by Briguy 23 Replies latest jw experiences
Welcome Briguy
It was when me and my husband moved to California and been in a few KHalls, we noticed the so called brotherly love wasn't there.
Then I saw the last 10 minutes of Dateline that exposed the WTBS for the pedophile coverups..........hypocrisy!
I believe like you, too much emphasis on an organizaiton then on God himself.
Codeblue
"making your watchtower looked intensively studied"
boy that strikes home - I also was very proud of how thoroughly my bible was annotated - in fact when I faded and eventually ran into someone from the hall, she didn't ask about me, she just asked what happened to my bible. I had fun telling her I donated everything to a thrift store. I cringe now when I think about what a goody-two-shoes I was when I was a young JW.
now I know why I never went back
nvrgnbk is a good thing! :-)
Welcome Briguy! Congratulations on seeing the light.
We're glad to have you and look forward to hearing more from you.
Welcome Briguy.
I stopped calling it the 'TRUTH' when I realised that I was lost and Jesus saved me.
Another case of "lack of love" for the ones who need it.
Welcome to the ranks of the AWOKEN.
Briguy
Follow up "Crisis of Conscience" by reading Ray Franz's book "In Search of Christian Freedom." It is a matter as noted of "finding a proper balance between freedom and responsibility" that faces every serious Christian. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is searching for answers.
What a nice post Briguy. I am so happy for you that your wife agrees with you on leaving. Good luck now you can worship God, instead of a publishing company. Glad you are here with us, please give our regards to your wife.
Leslie
Briguy
I think you've got the best perspective of all - your own!
If you stop and think about the history of Christianity you'll see your life reflected in it.
1.Somebody asserts a huge and unprovable assertion that offers big rewards.
2.An organization forms to promote it.
3.Millions of people invest their time, energy, belief and very lives to reach the reward.
4.The organization constantly violates the trust of those who support it
5.A crisis of faith and conscience create a showdown
6.The individual breaks away and creates a shadow of the organization within themselves.
Martin Luther broke with the Church and invented SOLA SCRIPTURA. The individual believer was said to have a one on one standing with god APART FROM a formal institution of interpretive majesterium.
When Jehovah's Witnesses find themselves at a crisis with the Governing Body and its power to "feed" us "food at the proper time" the alternative recourse is twofold.
A.Become our own "faithful and wise servant" feeding ourselves "food at the proper time".
or
B.See how futile the entire structure of belief is and how phantasmagoric the rewards.
Group A: merely jumps into another belief system.
Group B :gets on with their life and takes individual responsiblity for a life well lived in the here and now.
GROUP A: continues to invest in pyramid schemes which can only (possibly??) payoff once they are dead.
GROUP B: invests and reaps rewards in the real world.
We all go through this.
How each of us regards the choices determines what kind of life we have AFTER leaving the JW organization.
Faith is the unprovable taken to the extreme of behavior.
Reality is cause and effect in the here and now. How we adjust is our measure of sanity.
(From My Biography:)
The world is filled with sincere people who have deep convictions about things. The depth of their convictions and the strength of their belief has enthusiasm behind it and a persuasive contagion. But, whether such beliefs center on UFO kidnappings, Bigfoot sightings, JFK conspiracies or ordinary superstitions about walking under ladders, the truth of the matter has to connect with facts. Facts require an honest and open examination of genuine balance. Pros and Cons. But, when religion is involved such an examination is elusive. The Bible, for example, contains little that is "testable" in the usual scientific sense.
