Hi Fleaman
Your words strike a chord with me. I've read a few replies to the initial post and I read the comments about the paradise earth on the link provided. My thoughts about the young people talking about the paradise earth are this: Even though, I do not believe in what they say and would never (now) subscribe to that train of thought, I also do not subscribe to (what I think is) the universally held Christian belief that Mary was actually still a virgin after she conceived Jesus (nor much of anything else that the bible proclaims as truth and fact). My point here is that these kids seem happy - happy with their present and happy with what their future holds. They are not talking about how great it is to be stoned or off their faces on some other substance. They are not talking about underage sex, unplanned pregnancies, stealing or anything else that may be destructive.
Who am I to point the finger at them and call them deluded or anything else? They are happy. To me they are just as deluded as every other Christian out there who believes in the bible per se. But that is my belief and you know, I may be wrong, wrong about Mary and Jesus and wrong about a paradise earth. There are many people who think that I'm deluded and in the dark, but I don't believe I am and I don't believe that anyone has the right to point a finger at me and if they do, well everyone's allowed their point of view, but people who are not supportive of me are not not the type of people I want in my inner circle anyway.
I will also not 'be the pot calling the kettle black' by criticizing spelling and grammar, because many of us have bad spelling and grammar indeed, some of us pointing the finger and laughing also have bad spelling and grammar!
I've been visiting this site for a week now and I understand the need for people to get things out of their system. I understand that people are grieving for family, a lifestyle and a loss in a future that they once truly believed in, but one of the stages of grief, the final stage, is acceptance. I truly hope that people who are judgemental themselves of the Jehovah's Witnesses will come to accept the religion as much as they are accepting of every other religion, because every religion has it's flaws and every religion has it's members and ex-members who have been burnt by it. What we need to believe in is the absolute right for each individual to be happy and at peace - for some that may emcompass Jehovah, for others Buddha, for others Allah etc, etc, etc. Lets be accepting and supportive, both when people are enthralled in the religion and when they are trying to break away.
Peace Dude!