by oompa 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I don't think it really matters!!
As all i know is people like you and me, sorry if i presume here, really tried our best sincerely,
i found that i couldnt stand to be among some of these lunatics anymore.
after all is said and done, i still believe there is a God who will reward those who have tried their best.
death pretty much means absence of life per definition...
Even now after leaving the JW's, I still feel that the dead are conscious of nothing. But then again..down deep, I can't help but to wonder if our souls really do go to heaven or not? I look at my grandparents as an example. When living, they were absolute soul mates. They were lost without each other. I've always aspired to have a relationship like theirs. When my grandfather passed, and I witnessed the deep sorrow my grandmother had, and then when she passed, I can't help but to hope that they were reunited. It just doesn't seem like death is just the end for us???? I'm confused!?!?!?! So I guess I don't know what I believe!
We see birth and death all the time, but exactly what is "life" anyway? Is it the opposite of death or is "birth" the opposite of death? Perhaps there is no opposite of life, only changing forms of it. When you extract of the kernel of what you are from what you think you are, can it have an opposite?
What happens when we die? Hmmm no clue. I would like to think that their is a parallel universe / a spiritual one - what one does there - return from where you came? energy? God? **shrug** I feel we will go on but in a different form, I don't think death is the end, it's the beginning of a different journey.
The truth is (?) we can believe in what we like but none of us has any proof!
Ian
Ive been thinking about this a lot. I think it is because I have lost a couple of family member since leaving the org.
I cant help but feel they are still around somewhere......... " heaven "??? I dont know but as someone who has NEVER believed in hell, im starting to really hope there is not one !!!!
I dont mind the idea of non existence................but the hell thing really bothers me.
(((((((Vitty)))))))):
I dont mind the idea of non existence................but the hell thing really bothers me.
I shouldn't worry about hell if I were you. If there is one you'll be too busy shaking hands with people you know to bother about the heat!
Ian
I could tell you, but then I would blow my cover as a mere mortal.
I was raised a JW and, similiar to Oompa, I was conditioned that I and my sister and mom "may never die." The Big-A was supposed to come before I finished high school. Now, no longer a JW, for the first time I had to consider my own and my family's mortality. Sometimes, when I'm feeling ill or tired, I can imagine the relief of just going to sleep forever. Other times, when I'm energetic and involved in something that makes me happy, I'm sad to think that life has a time limit. I'm not convinced that there is any kind of existence after death. So far I've resigned myself to think that it's a non-existence like before I was born.
One important thing that has changed since I left the JWs, though, is that I try to be "good" to others now in practical ways, ways that will help them out at the present time, not by preaching some glorious future under the hazy concept of 'the Kingdom.' So I guess my beliefs have changed to a sort of present-day karma thing--help others now, and it will come back to you now--which I feel is basically the 'Golden Rule' that Jesus taught.
