When I was a Dub, one of the things we talked about was how wonderful it was to be free of terrible feelings of fear and guilt because of false religions teaching of hell. We would reason with householders about the pure ludicrousness of a god of love torturing his children.
Then we would turn around and say how important it was to be at the meetings so we wouldn’t die at Armageddon.
My son who is being raised as a JW by my still active wife is now telling me how concerned he is that I am going to miss out on life because I don’t go to meetings. He is only 8 and his heart is very heavy over the whole thing.
It got me to thinking about how it is really not much different using the threat of a vengeful god to punish non JW’s then it is to tell kids they are going to go to hell if they misbehave.
One thing the ole Judge had right, “religion IS a snare and a racket”.
Hell VS Armaghedon. Whats the difference
by NikL 2 Replies latest jw friends
-
NikL
-
larc
Nikl,
I agree with you. Both ideas create fear to keep people in line. Although the two subjects may appear on two different Sundays, the basic idea is, "God loves you, and if you don't believe it, he is going to kill you."
-
AngelofMuZiC
I couldn't agree more!!!! My mother is still a dub, and she is always reminding me that I 'can come back, but time is running out'. She says that the possibility of not seeing me in the paradise hurts her. I remember all of the guilt I used to feel when thinking about 'my sins' and how they've affected my chances of surviving Armageddon. It is a terrible thing.
My Regards,
Joanne