LOL. That's good FF.
BTS
ExJWs either BAs or atheists -- do you agree?
by parakeet 32 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
passwordprotected
I think it's worth pointing out that Baptists and any other evangelical Christian group would term themselves 'born again'.
If a Christian group does not practice infant baptism, then the members of that group are usually 'born again'. Being born again just means you've repented of your sins and accepted the gift of life from Jesus sacrifice and probably been baptised - the 'believer's baptism'. It's not a religion or religious group as such.
-
passwordprotected
It's my opinion that on JWD - certainly at the moment - there's a movement to examine and openly criticise the decisions of those who've chosen to leave the WTS. I'm not sure if this level of examination - and, at times, criticism - is coming more from those who still have one foot in the Org (i.e. are fading) or not.
But here's the thing. If you've been raised as a JW and you sincerely believed that way of life/type of worship was the only one accepted by your Creator (and I'm going on the assumption that you believed in God), then finding it out wasn't comes as a bit of a shock...
I'm basing my comments on my experience, that of my wife and of 3 other JWs who have left the Org locally. For us, when we came out, our faith in God was still intact. In my case, it was even stronger; I didn't have a 'relationship with Jehovah' when I was in the Org. I've looked back over my public talk notes and I spent a surprising amount of time talking about Jesus. Gail says I gave an instruction talk one time last year on the subject of the book of John and I talked about "grace" and what that means ("grace" was referred to in the reference material, I'd never heard nor understood it before). She said so many people mentioned to her afterwards how much they enjoyed that talk. One sister was in tears during it. Was I already a 'born again' trapped inside a Jehovah's Witness body? As I was leaving I started to come into a relationship with God. To some here that may be ridiculous, but frankly, I don't care.
The WTS's religion is structured in such a way that God isn't actually in the equation. It's all about 'Jehovah', a word which most JWs mentally apply to God but in their heart know actually applies to the "faithful and discreet slave", 'God's channel of communication'. The teachings of 'Jehovah' or the FDS heavily include attacking, looking for fault in and opposing every other religion on earth, must mostly Christian denominations. That doesn't include the WTS statutory denial of Christ.
So, what does a JW do when they mentally awaken to the real identity of the WTS?
They're faced with two options; if they've never really had a relationship with God, if their whole 'spiritual experience' was based around the reverance of a publishing company, but now their whole faith in that company - and by extension 'God' - has been shattered, it's fairly likely they'll reject the notion of the existance of God. God was invented by men for men, in their opinion.
The second option, in my opinion, is that they'll have an experience with God. Something will happen within them that causes them to take offense at the way the FDS has replaced Christ or how the Bible has been relegated to beneath WTS literature in the pecking order. They'll turn to the Bible and they'll hear God speaking to them through it. But where do they go? They've been taught that all other religious are demonic, especially those of Christendom. And Jesus? Don't even think about Jesus. Personally, I was helped by the testimonies of Chris Sanchez and David Reed. Those guys helped me enormously.
I've always believed in God, and while I didn't always have a relationship with him, I appreciated his existance and his qualities. When my faith in the WTS was shattered I started praying - for the first time - properly to God for help. My life was falling apart, remember. Everything I'd known and built up and protected from my childhood into adulthood was in pieces. The only things still intact where my marraige and my faith in God. I needed help from God.
My faith now isn't in a publishing company, my faith is squarely in Jesus. As a JW I was biting my sarcastic criticism of all things evangelical Christian, from their happy clapping singing to their ridiculously earnest love of the Bible. For God's sake, who did they think they were? I now sing those songs. I now read my Bible every single day before spending time in conversation with my Father in heaven, through Jesus.
A few streets from where I was raised, an evangelical church was constructed and I used to sneer as I passed it when I'd visit my parents. I now attend that church.
1 year ago I was a reasonably contented JW. I was serving as an elder. I had a good reputation in the congregation, although I wasn't a true 'company man'. My wife, my young son and daughter, all served loyally by my side. I would never have seen myself as a Jesus Christ loving Christian. Never. A frightened-of-Armageddon ex-JW, perhaps, but never a Christian.
So, either 'born agains' or atheists. Yes, I agree, that's probably the two biggest categories of ex-JWs. And both groups are as passionate and voluble as the other, as this post attests!