Disrespect of the Bible

by brotherdan 127 Replies latest jw friends

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  brotherdan

  I am going to get a lot of flack for this post, but I need to do it. I want to preface this by saying that I don't judge any of you and I believe in the right of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, including your freedom to NOT practice one.

  However, I'm finding a trend among some Ex JWs here. Notice the word "some". I'm not trying to over generalize. But it seems to be a trend that when people leave the WTS, they also tend to leave their belief in God behind as well. I think this is actually VERY natural, and here is why. As a JW we are told that all religions are of the Devil and that they will all be destroyed. We are told that no one else holds firm to the Bible, and that JWs are the only ones that do. We are told that the "faithful slave" are the ONLY ones providing spiritual food. We are taught wrong doctrines that are directly contrary to what the Bible says. We are taught lies about who God is and who WE are.

  So then what happens when the carpet is ripped out from under someone and they discover that this organization has all been a lie? I think the trend is to throw EVERYTHING away. The baby with the bathwater. I think it's understandable. You get so disillusioned that you start questioning EVERYTHING you've ever believed. I think that this is a good thing and is necessary to discover critical thinking and logic that you never had as a JW. I've personally seen alot of XJWs that begin to question even the existence of God and conclude that if the WT was wrong then it all is wrong. They don't even care about him anymore. (Reminder: These are people from my personal experience. I'm not accusing anyone here)

  However, guys...there is truth out there. Everything is not a strange mystery that no one will understand. It takes more faith to believe in something like evolution than it does to have faith in the Bible. The leaps and bounds you have to assume to compensate for the lack of a God are more than what you have to accept from the Bible. This is very well documented in a book by Norman Geisler in "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist". It examines what science knows and doesn't and what the Bible can prove and what it can't and compares which requires more faith to believe.

  If Jesus does not exist and did not die for our sins, then we are helpless, hopeless, and lost for all time. I can't imagine feeling like that. There are too many things that the Bible got right that it could not have gotten right unless it was inspired for me to just throw it all away.They bring up supposed contradictions. They bring up the horrible things done in the name of religion to back up claims that there is no way to get close to God.

  There are many on here that will STRONGLY disagree with this post. And that is fine. What bothers me though is the disrespect for anything holy. Saying things like, "Jesus was trying to say "You're wrong assholes". Is there nothing holy anymore? This goes to Christians as well. I have the same feelings towards "Jesus Rocks!" signs.

  I just wish there was more respectful dialogue between ex witnesses instead of all the anger. We all have reason to be angry, but that doesn't help anything. It makes everything worse.

  Ok...I'm ready for everyone to be mad at me.
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  PSacramento

  Dude, most people don't respect themselves, much less a book.

  There are as many books in favour of the bible as there are against it, for every book showing how wrong the bible is, there is another showing how right, for every book showing the errors, there is a book explaning them and showing that it was nothing new and had been addressed decades ago.

  Just the way it is, don't get to hung up on this, most people only hear the side of the argument that they want to and that is convient for them at the time.
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  bohm

  Brotherdan: I have come to the conclusion that if one look upon the bible from a purely scientific POW, it does not have enough evidence in support of it.

  However, i respect the belief of people who come to other conclusions, eg. by personal experience with God/jesus/spirit or just another interpretation of the evidence.
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  brotherdan

  I can understand that bohm. The Bible IS a book of faith. So as much "proof" as you can have for it, there is still faith required. This is true even of science. A certain measure of faith is required. For example, if evolution is true then how to you get information from non information? Accepting the idea that matter can come from non matter, then how does information systems come from no info systems? There is faith that you must have in scientific theory.

  So with that being said, if one was to look at proof of a lack of God from a purely scientific point of view, there is not enough evidence to support it.
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  Titus

  Don't wish anything! Don't please anybody! Watch your own film!
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  NomadSoul

  I left because I started questioning the existence of a god, then everything else took its course. You will find that there are some atheist than do get defensive/anger and that is also understanble because there are christians that behave the same way.

  I've read the Bible just like the WTS told me to do. It actually did me a favor, reading the entire bible is what got me thinking about the god I was worshipping. It also helped that I really like the works of other philosophers, and of course my fascination with astronomy.

  I still think the bible is a wonderful book. It was a good read, but so are many other books.

  And about throwing it away, reminds me of the great words of Carl Sagan:

  I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.
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  superpunk

  Ex-JW Christian: I hate that the WTS has caused Ex-Dubs to throw the baby out with the bathwater!

  Ex-JW Atheist: We didn't abandon faith because of the WTS. We simply used the same critical thinking skills to evaluate the bible that we used to evaluate the JWs. Both fail upon critical examination.

  Rinse/repeat. You're not the first to start this thread and you won't be the last. Almost all ex-Dub-Christians are convinced that Ex-Dub-Atheists are simply rebelling or having an emotional reaction to their disillusionment with the WTS. It's always nonsense. Not all atheists are ex-Dubs. They come from all realms of belief.

  The good thing is that now we're all free to disagree, even sometimes angrily, on these topics and others.
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  PSacramento

  The bible is NOT about science, it isn't even really an accurate book of history, it is often biased in regards to the Hebrews, both good an bad, but that is typical of ancient writings.

  People need to remember that the OT, for example, was written 3000 years ago and no matter how much it has been copied, it was always copied by the "same" people who were not interested in "revising" antequated theories.
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  superpunk

  So with that being said, if one was to look at proof of a lack of God from a purely scientific point of view, there is not enough evidence to support it.

  "I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time."

  Isaac Asimov
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  ProdigalSon

  The problem with the Bible is that it is not, and never was, the "Word of God". Now that the Internet is here, neither it nor false religions can thrive the way they did, and it's only a matter of time before they are ALL exposed for being exactly what they are, man-made doctrines to keep people from recognizing their Divinity. It is the word of men, and it was their IDEAS about God. Although it does contain Divine knowledge, written in ALLEGORY. Basically, it is full of myths, none of the stories are original, and it was all laid out by a priesthood in order to control the masses. For instance, the Black Magician Ezra added in all the stuff about animal sacrifices. Now if God never commanded animal sacrifices, what does that do to the Christian theology of Jesus being the "sacrificial lamb"?

  Not to worry though brotherdan...Jesus DID exist, but his message was changed. Look to the Gnostic Gospels, and whatever else the ecumenical councils of Rome didn't allow into the "canon". If you want to know the truth, it's basically anything what would take away the power of the church, i.e., the Christ is an energy, not a man, and it is within you. Jesus Himself said "you are gods", and "if you have faith the size of a mustard grain, you will say to this mountain, 'transfer from here to there, and it will transfer, and nothing will be impossible for you". He also said, regarding his miracles, that "you will do things greater than these".

  I recommend a book called "Myths and Deceptions of the Bible" by Lloyd M. Graham, written in 1975. It pretty much exposes everything in the Bible as being what it is, an allegory, because if taken literally, it is absurd nonsense.

  Keep the faith!

  Prodigal Son