i'm not going to try to push you either way, but i'll ask you to consider a few basic questions before making your decision: 1. do you value the association more than you value truth?--------- 2. when you left, did you only question some practices and beliefs or did you question the fundamental assumption that "god" has communicated with humans through the bible and continues to communicate through an organization?------------ 3. have you accepted the kool-aid that essentially says "you are morally obligated to accept our information as having come from god"?------- this last one is a doozy. it functions like a room whose doors open only from the outside. if you at some point made an emotional connection between accepting the "voice" of the society as having moral or spiritual authority, it's extremely difficult to see any other option than to obey them. (this by the way indicates that you are probably a very nice, "sheeplike" individual.) the problem is that if they were dead wrong you would have no way to see it. your psychological submission to their authority, still very much alive in your mind, would prevent you from realizing that you were incorrect.---------- try this (if you want): read numbers 31 and ask yourself, do i find it plausible that god would authorize this? if you do, you should realize that you're in serious psychological trouble. think about it: you'd be saying that it makes sense to you that god inspired moses to first order a genocide, then send the soldiers back to kill the women and children BUT to save the hot girls who were still virgins so that the soldiers could have some fun. you'd be saying that the idea that this passage came from MEN is not reasonable, and that it makes more sense to you that this passage came from a being OF HIGHER MORAL AUTHORITY. ----------- if you need more, read deuteronomy 13:6-13, where believers are told BY MOSES (allegedly directly from god - and remember that the law is the only part of the bible claimed to have been DIRECTLY authored by god) to EXECUTE those who question the beliefs - including the believer's wife, husband, child, friend, mother, father, etc. for NOT BELIEVING!!!! ask self: do i really believe that this age-old reinforcement technique (of killing those who question) is from our moral authority? i've ruled out the idea that this is from the men who were in charge?----- if you still need more, read exodus (which authorizes slavery, instructs believers on how to trick fellow believers into becoming slaves for life, and instructs on how to sell your daughter as a sex slave-- among other genocides and atrocities directly attributed to god).-------- if you still feel guilty for not feeling right with their beliefs, i'd suggest that you try (with the help of a good therapist) to figure out what it is that is so attractive about this set of beliefs that you're willing to bend reason to the extent that you are bending it. remember, according to exodus, jehovah killed millions of innocent egyptian babies to make a point to pharoah THAT HE KNEW PHAROAH WOULDN'T APPRECIATE ANYWAY. according to the watchtower, god did it to prove that he was stronger than the corresponding egyptian god of fertility. so the highest moral authority in the universe kills innocent babies to prove that he is stronger than the other (scripturally very real) gods. if you find this idea of morality appealing, either you're THAT morally screwed up OR (more likely) you're having trouble letting go of some part of the belief... please feel free to send me a message if you'd like to reason on this together. i'll make the time, but if you really want to go back i'll respect it.
