There is a book out there called "Don't Believe Everything You Think". Look it up on Amazon.com. It will be a big help,it's about how our thinking process works and how part of our thinking is faulty. Hope this is of a help to you.
Blueblades
Questions for the forum...I need some help understanding
by truckerich 17 Replies latest jw friends
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banished1
Truckerich, you said "I would love to go to church and pray to God but...."
Then you should go!
I went and I was so delighted and surprised and touched by the enthusiasm and real faith displayed by the members of the church I chose to visit. Two women were talking in a store where I worked about their church. They agreed it was so much fun to go. I asked which church they were talking about. They told me it was The Halleluia Happiness Church (or something like that) It sounded very upbeat. I asked if they talk about hell fire alot and explained I cannot stomach hell fire sermons. They assured me their pastor didnt talk much about hell fire. Mainly he spoke about positive thinking and loving your neighbor.
I went and enjoyed it immensely! Next I tried a Methodist Church and they were very upbeat too.
I think steering towards the universalist and unitarian churches is good advice. You need a positive happy experience. A Baptist friend from work told me I would not be interested in visiting her church because they do talk alot about being a sinner and being soiled and needing the blood of Jeeeeeesus to wipe it away. (Which may be true or not, but you might want to go first to a more upbeat positive sermon)
Dont let your Watchtower experience rob you and your son of a wholesome relationship with Jesus and God.
Take care,
Banished -
Carmel
You are in an excellent position right now and many here have given you good council. The independent search for reality (truth) is critical to your health and well being. The "true seeker" will, however, have to set aside a whole host of preconcieved notions, prejudices and conditioned responses. You will be buffeted from every side by those wanting to bring you into there particular camp (world view) and that's okay. Be patient, read, ask questions, be skeptical. Ultimately you will sort out reality from falsehood and no one can take that away from you.
carmel
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bebu
I agree with the others here. I think that more than getting plug-n-play answers from anyone (whether the WTS or us), you will have to exercise that muscle called your mind. I believe God gave us minds for a very good purpose. Gird yourself for a journey, and always be ready to re-evaluate and change course if you believe truth lies in a different direction. I have been finding God faithful, even when it has been dark...
Oh, and welcome to the board!!!
bebu
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choosing life
I think these are valid questions - only you can decide the answers that resonate with you. And those answers can change. What is important to you as a child changes as you grow. So does the answers to these questions.In fact, even the questions may change as you grow and experiece life.
But that doesn't mean you have to go it alone. There certainly is nothing wrong in attending different churches if you choose to. It might be a good way to meet new friends. Just make sure that you don't allow someone else to tell you what to believe again like the JWs have. I have found reading others thoughts through various books is very helpful. Gives you a fresh perspective sometimes.Do you like to read? A book I enjoyed was The Five People You Meet In Heaven,by Mitch Albom. It is a short book, but helps you to think about the big questions of life. And it is not really even about heaven, it's about life's lessons.
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truckerich
Words can't express the emotions that I am feeling at this moment. First of all I want to say thanks for all the replies. I thought as I was writing my post I would be opening a can of worms that I couldn't possibly handle, but everyone of you said things to me that made a lot of sense. I do plan to do some more research on how others have handle being out of the WTS. I must say that I have read some of the testimonies on Freeminds. org and other exjw sites some of them more than twice. I am sorry this is a short post, but I need to get ready for work and won't be back online later this evening.
Thanks again
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OnTheWayOut
Your questions are great, and open the greatest of all debates. People will say different answers, but in the end, you must decide how much to teach your child, then accept that he may differ from your teachings as he asks those same questions. It would be wonderful if this forum actually had THE ANSWER. Knowing that JW's don't have "the Truth" goes a long way in helping you. Also, don't confuse a child by calling God "Jehovah." I am confident that the Hebrews had a name for him (tetragrammaton) and we don't know it anymore.
As far as an opinion from others- go to church, don't go to church, trust the Bible, don't trust it, etc.- this too, you will have to be careful of so that it feels right for you. I will say that I am going to have a problem trusting any organized religion whatsoever. My opinion is biased from the start. Even as I give my opinion, I would say that most people could/should disregard it. I posted this answer to someone else's questions about Jesus:
Is there a God? Is the Bible inspired by God? Did Jesus exist? Why are there so many religions? I don't know. After deciding the WTS is full of crap, I have a hard time believing anything. I'm afraid to commit. But I have done some research-
I believe that Jesus was a real historical man, but many experts suggest things similar to THE DA VINCI CODE, that we only know what was passed on, but unlike that book, they think he was JUST A MAN. It is possible that the Gospels were written to make him the Messiah. Matthew's Gospel addresses how to make him born in a certain place, but be from another. The other gospels either offer a different beginning explanation or they just skip it. The same with other "prophecies." The writers deliberately said things happened as fulfillment. Perhaps Jesus was an expert on Jewish scriptures who said great wise things, rode a donkey to Jerusalem, proclaimed himself [son of] God. Do we need 4 Gospels that are almost but not quite in harmony? What of other gospels that may have been written that didn't line up with the other 4? Was Paul a guy like Joseph Rutherford or Jim Baker, or was he actually contacted by Christ?
If the first century through thrid century church re-wrote and edited, could we have a fanciful story that many believe as true. Virtually none of the scholars accepts the prophecy of the Old Testament. They think most [or all] was written after the fact. What if the gospels were not all written until everyone got their story straight- why wouldn't they be more in harmony if they were true?
I don't think the laws of the OT are from a God. They are from the priests and leaders, written mostly near and after the Babylonian captivity. The priests gained credibility for YHWH when Cyrus allowed them to go back and rebuild the temple with his blessings. Other Hebrews said that maybe these guys are right. Then they needed their laws to control the people. Complicated laws, they made it up to suit themselves. Did ANYONE ever FULLY OBEY those laws? I doubt it. The laws of the OT are not from a loving God- true.
Jesus really existed and he got a lot of people excited enough to start a new religion because the priests were losing their grip at that time. There were tons of Messiahs around the area. Most were discovered to be false. Jesus died, others made him what he is.
ALL THAT I SAY, I KINDA SORTA BELIEVE. I don't really know either, perhaps the fundamental Christians are right.
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LtCmd.Lore
PLEASE, do yourself a favor, and don't ignore the possibility that god does not exist. If you decide that he does exist, that's totally up to you, and I understand perfectly. But don't brush it off simply because you don't like the alternative.
I'm an atheist and, contrary to popular theistic opinion, I'm perfectly happy with that. It means that I don't have to wonder if I have the whole truth or not. (Meaning I don't have the whole truth, but nobody/nothing is going to burn me for all eternity for it.) And for me, the truth is always getting more and more clear, every time a scientist discovers something new, my knowledge about the universe makes more sense.
However, I do understand what it's like to think you'll live forever, and I can't offer you anything like that. But maybe the bible can't either...
LtCmd.Lore