What drove you? Love or Fear? (page 2)

crapola

I was scared to death my whole life and so were my precious children. That is not the way I want to continue to live. Worshiping God should not be out of the fear of dying. And when a person really learns what the love of God is then the fear goes away. I feel so good now knowing that I don't have to be afraid ever again. That I am good enough and don't have to prove anything to anybody.God loves me for who I am, not for how many hours I spend in service or how many meetings I go to. I was so decieved. It really makes me mad!

applehippie

And yet for me it's more terrifying and unjust to think of souls being in Hell forever, tormented for eternity. The alternative of just anhilation in death in preferable.

Highlander

The fear of armageddon and the fear of being shunned were the only things that motivated me in the jw cult.

VanillaMocha73

Fear...

You say "attracted the schizophrenics, bipolar, etc" ... rather a case of the chicken / egg. Does it attract or cause?

Anytime you are desperately trying to please someone, so that you might live, you will make yourself crazy. I remember reading that "Probably you may be concealed" verse ... and hearing about how you have to be in the middle of the hay bale to survive.... Dreaming about surviving Armageddon, afraid that my pets wouldn't make it, .....

Serving from love removes the desire to do wrong ... but gives permission to fail because you are human and can get up again. Assurance of love in return from God.

moon84

Fear drove me to serve. I knew if I did not comply with my mom I would be beaten, have my hair grabbed, and forced into a dress. There was no point in arguing but when I was sick I would argue and that is when I would get beaten into going.

When I think about what drove my family into this way of life is my grandma suffers clinincal depression, my mom stayed because she can't think for herself and needs someone to tell her the next step (also lives off of making everyone happy but herself), and my dad grew up poor and abused and learned that he could not trust so he was paranoid. They already had disorders of some sort and the children that came out of this whole lifestyle became dysfunctional from years decades of JW teaching. So I believe my family stuck to this due to fear, lack of education, and some source of hope.

paul from cleveland

Fear

Igot2bme

Mostly fear for me.

wobble

Love for me, I love people and was happy to try to take the "truth" of God's Word to them.

This was always my perception of it, not the orgs, and I was happy to serve in the Congo. in menial tasks.

I had a love for the God I imagined, again not really the God of the Bible as presented by the WT, but as I thought a God of love must be.

I left because the GB had taken the place of Jesus, and I could no longer support idolatrous worship of the GB, which they shrilly demanded in each Watchtower, plus I could not find any support in scripture for their 1914 nonsense.

I never feared Big J, I saw no reason to, or the WT who I did not perceive as having the power to do me any harm.

captain

The thing is that the publications all say that we should have a "healthy fear" of displeasing God (and by extension the elders who are God's appoointed shepherds and judges in the congregation) but at the same time we should love him.

It was often likened by the fear a child has of displeasing a parent... however my parents would never have a third party discipline me on their behalf. And they wouldn't cut off all contact with my family and firends no matter how bad anything was that I did.

watersprout

I was 3 when my parents joined. With my parents it was fear that enticed them and kept them in.

I was kept in due to fear... Wow did i fear! My whole life was fearful...Being out of the borg makes you realize how much hold they had over you with negative emotions.

Maybe that's why this religion doesn't seem to work well on people with healthy minds and/or above average IQ's.

My SIL brother is in Mensa and a hard core dub elder...It makes me wonder why he never questioned it! I knew quite a few with a University degree and they were hardcore. I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence, i think they get you when you are vunerable and put their evil hooks in to drip feed you the kool aid.

Peace

What drove you? Love or Fear?

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