Survey: Jehovah's Witnesses pray the most nationally

by Gayle 17 Replies latest social current

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  mindmelda

  I used to spend hours praying, then I de-programmed and spent a whole year not praying, and now I pray once in a while and not usually out of fear, anxiety or desperation. I try to make anything I do spiritually be out of joy.

  I lived in a constant state of anxiety about Gods approval for SO LONG, sure I never had it. But, now I'm sort of between a few different thoughts on the matter.

  I figure if there is a God, he's nothing like the scary WTS version or we'd have all been extincted long ago. Their God is awfully fun of mass slaughter of all sorts of people he gets angry with, and he's looking for any excuse or deviation to wipe out 90% of the human race at any given time. And you're supposed to sleep peacefully every night with this in your head? I have to say, since I quit believing the scary JW mindf**k, I rarely have anxiety attacks anymore.

  Anxiety attacks are sometimes about your body trying to keep you safe from danger, perceived or not, you know? I should have listened to that smart self preserving part of my brain a lot sooner!

  Or I figure that maybe God is like my very open minded atheist friend says: "If there is a God, and I doubt there is in the anthropomorphic sense found in most religions, I don't think he hates. I prefer the Kabbalist view, that God is in each one of us and that each one of us is used as an extension of God to learn about the universe, we are all God and God is all of us."

  Or that if you do believe in the Biblical God, that he'd better be the one that saves you through faith even if you are a sinner, because we all definitely qualify as that, and it's OKAY if you're a sinner. What else can you be?

  But, I have to laugh at how ingrained this is...I sometimes find myself "talking" to Jehovah at times, especially when I'm upset, and then I realize my concept of God is not at all like what JWs believe, so why am I wasting my time invoking "their" god?The programming is that hard to shake after years and years away from it.

  Although, true, they do not have any patent on the name Jehovah, although if they could, they would and everyone else would have to pay them a dollar to use it. LOL
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  bam55

  I don't know who did the survey, but I do know that some of you are so miss informed about our belief in Jesus Christ.We believe that Jesus was in heaven with his father as they did the creation work and when Adam and eve sinned that God set a plan in place to redeem mankind namely all those that would. Then he sent his willing son down in the form of a child in the womb of a virgin maiden, lived a spotless sinless life and sacrificed himself for all mankind and that there is no way to get to the father except through him, and that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of God the father. The Watch Towers are simply indepth studies of different subjects according to the Bible. As far as who prays the most it doesn't matter about quantity as much as quality and making sure that our prayers are acceptable to God. The person above that has anxiety attacks when he thinks about the supposedly cruel God we serve, how about the whole of christiandom that believes that God is going to burn us in an eternal fiery hell and we will pray to die and can't? have any anxieties about that? Our first parents decided they wanted to rule themselves, Jehovah is simply allowing his disobediant children time to see that we need our heavenly father to guide us. You don't burn in a fiery hell when you die. I believe that anyone who will benefit in Jehovahs perfect world will be ressurected. By the way, we are the ones that don't believe in violence and war, now does that sound like a cruel God to you?
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  bam55

  The person above that stated that we were praying for millions to die, you are very mistaken. Why do you think we go out and knock on peoples doors? alot of times we are cursed at, insulted even have guns pulled on us and things thrown in our face. Do you really think that we are doing this because we want people to die? I have read the comments of so many former wittnesses on this site about being made to go knock on doors pushing the Watch Tower, You were not doing it out of love for the people and love for Jehovah. If I did not do it for those two reasons, you couldn't pay me a blue million to do it. No wonder you were miserable. Are you using it perhaps as an excuse because you wanted to do things your way and so you've decided to criticize us? Well never fear you seem to have plenty of support on this site and in the world. Remember, the world loves its own but it hates Jehovahs people because we are not of this worldly system.
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  OUTLAW

  Absolutely!!..Ever been to an assembly!.......Or..Public Talk..Or..Any other JW meeting..And..Someone who would publicly pray for frigg`n 10-15-20 minutes,or longer?????............."Jehovah,thank you for the time we have had for our assembly..Watch over Our brothers in other countrys who are being persecuted..Thank you for warm days,and bunnies..Thank you for broclli and spiniach....................Thank you for the hole in my bum..Now I won`t die.........................................LOL!!...OUTLAW
• 

  mindmelda

  I want to respond to the comments above about "praying that millions will die" and the rest of it.

  I do understand that Witnesses sincerely believe that the evangelizing work they do is life saving and it's difficult. I did it and encountered abuse for it myself, of couse. I also encountered abuse selling Avon door to door too...there are people who just do not like their privacy or property invaded for any reason.

  But, speaking about religion makes many uncomfortable and they do not share the Witness mindset about how valuable evangelizing is. They do not want to discuss either their beliefs or Witness beliefs. That is their choice. You certainly cannot expect non-believers to have the same attitude about people coming to their door to evangelize that you do as a Witness!

  But, there is no getting around these facts:

  When you pray for God's Kingdom to come, you are praying for the following events to happen, according to what Witnesses believe:

  1. You're praying for Armageddon to destroy the ungodly, which is everyone who does not accept the WTS teachings and adhere to them as the WTS and the GB is the only avenue through to worship God correctly, to give people the truth that they need to live forever.

  It was explained to me that if Jehovah did not destroy the wicked in heaven and on earth, paradise would be impossible as wicked humans and the demons would soon corrupt the new world as they have this one we live in now. So, even those who make it into the new world and for some reason do not want to live according to what is godly will be executed too. The WTS expects to be the basis of the new worlds theocratic government, so the way they live and teach now is pretty much what they expect the new world to be like in many ways, I'm sure.

  2. The vast majority of humankind, now and in recent past (since the WTS began to do their evangelizing work) have not either been Jehovah's Witnesses, heard of Jehovah's Witnesses, and have not responded favorably to what the WTS teaches as the truth about God from his Word. The number of Witnesses, if you count only those who are active evangelizers, as the WTS does, is only about 7 million people more or less, I believe.

  3. So, indeed, when you put those thoughts together, the wish for God's New Order seems to be "praying for the destruction of billions of human beings" when Armageddon comes, because there are billions alive now that are not Witnesses and probably will not ever be. This is eternal destruction, God's judgment from which there is no exception, simply because of the time period these people were born in.

  Those who have already died have paid the price of sin, death,they will only be judged according to the deeds they perform after their resurrection, regardless of what good or evil they did while alive. This is all in accord with WTS teachings, how they interpret the scriptures, no?

  Those who are living now are no doubt one of the most unfortunate group of humans to ever walk the face of the earth if just by the timing of their births they happen to be alive when Armageddon comes and like most humans alive today, do not accept the WTS message of salvation.
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  BurnTheShips

  I don't call most of what JWs do as prayer. Some, certainly. Besides, JW self righteousness would probably skew the survey in their favor. "I'm a JW of course I pray!" I pray more now than I did then.

  BTS
• 

  garybuss

  Anonymous reporter finds that Jehovah's Witnesses tape more "OUT OF ORDER" signs on working vending machines that any other religious group.
  
  
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  OUTLAW

  LOL@GaryBuss!!...................You are never going to let the bastards forget that one!..If it was my grandchild it happened to..I would be the same Frigg`n way!!...............LOL!!...OUTLAW