Why the sudden change of heart? (page 2)

jwfacts

It is common for people to return to cults. They miss the familiarity, the feeling of belonging and the feeling they are part of a larger cause.

freedom96

History seems to repeat itself, and I haven't seen anything to tell me that it is the end of anything.

end of the world .............you gotta get that bullshit thinking out of your head........before you are free from the Borg and can live a normal life like everyone else.......the expectation of dying of old age

Chalam

Some set up two absolute choices:

1) Either JWism s right.

2) Or there is no God, no spirit, no everlasting life, no hope, and no future.

BTS

My own opinion is that the choices are thus

1. JWism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Hinduism or anything other "ism" is right

2. Atheism is right (yet another "ism" so we could well put it in option 1!)

3. Jesus is THE way, THE truth and THE life

All the best,

Stephen

sir82

Some set up two absolute choices:

1) Either JWism s right.

2) Or there is no God, no spirit, no everlasting life, no hope, and no future.

That's the JW training. It's a corollary of "Where else can we go?"

Many many JWs come to the conclusion that #1 is false, but due to lack of critical thinking skills, can't see that #2 is not the only alternative.

ziddina

Hah! I think about the time period of 1810 - 1818! There was a MASSIVE earthquake in New Madrid, Missouri: http://hsv.com/genlintr/newmadrd/ ... The capitol of the United States was invaded and captured by a foreign nation (Britain, during the War of 1812) and that was only one of the conflicts going on at that time... Then the Brits were driven out of Washington D.C. by a combination of hurricane and tornadoes.... Mt. Tambora erupted within this time period, causing a 'global winter' that drove massive famines, especially in France, which helped trigger the French Revolution... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

I suspect that people living in that time period may have thought they were living in the "Time of the End" too... 'Course, all of that was just a sneeze of Planet Earth compared to: Deccan Lava flows; asteroid strike that brought the age of the dinosaurs to a close; eruption of Mt. Toba approx. 74,000 years ago which almost wiped out humanity at that time. I could keep going, but I'll spare you. Humanity tends to be VERY short-sighted about the historical overview; I was just musing today at the fact that I've never - NEVER - seen a city located intelligently by its founders - they ALWAYS start at the water line and build up from there - no one's EVER thought to locate the city's foundations up on a butte above the high-water mark!! No wonder there are so many 'flood' myths!! Zid

OUTLAW

Jehovah`s Witness`s only have 2 choices.....The Jehovah`s Witness Religion Cult.....OR..... SATAN!!.. ........LOL!!...OUTLAW

megs

Okay, was going more for the psychological conditioning aspect of things, but take it in whatever direction you'd like!

Narkissos

I have just read evergreen's post, I don't know who is the other megs refers to.

That reminded me of an episode of my life. I was baptised in 1972 at the age or 13, spent about a year preaching to everybody (including in school) as a very zealous young JW, then started questioning practically everything, coming to an almost atheist perspective. Stopped preaching, no longer identified myself as a JW in school, got interested in many other things including literature and politics. Still went to meetings though with my JW family.

Then one night at the KH I suddenly broke down into tears. I don't remember an external cause, just the overwhelming idea that I couldn't live without God. Neither a particular fear of judgement or a desire of "paradise" was consciously in my mind (it was pre-75 so the general expectation may have played unconsciously) -- just the conviction that I needed God and to me that meant "Jehovah". Looking back, I think the emotional pressure of leading a "double life" for a few months may have contributed to this.

So I confessed my recent drift and resolved to drown my "treacherous heart" in overzeal. To an extent that worked and took me to another trip of over a decade in the organisation, before I was able to face myself from a completely different perspective. In a sense I don't regret it: I was not completely ready to leave, and if in hindsight it was not intellectually honest it was emotionally honest at the time. That's about the feeling I get from evergreen's post (although he is probably not a teenager). There may be a lot more at stake, in the depth of everyone's psychological construction, than intellectual conviction about the truth of the "Truth".

Why the sudden change of heart?