumble through social settings trying to learn how to fit in and we walk away feeling awkward and maladjusted. We blame the screwed up religion for that. We also blame them for stealing the minds and hearts of our parents and siblings. We have been mentally and socially raped and to make it worse, we have been left alone in life to deal with our pain.
Then comes along someone who tells us to take it to Jesus or god or the lord. That is poison to our ears. No matter how someone tries to repackage the goods, it's still the same old foul smelling bullshit inside.
Those who need the structure of religion just change teams from being a JW to some other Jesus team. They go on with their codependents with something the rest of us detest. We see religion, any religion, as the thing that stole our childhood and took our mental and social virginity and killed our families.
Some of us try to separate the multitude of religions that may make a little sense and give us just a tiny bit of some kind of spiritual feeling. The more we read, the more we learn, we see it's all the same bullshit. Phony smiles, empty promises and lack of any historical or logical substance. Just a controlling group of people who tell us we need them because they love us. We have all learned that religions define the word "love" according to their own agendas. I don't think anyone really knows the real meaning of love unless they understand the meaning of having lost love. Having our families and friends turn their backs on us has taught us the opposite of love so we have redefined the true meaning of the word as something none of them will ever understand.
If someone came into our house and kidnapped our parents and friends, they would be caught and brought to justice. But since the watchtower publishing cult hides behind the protection of the label "religion" they can mentally and emotionally kidnap our families and get away with it. That is hard for society to understand because it is not a tangible or physical crime. It is a crime perpetrated on our insides, the emotional and the psychological.
If the Christians here cannot understand this, then they never really left the JW's or it's kind of manipulation. No matter how you package it, the bible's bullshit smells the same to us no matter what new and improved labeling you print on the front of it's box.
Whether we are atheist or agnostics, we've heard it all before and it makes us sick. Some of us have no problem living and sharing with those here who are Christians just as long as they don't try and shove it down our throats or pawn it off as an absolute to happiness in life. If you try and stick anything down someone's throat, you get puked on.
It is the simplest rule of physics, action-reaction.
I may be wrong, but this is how I see it.
Dave
