How were you saved from christianity and belief

by Satanus 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Satanus

  Post you testimony. This is sort of a tongue in cheek juxtaposition to christians' being saved from whatever to whatever. So anyways, on to my subject, how were you brought to atheism/nonbelief? I guess this doesn't belong under the belief section

  Me, w the help of ray franz' book, i found the wt to be hiding a lot of skeletons and not following the bible. I converted to christianity. Then after a couple of yrs, i found the bible to be false (w the help of evil alanf's book http://corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/part-1-general-description-of-flood.html ). That disovery left me bereft. Through much reading and some meditation, i reached my present state of belief/nonbelief. There is no yhwh, jesus? maybe, our spirits carry on after bodily death, reincarnation? probably, there are spirit and other dimensions, and of course, at the root of it all, 'the light', or as i call it in scientific discussions, 'the potential'.

  S
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  needproof

  Astro-Theology.
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  bernadette

  I'm making friends with uncertainty. Feel more grown up and responsible for myself.

  bernadette

  as to the how

  lots of reading. The authors who made a difference, Ray Franz, John Shelby Spong and Eckhart Tolle.
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  kid-A

  My moment of final epiphany was when I was about 15, sitting out on a deck by a river in Northern Ontario on a gorgeous sunny July day.

  I had spent the summer reading Nietzsche, Freud and a book of Zen Ko'ans, so I was ripe for self-revelation.....I just felt this intrinsic oneness with

  my environment, the crisp air, the sun, the water, nature and everything within it and I realized....this is it....this is real and this is ALL there is.

  At that point I realized I needed no foolish beliefs and fears of ancient sky-gods or mortal prophets claiming to speak on "divine" authority.

  Nature, biology, evolution and its endless mysteries.....this was and is the only 'divinity' I would ever need again.

  It was the deepest most profound sense of peace and relief I have ever known in a singular moment.....

  I wasborn the day that the gods died.
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  Mystla

  When I left the JW's I was mad. Mad at Jehovah. Infuriated with him for allowing me to believe falsehoods.

  It took awhile but gradually I began to realise that God hadn't decieved me, I had decieved myself. I believed the illusions because I wanted to.

  Then I began to understand that there was no higher power influencing my life. At this point I was able to look at the bible in a new way. Again, this took awhile, but I began to understand it as a book written by men for men. Specificly for men long dead, not for modern man at all.

  I still think that there is more to the universe than we understand. Call it a higher power or supernatural or divine.. or simply energy we don't have a grasp on yet.

  Most importantly for me... I'm ok not knowing all the answers.

  Misty
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  ithinkisee

  Actually, I felt tremendously at peace when I came to terms with the facts about (what I feel is) the lack of authenticity of the bible and it's canonicity - almost as if the universe was telling me, "Just let go. Things are out of your control. You can fight against the universe or you can go with it." When I sit and meditate each morning, I feel even closer to that general feeling of peace and acceptance of what is and is not in my power to accomplish. WHen I stop meditating - which I missed a couple weeks about a week ago - I start to lose that feeling of peace and acceptance.
  
  And I'm not joking when I say that I think in many ways my non-Christian outlook is likely very similar to what Christians feel:
  
  When George W Bush says that praying every day gives him a sense of inner peace, I believe him (for once). I have heard other Christians say that as well - that when they finally realized everything in this world is out of their control and they finally just looked up to the sky and prayed to Jesus to take over and give them strength. That moment when they "let go" is the time that they feel that peace and the "power of Christ" come over them and they felt they could take on ANYTHING. And, of course, when you couple that with a Judeo-Christian upbringing they turn to what they instinctively believe to be the deity to worship - in their case, Jesus Christ. Christians associate it with a person (that I feel) was made into God. Whereas I associate it with the universe - a universal power that isn't deeply obsessed with atonement, virginal attributes, and spilling blood to make up for other spilled blood..
  
  Many non-JW Christians - when faced with the crisis that eventually "revealed the Christ" to them, would not have come to an "accurate knowledge of Jesus" if they lived in Asia, or the Middle East, or many other places in the world. A Muslim gives credit to Allah when he beats alcoholism. A JW gives credit to Jehovah. And a Christian gives credit to Jesus Christ. Yet they all beat alcoholism. Whose god truly helped them and who just got some inner strength and determination and beat alcoholism? This is what I don't understand and no christian has ever even attempted to explain it. Instead they immediately go to "what the bible says", which is circular reasoning on a grand scale.
  
  Regardless, I don't really mind that a Christian is - a Christian. It IS a personal choice. (I';m saying that because that is the next argument i hear after the rest are exhausted) But I do have a problem when these Christian parents tell their kids that unless they accept Jesus as their lord and savior they will burn in hell. To put that sort of fear into a child about a concept that is completely unproven, and in fact most evidence points to the contrary - really angers me. And don't tell me that is not how CHristian children are raised, because I have heard it with my own ears.
  
  Does any of this make sense? Am I just rambling incoherently?
  
  -ithinkisee
• 

  justsomedude

  For me it was a long process. I was asssociated with the Witnesses since about age 3 and through the years I had a number of times where I'd run into one pesky doubt or another(though not as many as I probably should have had).

  In my very early 20s I was having a discussion with a friend about evolution vs creation and it hit me that I just didnt believe what I was saying. I realized right then that there was no god and I was living a huge lie. All the little warning signs hit all at once and I really had a moment of clarity..... This was immediately followed by a wave of panic that lasted for the next few months while I re-brainwashed myself.

  A few years later I found myself in a zealous frenzy. I decided to read all the publications, to read the bible cover to cover, etc, etc. The only problem was that the more I poured into it, the more doubts I had. I found the circular logic and stupidity in the mags and books absolutely horrible. I couldnt seriously deal with the bible because I found so many holes in it. I started to have fun at the meetings by making comments that had double meanings so I had something to keep me from going totally insane.

  Unfortunately it came nearly to that. I got to the point of a nervous breakdown, that is the inability to make a decision at all. I knew I had to leave, but the pressure was just too much and it finally came to a head one morning while I was at work.

  I had to leave the office and I did the only thing I could think of.. I called my oldest friend and spilled my guts. While that helped, it had a cost. He hasnt spoken to me since. While on the one hand Im appreciative that he was there to listen, on the other hand... Fuck him. All that really did was confirm that I really didnt have many true friends among Jehoovers happy people and I knew that there would be more losses to follow and there have been. Though I'm only inactive and not DF or DA, I am openly shunned by everyone I used to know. There are 3-4 people that I call friends among the witnesses that still talk to me....... Though Im certain they wont be far behind the rest if Im pushed to be more vocal about my situation.

  My salvation from the insanity of that cult was simply my own mind. I just had to convince myself that I was allowed to use it.

  Praise Science! Im Saved!
• 

  Satanus

  needproof

  Jesus the sungod. Is that the orthodox or reformed?

  bernadette

  Thanks. Good authors.

  kid-A

  I feel that oneness w nature too, when i focuss on it.

  Mystla

  Cool.

  ithinkisee

  I too think that they are the same, only, as you point out, there is pressure from the religious environment to fit experiences/transcedent feelings into the prevailing religious milieu.

  justsomedude

  It took a lot of courage to finally face all those doubts and let the brainwashing go. Your friend thought he was a friend. At least served one good, final purpose for you. Glory be to science.

  S