Paradise?

carla

How does the WT explain the 'new paradise earth' if your loved ones have now become 'birdseed'? How could it be any kind of paradise if (in my case, we didn't know any jw's) everyone you ever knew or loved is now 'poofed out of existence'? I guess one could ask the same question of the Christian view of heaven. How could it be heaven if everyone you knew & loved wasn't there? any thoughts? thanks, carla

luna2

Carla, when my son opted out of being a JW, that was the final straw for me. What is paradise without any of my family, without my sons? Talk about depressed. It was one of my initial reasons for fading away.

I know many in the "truth" feel that any family and friends lost at the big A will be replaced (like Job's family was). They know that nothing is beyond Jehovah, so isn't it possible that he can confer happiness and peace of mind upon his faithful servants even if everyone they ever loved has been destroyed? Hey, maybe it'll be like getting a mind-wipe and they can start all over without any of that pesky grief clouding their joy while they bury bodies, clean up rubble, and learn to love life on an indefinitly extended camp out. Ugh.

tetrapod.sapien

they say that in perfection we will not need the feeble imperfect family and friend ties that we hold dear now in our sinfulness. basically.

jaffacake

The Bible speaks largely in metaphor, and metaphor must not be pressed too far. The Bible does not really teach that paradise is a place or state that can be literally described. It makes the central spiritual point that what we do in this life matters, and will carry great spiritual consequences for us and others.

It also teaches that it is God's will that all will be saved, and that Jesus died to save the world. God so loved the world, not a tiny fraction of one percent of the world's population, whether they had heard of or believed in Jesus or not. If we believe in God's creation based on Gods will coming into practice, is it not possible for God's will to be done in that all will be saved, somehow and eventually, after all that is what God wants according to the Bible.

Mary

How does the WT explain the 'new paradise earth' if your loved ones have now become 'birdseed'? How could it be any kind of paradise if (in my case, we didn't know any jw's) everyone you ever knew or loved is now 'poofed out of existence'?

My understanding is that they believe that "the former things will not be called to mind" in Paradise, therefore, in time, you won't really feel the sorrow of missing your parents/siblings/children/friends that didn't make it through the Big A. Hell, you can see that sort of mentality right now within the Organization. Don't they teach everyone to cut off even your closest relatives that aren't Witnesses? Aren't they always telling everyone that their "spiritual brothers and sisters" are far more important than any blood relatives? I've known Witnesses who have not spoken to their children for 20 years or more, because their kids decided they didn't want to be part of this wacko religion. If you can cut your own flesh and blood off like that right now, then certainly in ten thousands years, you wouldn't even remember that they existed right?

Of course, they also have many talks blaming the selfish swine who decide to leave the Borg, because you're "disappointing" your family and how are they going to explain to grandma and grandpa when they come back in the resurrection that you died at Armageddon because you didn't want to worship Jehovah??

Thousands of Witness families needlessly put themselves through emotional devastation thanks to the bizarre teachings of this wacked out religion. No one wants to think that God hates their child so much that He's going to murder them for not getting 10 hours of field service in every month but that's what they teach..............truly a sad state of affairs.

Honesty

The only thing I care about WT teachings, doctrines, beliefs or anything else they print, say or do is refuting them with solid facts and tangible evidence.

gringojj

This reminds me of a round and round topic i had with my wife. She said they wont remember family. Electricity, tv, cars, mcds, all that kind of stuff. But its what you do in life that makes you the person you are. If you wipe all of that out, you are left with no identity. So why then go through all of this. Why didnt he just make us live in paradise like that from the start? He didnt want us to be robots is what i get. Isnt the new system just a bunch of robots?