by Dean Fox 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Hello and welcome, Dean! What a great first post.
I believe that religion has claimed and taken far, FAR more lives than it has saved. Having said that, I do have my own Spiritual practices that resonate with me. My own personal knee jerk reaction to the word religion is to despise it, but as long as a religious practice encourages one to think and to love rather than forbidding it... I guess that would be a pretty good sign.
When it is used to impose guilt for being "born in sin", no.
When it is used to extort favors out of people in exchange for "deliverance", when God Himself is the one keeping us distressed so He can "deliver" us from it, no.
When it is used to make rules and "morals" that go against what is good for the individuals and/or society, no.
When it devalues the present life (setting up the stage for sacrificing one's life to doctrines, wasting one's life now, killing family members for stupid or no reasons, trivializes death, and impelling people to fly planes into buildings and blow up crowded night clubs and subways), no.
