Question for JW believers...or whoever wants to answer

kittyeatzjdubs

I often wondered this myself a lot growing up, and I must know...

If there was no paradise hope, no promise of living forever or having your dead loved ones resurrected....would you still serve your god and follow the organization? Would you have ever began studying with the witnesses for that matter or stayed in the ''truth'' if you were raised in it?

Because isn't that the golden ticket that jw's wave in front of their studies or interested ones?

''WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO LIVE FOREVER ON A PARADISE EARTH? MILLIONS NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE!!! SEE YOUR LOVED ONES RAISED FROM THE DEAD!!!''

Because without that hope, what really is the point of being a jw? Without the hope of a perfect life in a paradise, what's the point of spending your entire life being ridiculed for your beliefs, putting in 1000's of hours walking from door to door selling magazines, wasting 12 hours a week on ''spiritual matters''?

And please don't give the b.s. line of, ''Well at least I wouldn't contract STD's, unwanted pregnancy, drug problems, blahblahblah''....b/c I know plenty of people who aren't jw's...and they have never had those problems....and I've known plenty of jw's who got pregnant out of wedlock, contracted STD's, and used drugs.

Thank you for your input.

~luv, jojo

Woofer

Good question!

When I was d/f I think I still believed pretty much in what they were saying. At that time I thought that I would die at armageddon but I left because I couldn't stay in a miserable marriage. The carrot dangling in front of me of eternal life wasn't enough to sway me to stay

fullofdoubtnow

It was the idea of possibly never having to die, and living forever in perfect conditions that initially attracted me to the jw religion. It was that hope that kept me going in the org for almost 25 years, despite all the ridicule. Without that, I doubt I'd have even considered joining, so you are right - there would be no point being a jw without that "promise".

lowden

Yes Kitty it's definitely the Golden Ticket thing going on here.

Remove all the rewards and who the hell would give a damn?

It's the carrot, the trap, the means of control.

If all the JWs were told tomorrow that god had changed his mind, or the WTS had got it wrong..."No reward...sorry", then everybody would be boozin' and throwing their knickers off...if ya get my drift.

Peace

Lowden

5go

Same goes for all religions

Who would be a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. If it wasn't for heaven and hell?

Who would be a Hindu or Buddhist without karma?

sspo

That's the hope that drew most of us to the JW's. It made a lot sense since we enjoy life on earth and nobody wants to die.

Scripturally, looking back, in the new testament there is definetely the hope of going to heaven.

That's of course if you still beleive in the bible.

Liberty

The concept of being rewarded (bribed) by a Super Being into being His follower just didn't wash clean in my mind. This, along with other moral and logic problems of JWdom caused me to question my faith in Johoba and Watchtowerism. The concept of Free Will makes no sense if one is punished for making "the wrong choice" or is rewarded for making "the right choice". A Free Will by its very definition should mean that I can make a choice free of any outside pressure positive or negative, otherwise it isn't a "Free" choice at all. A Free Will choice to me is when a kind host offers you Scotch or Rum to drink or Vanilla or Chocolate ice cream to eat and doesn't care one way or the other which or niether you may choose. Only I can weigh the choice and decide if I want to experience one taste sensation or the other but the instant I am branded with a red hot poker or given a million dollars depending on the "rightness" of my choice it ceases to be a free choice.

If God was really capable of creating an entire Universe from nothing then He shouldn't need the worship/addoration of a bunch of shaved apes in a 3rd rate star system whom He must entice with rewards and punishments spelled out by a bunch of speculations/interpretations based on some ancient gibberish thrown together to form the Bible. Classic Christianity and Watchtowerism are both based on so many illogical thought combinations that it became impossible for me to believe in either at some point. If I am punished in any way for not doing what God wants for my own good then why not just create a mindset in me that forces me to do it anyway since any other alternative would be both cruel and redundent.

crankytoe

That's what keeps me going,

The wanderer

In answer to your question Kitty, there would have
to be some kind of expectation from God for doing
his will. Wouldn't you agree?

Otherwise, if the result is still going to be
death at the end, what good would there be in
doing the will of God?

Respectfully,

The Wanderer

jaguarbass

If there was no paradise hope, no promise of living forever or having your dead loved ones resurrected....would you still serve your god and follow the organization? Would you have ever began studying with the witnesses for that matter or stayed in the ''truth'' if you were raised in it?

No way. You make excellent points. I think some of those that are in it must believe. I think they are like zombies in a trance. Problably many of us are about various things. I think its the floride they put in the water.

Question for JW believers...or whoever wants to answer

Share this