Do you think of yourself as an apostate

by barbar 81 Replies latest jw experiences

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  prophecor

  I would be classified by their terminology as an apostate as well, however, after coming to the realization of the history regarding the WTBTS, I consider myself as having been guilible, mislead and uninformed, taking all that the Society had to say at face value.

  It now becomes my responsibility to take a more conscientious look at any and all religious institutions, as I have invested years of pain and an unwholsome dread of God in this one.

  I can't imagine myself having made any proper decsions in life while underneath the dreaded cloud of doom the Society instills in its adhereants. Every thought, deed and action, was only made out of guilt or fear, the good, bad and everything in between.

  Within and without of the truth. I have been truly rescued from a religious system that breeds guilt fear and suspicion within virtually every breath of ones existence, be you a witness or be you not.
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  AK - Jeff

  There have been - over the century and a quarter history of this organization - millions who have, in the literal definition of the word, apostasized! Most have quietly exited and just got on with life - although many have struggled to do that well, after the borg's mind warp.

  Mostly those who visit this site and contribute are of a different nature - we are vocal [at least here] about our leaving, in various stages of healing, and for many that includes bitterness and great anger. But one thing is for sure - and this includes the current witnesses who cloak the reality and live a double life inside/outside the organization...... we are all apostates!!! It is not a dirty word to me any longer - but we fit the definition as has been posted here a thousand times.

  Yes we are!

  Jeff
• 

  steve2

  we are all apostates!!! It is not a dirty word to me any longer - but we fit the definition as has been posted here a thousand times.

  Right on, Jeff!! Besides, negative labels are vain attempts by a larger group to control a smaller group.

  To me there is something empowering in taking (some of) the labels others have put on me and saying, "I'm claiming this for myself", just as racial and ethnic minorities, women and gays have taken the seemingly derogatory labels in recent decades and started using those labels to their own advantage.

  Anything brought proudly out into the open has a greater likelihood of rising above the shame-inducing properties of a negative label.
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  xjw_b12

  In the true definition, JWs are more apostate, that any ex JWs.
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  iiz2cool

  I think it's kind of funny that the word "apostate" is such a dirty word to JWs. They forget that their religion is founded on apostasy. From the watchtower's earliest days they turned their backs on their former religions, tried to convince family and friends to follow them, handed out tracts, and picketed their former churches. To this day they continue to attack their former religions by word and in print.
  
  I think of myself as an apostate, though I won't go out of my way to de-witness to people unless they come to me first.
  
  Walter
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  diamondblue1974

  No I'm a free thinker...and I am free to draw my own views based upon my own research and I refuse to accept anything unless it is proven. Apostate is just one of those emotive phrases which the WTBTS use to make us free thinkers seem unattractive...after all they dont want there newly indoctrined to go out forming their own beliefs do they? This is just another mindf**k whereby they have control over peoples emotions and feelings.

  Just to throw the cat among the pigeons....who was it that originally called the pagans pagans...it was Christians, to pagans Christianity was the pagan belief...to Christians it was the opposite...who you are classed as or what you are depends on a whole range of subjective issues...

  In simple terms we are what we want to be....
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  Jaypeeto

  If by apostate, you mean proactively ex-JW and against their organization and teachings, then yes I am by that definition an "apostate" from Watchtowerism. I am not, however, apostate from God and I do consider myself a believing Christian. Love, Jaypeeto
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  gunnmama

  I did at first, I was projesting the feelings of my family and friends who think the organization equals God. As I grew my own spiritual legs and took off my 'Brooklyn' colored lenses when reading the Bible I found that I was extraordinarily normal reasonable and sensable. That was something that I did not know before. And it just gets better. The moral of the story; Seek God, a personal relationship through prayer. Not a religion to subscribe to.
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  9thWonder

  Kind of like "if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?" I like the point of freezing a group of witlesses for 50 years (or less). You make a great point. Who really is the betrayer? The people who changed or the organization that changed (and continues to change)? Faith is not blind it is "the assured expectation of things hoped for." If the premise of the things you hoped for changes how do you maintain your hope...unless you blindly follow...shouldn't one expect it to waver and be shaken?
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  9thWonder

  Can you really say what is more right if it is an interpretation? I was always taught that the bible should not be interpreted...but how do you avoid interpreting the book of Revelations and other prophetic bible books? One definition of interpretation: v 1: make sense of; assign a meaning to; "What message do you see in this letter?"; "How do you interpret his behavior?" [syn: construe, see] 2: give an interpretation or explanation to 3: give an interpretation or rendition of; "The pianist rendered the Beethoven sonata beautifully" [syn: render] 4: create an image or likeness of; "The painter represented his wife as a young girl" [syn: represent] 5: restate (words) from one language into another language; "I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S."; "Can you interpret the speech of the visiting dignitaries?"; "She rendered the French poem into English"; "He translates for the U.N." [syn: translate, render] 6: make sense of a language; "She understands French"; "Can you read Greek?" [syn: understand, read, translate]

  If all religions interpret (makes sense of; assign a meaning to) various things in the bible to suit them, then is there any truth in any religion? One can be no more true than another if they are all rendering interpretations. True?

  There is NO truth in interpretation. What is darkness? The absence of light. What is a lie? The absence of truth.