We're not wrong, right?.............

by flower 32 Replies latest jw friends

  • Frenchy
    Frenchy

    Flower: A lot of us have been through what you are experiencing, hon. It's part of the process for a lot of us who were very in and very sincere about the whole thing.

    The question you ask cannot be answered by anyone but you. You alone should decide what it is that you will do. I know it's difficult but it's necessary. Up until now someone else has been doing your thinking for you and like unused muscles that are suddenly flexed, there is some pain when the intellect is called upon to make decisions on its own.

    Here is something that helped me. In the end we all stand alone before the throne of judgment, we stand before God for what we did and didn't do and there is no one that can come between us. That means that our life is our responsibility, we alone have to account for it. Suppose we made a mistake? So what? God knows that we will make mistakes, it will be our mistakes. The Society has, by its own reluctant semi-admission, made plenty of mistakes, some of their mistakes have cause untold harm and even death. Have you done anything on that scale? I don't think so. So why would God allow the Society to make mistakes and not you?

    God will not punish you for honest mistakes. He judges not so much works but the heart. Consider this warning from Jesus: "But whoever stumbles one of these little ones who put faith in me, it is more beneficial for him to have hung around his neck a millstone such as is turned by an ass and to be sunk in the wide, open sea." --Matt 18:6 NWT. THAT is what we have to worry about, stumbling and misleading OTHERS. Jesus did not say, "woe to whoever makes a mistake!"

    You are doing the right thing to question your faith. You will eventually make a decision based on that investigation. Pray to God and allow him to guide you...mind you I said guide and not choose for you. Yes, that's right, not even God will give you that answer outright so certainly no human should presume to do so.

    Hang in there, sis. You'll be fine.

  • ARoarer
    ARoarer

    Flower, what you are feeling is so much like what many here have gone through after leaving. Personal research has been like an anchor for me to have seen that the truth, I believed according to WT publications was not the truth. One particular instance was my research on the "glorious ones" spoken about in the NWT Bible the JW's use. I researched and questioned the WT teaching that they are thought of as the "elders". I looked up the scriptures in the Reasoning Book about Apostates, and then read them in other Bible versions like the King James Rainbow Study Bible, and the Easy Read Version of the Bible that is used by the Witnesses to study with Deaf. This is no a WT Bible though. I posted my findings on this DB and got many validating responses on my research. I believe the thread was entitled Glorious Ones and Twisting the Scriptures. Bottom line I learned that they are not the elders, they are the angels spoken about in Jude. Just this personal research alone helped me in further looking at the teachings I once believed were the truth. It is very empowering to be able to think critically on one's own and to begin to use the mind again. By the way did you ever see the old movie classic "The Time Machine" starring Yvette Mimmiewx?? That is what the WT version of the "great crowd" reminds me of now. Another analogy for me was that once I proved to myself that the Watchtower is not Jehovah's direct channel of the "truth" I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, when the curtain was pulled away and a little old man was doing all the spouting and threats. That is how I view it now, and being part of the real world and establishing meaningful relationships with "worldly" people has been a positive process in re-capturing my mind, heart, and spirit.

  • illuminati
    illuminati

    Satan comes and throws your whole world upside-down. Jesus comes and restores it... if you allow Him to...
    Whenever you feel that things are going so hectic that you cannot handle it anymore, just turn to Him and the Written Word. Take a deep breath and become calm, as you meditate on His love for you expressed through the Word. "If a ruler's anger rises against you, do not leave your post: calmness can lay great errors to rest." - Proverbs 10:4

    People can become so busy with the things of God, that they completely miss the God of things. Let the things of God go for a while, and focus on building a relationship with the God of things.
    People going to Jesus should receive more than enough spiritual rest, but it's when you become involved with religion, that you become spiritually weary.

    So when your world seems upside down and out of order, just turn to Jesus. (Turning to the JW organization will make you even MORE weary)
    Remember: Jesus says more than 4 times in the Bible that if you ask in His name for ANYthing, you will receive it (John 15:7). Ask for spiritual rest, ask for calmness, ask for the Truth... He will provide you with what you need.

    Sure, you could turn a blind eye... but remember that eternity is a very, VERY long time to be wrong...

    In Him,
    <><

  • illuminati
    illuminati

    Did I say "Proverbs" ??? heh!
    My sincere apologies. I meant to say "Ecclesiastes 10:4"

    <><

  • DIAMOND
    DIAMOND

    Before I began let me thank everyone for their post about this topic.

    Flower,
    I could have written your post word for word. I feel exactly the same way sometimes. Just this past weekend I was telling my wife all about the doubts I was having and I was just asking her a few questions about the Truth. Now this was on Saturday night. Sunday at the meeting the talk was about faith and not doubting Jehovahs org. Putting faith in the Faithful and Discreet Slave and on and on. You know the deal.

    Then after the meeting I go to a gathering with about 50 dubs. I know them all and have known them for more than 20 years. Everyone is so happy to see me and we talk and we laugh. Then I began to reason that its not that bad, I could do this for the rest of my life. I can compromise for myself and my family.

    Then today I sign on here and BOOM. I see your post and read the responses and once again I feel good about myself and the course I'm taking.
    So thank you Flower and everyone that responed. You've helped me greatly.

    I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!!
    DIAMOND

  • Waygooder64
    Waygooder64

    My wife and I have wrestled with that same thought at various times after we left the "truth",and the only thing that has convinced us we did the right thing is to think like a devout witness.What I`m getting at is this,you have to look at 'THE BIG PICTURE'.If you look at the basic beliefs of the Society it all boils down to one thing and one thing ONLY, if you are not a Jehovahs Witness in the time of the end you and your loved ones are going to die.Really think about that for a moment.There are roughly 6 billion people on this ball of dirt and according to the witnesses they are they only ones who have been chosen to live! When you look at the big picture, that to me just can`t be right.What about all the good people on earth who do so much for their fellow man? Mother Theresa? Ding!! Your out!! What about the heart surgeon who has dedicated his life to save people he doesnt even know? sorry mister,you were too busy to take our magazines on Saturday morning,too bad for you! What about the mentally handicapped people? What about all those volunteers who are at the WTC trying to find the victims so that the families can bury their loved ones and get the closure they need? There are alot of people on this earth who are complete wastes of skin, but by and large the majority are good folks stumbling along trying to be good parents, brothers, sisters etc.And in the big picture of the witnesses they don`t stand a chance...

  • Ivor Hope
    Ivor Hope

    Flower, like so many others here I've had those self same feelings and fears.

    I went to a Circuit Assembly for a day just to find out if I was really missing out on the real thing after all. After being challenged 5 times as I tried to get in and asked for my "badge" or "Blood Card" (neither of which I possessed) I was only allowed entrance after mentioning the name of a few elders that the attendant happened to also know! I wish they hadn't bothered. Once in there you begin to see the shallowness of what goes on. JW's talk about this great "love" the Witnesses have - but that's conditional. People who had looked up to and respected me during my 10 years as an elder found it difficult to even say hello. (At the time I had simply drifted but my wife had still been going to the occassional meeting).

    The talks were boring and misquoted scripture after scripture. The audience were more bothered about seeing who was there that they knew. The boys were looking for girls and vice versa. That one visit proved beyond any doubts I may have had, that Jehovahs Spirit was everywhere BUT there.

    I think our minds play little tricks on us. As time goes on the bad things that happen to us in life fade away in our memory so we can remember more of the nice things. It's as though we have this painting in our mind, full of flaws, that we keep touching up so we don't see the flaws anymore. But when take another look at the real things..... there are all those flaws plus many more.

    Thanks to everyone who's posted in this thread - great comments everyone of them that I will read more than once, I'm sure.

  • think41self
    think41self

    ((((Flower))))

    Everyone else here has already stated some good advice, so I will not be redundant. But I did want to reassure you that what you are feeling is perfectly normal. You are not used to thinking for yourself...yet! It's scary at first, but it gets better.

    Remember the movie The Matrix, which is such a great analogy to living in and leaving the borg. Once you've taken the RED PILL, there's no going back. Keep getting support and understanding, you'll be just fine.

    Tracy

  • mindfield
    mindfield

    Tracy! You're my new hero! I'm a die-hard fan of the Matrix, myself.

    Flower, don't worry. Continue your research. I was in a similar situation just a few weeks ago. I had just chatted with an elder, and at the end, I was ready to return. Happily, these guys helped me answer the issues he raised. You won't see me going back. I hope...:-/

    Because, as you may remember, "I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth."

    Aaaaahhh...

  • proplog2
    proplog2

    Flower:

    You have achieved the highest state religion can bring you to...doubt.

    At this point you can go for cheap closure by choosing one of two directions:

    1. Fanaticism. This is a matter of sublimating your doubts and forging ahead ... pioneering, attacking others doubts, numbing yourself with piety.

    2. Atheism. This is a matter of sublimating your doubts by thinking the question of God is completely settled and closed.

    Stay with your doubts. Doubts are natural. Live you life and have compassion for others because they too have trouble living with uncertainty and doubt. If you like JW's they're not a bad bunch of people - your social calendar will certainly be full. Just don't be a fanatical JW. Talk to disfellowshiped people (secretly). Take a blood transfusion if you will die without it. Count the time you talk to other JW's who have problems...that's witnessing too. Enjoy the assemblies and bring along a thermos of coffee to stay awake.

    If JW's are right God will understand. If JW's are wrong God will understand. If atheists are right it doesn't matter.

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