what did you do after leaving or separating from JW's in regards to religion?

kriptonian7

I have been struggling to find my place. I still consider my self Christian...but the more i have been learning about my old faith, its been making me feel like i need to find something else that makes sense to me.

I know im not aethiest. I have always felt that there was a higher power out there.

Agnostic? maybe the closest that i am leaning towards or deitist i think it called. Bible teachings (or stories) are starting to hold less water for me the older i get. Things i have been reading have really made me think about where i am going with what faith i have.

EX: I have begun to dought the existence of Jesus, or at least the story that we all have had pounded into us forever. Maybe its just the shock factor from the info I have been intaking about how his whole life seems to be a retelling of previous prophets or deities and how it all revolves around the sun and its cycles. This has really thrown me especially since i have been trying to be logical with my beleifs...

What direction did some of you go? Christian, buddhist, agnostic, jewish?

Im very curious.

blondie

I think it is good to first carefully examine what you thought you believed as a jw. Examine the bible from a non-jw viewpoint, even non-religious. Do not get involved with a group just because what they teach is non-jw. Give yourself permission not to feel you have to join any group to be spiritually inclined.

SallySue

I became a born again Christian after many years of soul searching. Now, even after many more years (more than 35), I have made the journey home and I am a Roman Catholic.

Finally-Free

I made it a point to avoid any religious activity for 2 years. That included reading the bible or other religious books. I wanted to make sure any residue JW ideas were gone so that I could read without having any preconceived ideas. Since then I've studied as I pleased, and sometimes not at all. I won't allow any person or group to stand over my shoulder and tell me how things are to be interpreted. I have no obligation to any church or belief system. I'll never allow anyone to police my thoughts again.

W

peacedog

After getting out I felt I 'owed it to myself' to give the bible and Christianity another chance. I bought a non-JW bible, realized it made much more sense than the NWT, realized that it probably did teach traditional Christian doctrine: Jesus is God, man has a soul/spirit element, etc, etc. After reaching my own conclusions about what the bible said, I found a church that taught what I believed and I attended there for a few years.

But as time goes by, I find myself more and more doubting the validity of the bible (for various reasons) and see my beliefs moving more into the realm of agnostism. I do believe in a higher power of some sort but I believe it more likely that said higher power doesn't give a rats ass about us earthlings. If he/she/it did, why all the suffering? I wouldn't allow my cat or dog to suffer the way people suffer in this world, and yet the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God of the bible, the "God of love" allows it...

kriptonian7

I made it a point to avoid any religious activity for 2 years. That included reading the bible or other religious books. I wanted to make sure any residue JW ideas were gone so that I could read without having any preconceived ideas. Since then I've studied as I pleased, and sometimes not at all. I won't allow any person or group to stand over my shoulder and tell me how things are to be interpreted. I have no obligation to any church or belief system. I'll never allow anyone to police my thoughts again.

Wow i cant even remember the last time i even held a bible. but your thoughts convey my feelings exactly...

lancelink

I'm in the same boat right now, trying to sort out what i believe vs what religion teaches

finallysomepride

Nothing, don't believe in religion, JWs that was enough, born into it but never was spiritual minded, and never will be.

SirNose586

I think the safest thing to do now for me is to not jump into another religion. I like returning to essentially how I felt as a little kid--I never felt the concept of god, and never understood it on an emotional level. It was easy to go along because as long as you knew how to follow the rules, you were ok. Real emotional spirituality never came close to the hall. What I do feels good, so I'll run with that.

designs

Its an education attending different Church services, some you will like and others you won't. They come in all flavors, from the serene and inspirational to the shocking. Its a journey, take your time.

what did you do after leaving or separating from JW's in regards to religion?

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