Are you an Independent Thinker since Exiting JW's - Or Still a Follower ?

by flipper 30 Replies latest jw friends

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  flipper

  Had to work all night. Thanks for the great comments !

  THE FINGER- Well- You had to have an independent thought to consider your existence. So that's a positive !

  MOSHE- Good point. Dishonest journalism runs rampant and none are quite as dishonest as the WT society . " Evidently " is a word that the WT society uses often to indicate a sure thing. Ridiculous.

  SNOOZY- So you were at that same college test on the hat ? It was yellow ? LOL !

  TEC- It's good you use your quiet time and alone time to re-group your independent thoughts. As you say it will make you more confident once in a group setting to express yourself. Good for you ! that's cool you are thinking independently.

  WHITE DOVE - That is good you express yourself with independent thinking. I mean , I've been wrong many a time also - but like you say we always learn something for sure.

  WTWIZARD- Very true what you say. With racial inequality's, prejudices against gay marriages, medical issues, politics & propaganda - I mean it takes a strong independent thinking mind to HAVE an opinion and stand behind it these days. So it definitely pays to have our own minds and think for ourselves.

  LEPRECHAUN- It is very true that the WT society tried to ALWAYS control our thinking and TELL us how we should feel, what we should think, or how we should act ! We were clones of each other - mental Zombies while in the Jehovah's Witness cult. But freedom is sweet now , isn't it ?

  THE GLADIATOR- That is pretty funny. You are an independent thinker- but have to check with your superiors first ? LOL ! I'm glad your superiors LET you think independently ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  flipper

  Wanted to bump this up in case some mssed it and wanted to comment
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  ziddina

  No, Snoozy, it was THIS guy...

  Zid
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  flipper

  ZIDDINA- Yeah ! That was the red hat guy ! LOL ! Slippery devil. Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  Terry

  Thinking for yourself is alot like lifting yourself by your own bootstraps.

  If you are autonomous enough to sort through peer pressure, societal norms, political ethos, expert opinions and your own upbringing with just enough skepticism to balance the dissonance between what you wish were true and what likely is true....well, you must be some kind of demi-god.

  You need a gimmick; a deus ex machina or a mcguffin to make it work.

  What most of us do is simply start believing we are independant and start defending against anybody who will disagree with us.

  Who would know the difference anyway?
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  AllTimeJeff

  Two independent thinkers can and often will disagree over seemingly simple and potentially trivial things.

  Independent thinking in of itself isn't a virtue. It can save oneself from the dangers of group think religions and cults.

  Independent thinking imo is only valuable if it is coupled with intellectual and emotional honesty. Thats a difficult line to walk across I suppose, but I don't see how it can be any other way.
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  flipper

  TERRY- Good points you make. Even as a JW teenager in the 1970's I was an independent thinker who aside from a few decent non-witness buddy's who I played tennis with- basically stuck to myself at High school, not a real social butterfly. Yet confident in my individuality anyway.

  I felt the JW cult and WT society repressed my individuality for years and I kept some of that independent spirit with me , albeit somewhat hidden by listening to introspective rock music with deep lyrics and reading lots of books on psychology ; as well as keeping up with the JW Watchtowers and Awakes ! LOL ! So - I guess my gimmick- as you phrased it was to keep my independence somewhat hidden from others as I proved to myself over the years that the JW " generation " doctrine and everything else they taught was BS ! Didn't exit until 2003 out of fear of reprisal and consequences by my big JW family- but basically it's been fine so far for the most part. Don't consider myself a " demi-god " just a normal guy who wants to think and be free.

  ALLTIMEJEFF- I agree with you. Intellectual and emotional honesty need to be coupled with independence - otherwise it's useless and shallow. I have learned since exiting the witnesses over 6 years ago to allow everybody their opinion. I can agree, or disagree with them - but it doesn't define me as a person good or bad or define them as a person good or bad- they are JUST opinions. Like a rear end- everyone has one. I try to open my mind to others views and respect the dignity of where people are coming from. There are lots of world views
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  OnTheWayOut

  He also addresses the issue of how " group mentality " or peer pressure can influence seemingly " normal " people to totally ignore reality and allow a " group " of people to coerce them into believing an untruth.

  I do visit this website that has a wee bit of group mentality, but that mentality is not encouraging untruth but rather the seeking of real truth.

  Many fundamentalists make a similar claim as that of the WTS that reading only anti-Bible or pro-evolution and pro-atheist is like group mentality insisting that readers say and believe the red hat was yellow. Of course, there are some on the other side who say that feeding a pro-Bible or pro-creation mind with only reading that supports the same is also just as bad. We have to be unafraid to look at all things. I may not read another book by Lee Strobel because I know what to expect and a Christian may not read another book by Richard Dawkins because they know what to expect. Still, they should not be so closed-minded as to think that people who believe certain things are "stupid." We have learned that intelligence has very little to do with all of it.

  As JW's we never HAD to think independently- the WT society did it for us. In fact they CRITICIZED any one who thought on their own independently.

  It does make sense that they want to "belong" to the group. That's how they indoctrinate new members.
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  flipper

  OTWO- Very true what you say. I like your statement, " We have to be unafraid to look at all things. " Access to information is vital in seeking knowledge from a variety of sources. And like you said keep an open mind. Just because someone differs from what our perspective is doesn't make them wrong or stupid- very true, just different takes
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  jaguarbass

  I dont know what to think anymore.

  everybook I read, every idea and concept I examine all crumble under scrutiny.