WHY did you exit god and the bible when you exited the dubs?

by gumby 63 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  gumby

  Not all that post here threw the bible and the bible god out the window when they exited the dubs, but many have.

  For me personally, I never doubted god or the bibles authenticity untill years later when I began doing a re-search on the bible canon and how it was formed. From there, I began looking at the sceptics view of the bible and it's god which then changed my views.

  I guess my question is, WHY did you ( those who disbelieved god/bible upon exiting the dubs)... throw god and the bible out the window BEFORE you had re-searched it enough to make you believe contrary? If all you really knew was that the WTBTS was bunk, what made you feel the bible and it's god was bunk too?

  Gumby
• 

  undercover

  Good question...fair question.

  Like you I have done some independant research on the Bible, it's history along with the notion of God, the Hebrew God vs. the Christian God, Jehovah, etc. Now I feel confident in my beliefs about the authenticity of the Bible and the existance of God, but I have to admit that before I did independant research, I had kind of already doubted God and the Bible when I learned that the WTS was lying.

  I think for me it was because of a lifetime of having the world's religions put under a microscope by the WTS publications and how they always pointed out the hypocrisy of the world's religions. Of course some religions make it pretty easy to see the stupidity of it all to begin with.

  So, when the man behind the curtain was exposed and my JW world came tumbling down, I pretty much assumed that if they lied and it was obvious the others were lying, then it was all BS.

  In time, though, I became curious as to how the Bible came to be the book we have today, why so many regard it as Holy. I've wondered more about the origins of the many Gods people worship, so I looked into it.

  So while I still don't accept the notion of an all powerful God and I don't accept the Bible as Holy, it's based on more than just a hunch as it was in the early days of falling away from the JWs.
• 

  freedomlover

  good question.

  at first I actually clung to the bible as my only way to find "the truth." the JW's might be false but I thought the bible would give me answers. then I started to read all kinds of translations and that helped me see what I always thought. I always had respect for the bible but to take it so literally was hard for me to accept at times as a JW. when I too started researching the history of how the bible came to be, that did it for me. I was done placing ultimate authority in some book that was supposed to be inspired by god. I do believe it's a good book, a powerful book, but there are many holy writings that should be considered.

  I don't even have a desire to ever read a bible again, but I still keep some around so I can answer any JWs that might question me in the future. I guess what happens when you feel so totally screwed by the JWs and the twisting of the bible it leaves a pretty bad taste in your mouth and you don't even want to look at it for awhile. as far as throwinging god out the window, I'm still out on that one. haven't totally decided. I do know I don't believe he's some loving entity anymore like the dubs taught. the more I read and learn the more I'm leaning towards no god. I'll let you know how that turns out.
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  Hey Reverend Gumby,

  It was the Bible that started my slide. When I first left, I still thought the Watchtower taught the truth about the Bible, I just didn't care about the Bible anymore.

  It was the Noah story and the concept of praying for others that got me out. Those two concepts are brought up throughout the Bible, so when they died in my mind, the rest crumbled along with it.

  God evaporated under the heat of my expectations of him. I couldn't accept that he was there, and yet letting everything bad happen. Looking at the world as I knew it, it made much more sense that it just happened this way, rather than trying to see some god in it, much less a "loving" god.

  Dave
• 

  gumby

  When I first left, I still thought the Watchtower taught the truth about the Bible, I just didn't care about the Bible anymore.

  Dave,

  I also had doubts about many things, but I had to find out the truths about those doubts before I chucked out the bible. Many seem like they gave it up without really knowing why they gave it up and all it took for them was to find out the WTBTS was a hoax.

  I wonder how many witnesses REALLY believed it all in the first place when these ones could just drop it all as easily as they did when they left dubdom.

  Gumby Hinn
• 

  kid-A

  Gumby,

  While I agree it is important to base philosophical decisions on research, I dont think one needs to undertake an exhaustive study of the bible in particular to reject the basic 'idea' of religion: i.e. there is some omnipotent creature in the sky pulling the strings of the universe who will exact hish revenge on humanity unless we lick his boots and accept the logic that jesus had to die for "our" sins, which in reality, was the sin of a single individual, adam, eons ago..... (for me, that is pretty much the x-tian worldview in a nutshell). I realized what religion was for me, simply a form of psychological anaesthesia.

  Having said that, my rejection of x-tianity and of religious belief in general arose from the exposure to alternative viewpoints, science, certain philosophers, poets, etc, whose exposure of religion and belief in the supernatural resolved my inborn doubts about religion and god.

  Finally, anybody looking at history and seeing the bloodshed and horrors that religion in general has inflicted upon the earth can easily discern that such belief in the supernatural has little to offer to civilization, with the exception of wars, inquisitions, terrorists, bigotry, hatred and conformity.
• 

  Narkissos

  Hi Gumby,

  I guess what actually made me drift out of the WT is that my "faith" became really mine. It did not rely anymore on some external authority: I could read the Bible, feed on what made sense to me, and not bother too much about the rest. Even the idea of a "God out there" became quite secondary. "My God" (or perhaps "my god") was what mattered to me.

  I would probably have spent much less time reading the Bible in the next few years hadn't the course of life led me to work on Bible translation and edition. But this gradually had me integrate more and more critical scholarship, and of course modify the expression of "my faith". Even the monotheistic concept of "God" was not spared eventually. Yet I don't think the core of "my faith" has really changed. On the other hand its expression has become more paradoxical, poetical sometimes, obscure certainly.
• 

  AK - Jeff

  This does not explain my relationship with the Bible - the jury is still out to some degree in that matter for me.

  But relationships in later life are often affacted by our perceptions of relationships at crucial periods of time in life. The relationship of Bible to 'Christian' religion is like marriage. Some who saw parents divorce and families break up are not able to form solid marriage and family ties later in life. Some who watched this imaginary 'truth' dissolve into chaos when we found out the falcious nature of the beastly religion we had devoted our lives to for so long, cannot form a relationship with the same elements any longer - the Bible and religion. OR at least that relationship is forever altered.

  Don't know if that analogy comes thru like I meant it -

  Jeff
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  I also had doubts about many things, but I had to find out the truths about those doubts before I chucked out the bible. Many seem like they gave it up without really knowing why they gave it up and all it took for them was to find out the WTBTS was a hoax.

  Understand, Your Green and Reverant Claymationess, I didn't reject the Bible based on the Watchtower's interpretation of it. I rejected it based on what it says. Granted there are those that "believe" the Bible, but reject portions of it as stories or myth. I couldn't truck with that, since how would you ever decide which was which? Its value comes from the fact that it is wholly believable. If it's a piecemeal thing, with no way to know which piece is which, then it's worse than worthless.

  I was bothered a bit by the fact that all those Messianic prophecies were out there, so I did research that a bit. What I realized as I looked into them was that these alleged prophecies were actually just snippets of scripture that didn't point to a messiah at all. Just statements about a guy, or a child, or a leader, that were later pointed to as "prophecies".

  For me, hitting these holes in the Bible was like seeing the zipper pull on Bigfoot. Once you see it, and you look it over and confirm that yes, it's really a zipper pull and it's really attached to a line that runs down the length of the leg, you just can't go back to believing that the creature you're looking at is Bigfoot. It's a quick realization, but it isn't a "hasty" one.

  Another way to look at it: Imagine a locked box that you're told contains a huge diamond. You shake the box now and then, and you hear it knocking about. You KNOW it's a diamond. Everyone around you says so. Your whole future is based on the fact that one day the box will open and you'll sell the diamond and live forever on the proceeds. Then one day you do an xray of the box and clearly see inside, not a diamond, but a horseshoe. You recall wondering why it seemed when you shook it that it sounded so oddly shaped. (It also becomes clear why you were always told NOT to xray it!) You realize your faith was misplaced and in virtually an instant, it's gone.

  Dave
• 

  gumby

  Kid,

  While I agree it is important to base philosophical decisions on research, I dont think one needs to undertake an exhaustive study of the bible in particular to reject the basic 'idea' of religion:

  Having said that, my rejection of x-tianity and of religious belief in general arose from the exposure to alternative viewpoints, science, certain philosophers, poets, etc, whose exposure of religion and belief in the supernatural resolved my inborn doubts about religion and god.

  I'm a bit confused on your comment. Seems you did quite a bit of re-search considering your last statement but your opening remark say's different. I'm prolly just confused as always.

  Narkster....I can't say I've ever understood where you stand exactly......but as long as YOU know, that's what matters ...eh?

  Gumby