Christian Freedom - Ray Franz

by Noumenon 28 Replies latest jw friends

  • captain pugwash
    captain pugwash

    most of us think of jehovahs witnesses ,mormons etc as american religions.

    its interesting that most of the evangelical nuts come from the US.

  • Undecided
    Undecided

    Actually I don't want to forget about being a JW. It is part of my life that I enjoyed very much and I can't change it after the fact anyway. The memories of my family are tied in with the JW faith and I loved them very much. I was never hurt by any of the JW people I knew, and I can't say that my life was damaged by my association with them, I don't know what it would have been if I had been of no faith or a different one. I think many have been hurt and I don't blame them for their attitude toward the JW org. I certainly don't agree with the policies of the GB or the religion in controlling their members lives the way they do.

    I've been out of the religion for 30 years now and have enjoyed life. Everyone has problems with life no matter what religion or lack thereof they pursue. We must take responsibility for our own decisions that can bring good or bad in our lives. I don't think it is good to blame life's difficulties on some religion that many have chosen to follow themselves. We need to grow up and accept our life as our own if possible and change the things we can to make it better. All of us make bad decisions in life but we can't let them control the rest of our life. Anyway, that's my view, but everyone is different and life is a mystery so I could be all wrong.

    Happy new year!!

    Ken P.

  • captain pugwash
    captain pugwash

    oh and not wanting to sound superior - you spell strait (in this context) straight.hope thats of help!

  • captain pugwash
    captain pugwash

    undecided - thats top class mate .

  • Mulan
    Mulan

    Captain P., you simply cannot compare the life of a Catholic to the life of a JW. They are not the same. Your being able to walk away is a freedom JW's just do not have............of course you CAN walk away, but not with your life intact, or your family by your side.

  • Special K
    Special K

    Some of these comments make me feel kind of

    GRRRRR!!!.

    and other comments make me feel..

    RIGHT ON!!....Yes, Yes, Yes...

    I agree with Mulan wholely.. You cannot compare J.W.'s to a main stream religion.. although I think the Mormons might be a little bit closer. Lady Lee hit the nail on the head...and avishai sometimes says alot of what I'm thinking but I don't feel brave enough to say....

    sincerely

    Special K

  • acsot
    acsot

    God almighty where to begin!

    Not wanting to sound superior, but:

    most of us think of jehovahs witnesses ,mormons etc as american religions.

    1. In this context, you should capitalize the initial "J" and initial "W" of "jehovahs witnesses" [sic];

    2. Also, there is an apostrophe after the "h", as in "Jehovah's Witnesses";

    3. There is no space before a comma in the English language;

    4. There is a space after a comma in the English language;

    5. It's Mormons, with a capital "M"; and

    6. It's American, with a capital "A".

    Although mildly amusing, captain pugwash is not worth any more of my time so I'll leave the rest of his grammatical errors to others. I have better things to do.

  • Redneckgurl
    Redneckgurl

    As far as this site goes, I find that all kinds of needed support can be found here. No one post can fit everyone, nor can everyone relate to all posts. Some of the posts are very negative, I agree, and some are not. Everyone is in a different place, spiritually, emotionally, and just in life.......period.

    I know there are times I laugh my ass off reading some of the posts on here, they are very entertaining! And some I just sort of flip through, because I don't agree, or don't really care. That is up to everyone, what they want to read. I came here for some understanding and some support, others came here to vent. Whatever, it meets different needs, and I think that's pretty cool.

    Ray Franz is a very brave man to speak of the things he has, about what he has seen and heard, but also, just because he has written something, does not mean that everyone here agrees totally with that either. We all make our own choices, we all agree that we have free will to do what we want, and will "reap what we sow".......cause and effect, that's life. I have not read this book yet, only the first one, that was enough for me. Perhaps I will read this one someday, but I am not in any hurry. Sounds like there might be some who read this and become like his followers? I don' think that is what he had in mind at all.

    Just my .02 cents!

    Krissy

  • FreeWilly
    FreeWilly

    Amazing Noumenon !!! You have so correctly and completely psychoanalized me and a plethera of others on this site! How do you do it? You know, you could take this show on the road and make $$ Hundreds!

    Sniff-sniff I am soo bitter.... I am consumed by it. I am addicted to anti-JW propaganda via the net. The 20 minutes per week I spend here socializing have indeed enslaved me. And yes.... I have 'lapsed'. You are so insightful. Oh how I long for Spiritual Paradise (tm) once again.

    Go sell crazy somewhere else.

  • hillary_step
    hillary_step

    Noumenon,

    Many seem so consumed by bitterness and ill-feeling toward the organisation that they seem mired in a permanent state of negativity, some even losing all faith in God and Christ and lapsing into agnoticism, atheism, or giving free reign to the desires of the flesh in all it's various forms.

    It always amazes me when religionists make such statements. It does not seem to enter their thinking that choosing ( not lapsing ) the path of agnosticism or atheism is in fact a very difficult path to walk after one has engaged often for decades, in the perverse form or religious fundamentalism that the WTS peddles.

    Coming from a position of total surety regarding one's everlasting future, to now accepting that these few months on earth are perhaps all we have, is an emotionally traumatic path to walk. It might help to think of these persons as having engaged in deep research which leads them to such a conclusion rather than having 'lapsed' to anything. Perhaps they view their road as the only honest one to walk.

    As far as I can ascertain an atheist needs proof and a religionist does not, perhaps when you can bridge this enormous gulf you might understand that there are worse sins in life than being an atheist. Being uninformed yet confident is one of them.

    Others, like myself do not chose to personally discuss their belief system and will not be labeled and entered into the neat little categories that you seem to feel comfortable placing people into. I can assure you that since leaving the WTS, I have not changed my mode of moral behavior at all and as for the sins of the 'flesh', even atheists are able to repudiate ant-social behavior without appearing to be the hypocrites that religionists so easily become.

    Best regards - HS

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