by Truthexplorer 59 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I had to believe in the devil before I believed in god. I didn’t find him listening to King Diamond records or playing with Ouija boards. I found him in people making incredibly stupid comments about seven magical men in New York, people shunning their own children or signing cards that would let their children die without even knowing who the author of Acts much less the context of it.
Watchtower is just a mockery to make people atheists. Not surprised at the findings here.
Why do people join a Christian denomination in the first place, to help them
get through life perils, not an easy road. I was raised in the Baptist church became
a JW age 21, left JW age 40 and back to Baptist. Between 45-50 years of age I began
to read the Bible, Wow.
I don't know if there was a connection with my anxiety problems (really bad), but my life
without following a bunch of religious rules have been great.
Some believe Humanism is a religion for atheists/agnosticism, maybe.
But I know for a fact I am a better person today and life is easy.
I am the black sheep of the family, JW family are praying for my return, the other christians
family members are praying for my soul. I don't preach my belief, they are the ones that is
so dogmatic about my (like) of happiness. LOL
Dubstepped - That was quite a rant.
Many of us here have been part of christian churches after we left the WT. That gives us a unique insight that could be really helpful. Why would we not share it?
The thread was started by "Truthexplorer". I assume that means they value exploring truth.
If somebody wants to join a universalist church just for the social value then good luck to them. If they are considering joining a group that will have certain expectations about what their members believe then there is reason to be cautious. If you are planning to involve children then you have an obligation to get all the facts.
If you join a faith group that expects its members to deny the fact of evolution then you are condemning your children to a lifetime of imposed ignorance. If you are expected to believe in a bible that is inspired of god and free from error then you and yours will spend your life avoid an avalanche of inconvenient facts to the contrary.
You should really consider how you will deal honestly with challenges to your new body of dogma.
Here is why secular people who challenge faith are nothing like the Watchtower.
The JWs, like ALL religions depend on appeals to authority. It is essential to limit access to information and to meet regularly to reinforce group-think.
Rational people just need unfettered access to facts and evidence. I encourage people to seek out the very best arguments against their worldview and face them head-on. That is what I did. It is why I could never sit meekly in a church and pretend to believe impossible things in return for fellowship.
I guess I'm clearly not cut out for a place like this. I gave up black and white thinking when I left the dubs behind. I am neither a God following person nor an atheist. I'm open to possibilities and don't think any of us has the evidence to say either side is right to an absolute degree. I see truth and error in both sides.
What I am about is helping people find what they want, what makes them happy. I'm not about trying to make every conversation a battle to prove someone wrong. I believe we all have a journey to go on and that everything comes in due time. No amount of God bashing and shaming will change most people's mind. They need to reach things on their own. If the OP is looking for experiences of people that went to religion, why make him Wade through posts to find a few answers that are centered around it? Doesn't seem loving to me. I'd rather help him find his next step and who knows, maybe eventually he lands with the majority posting in this thread eventually.
Whatevs my ex-JW peeps. Carry on. I'm done here.
I believe the Bible and consider myself Christian.
I don't go to church. But I read my bible from cover to cover many times, and do so regularly.
I have gone through periods of agnosticism and atheism and evolutionism.
But I have settled and made my decision on God and the bible.
dubstepped: every opinion is good here, we are all in the same boat. I agree the God
bashing and shaming will change most people's mind but isn't it a good thing.
Don't you think by challenging belief in God will either make them strong or weak in
their faith? Isn't that the point, to find your own way, to stand on your own two feet.
People here are thinking now, something we didn't do in Jehovah loving organization.
When I left I didn't really want to spend more of my life going to religious meetings and singing and such. I'm still a Christian and so is my wife and grown-up kids.
I did go to a few churches as one of my kids wanted to try some but it's not something I really want to do on a Sunday.
No amount of God bashing and shaming will change most people's mind
Patiently presenting evidence has led quite a few people I can think of to reject superstition in favour of an evidence-based worldview. Perhaps there are more I don't know about.
Yes it is loving to offer relevant evidence to somebody. What they do with it is up to them.
I have gone through periods of agnosticism and atheism and evolutionism. - James Brown
No you haven't. You have demonstrated many times that you have not got the first clue about evolution.
