Pride and prejudice abound in the Watchtower religion.
I go to the assemblies and it becomes very clear that the speakers are so proud of the fact that their religion is the one true religion and that they are so much better than the other churches out there. The amount of pride I heard coming from the platform is astounding. Astounding still is the fact that they cannot see it themselves and at one point in time, I could not see it either. Being awake really opens your eyes to see things you could not see before and it has taught me a lot about my own beliefs and the way I use to view others who did not share them.
This level of pride really blinds the believer in many ways. But to be fair, I want to make sure there are no blinders on my own eyes. My wife says that I only come here to hear what I want to hear. It is true that members here, like myself, tend to filter things even to the point of not opening threads that we believe are not important to us. However, with so many atheists here and the fact that practically no one here sees any merit in the Christian belief system, I hardly see this forum as a place where I can get my ego stroked. Quite the opposite, actually, as it made me really examine my own faith to see if we are any better than the witnesses we criticize. Sadly, I've learned that in the worst possible ways, we aren't and sometimes I wonder if Christianity is really everything it is cracked up to be.
That does not bother me as much as the fact that my wife thinks that I turned my back on her religion simply because I want to do whatever I want without remorse. What an absurd statement and what a way to trivialize everything I've done when searching for what really is or is not true.
I suppose to a Jehovah's Witness, it is not possible to deny the religion for any good reason. Something must be wrong with you to learn the truth and then deny it. One reason why I like this board is because I can actually understand to a degree what former JW's must be dealing with from their JW relatives. While I was never a witness myself, their thinking affected me to the point to where I was seriously considering becoming a part of this religion. Now, I am no longer meek and teachable.
If I have blinders on, please help me lift them so I can see the truth. But bashing my character when I made a sincere effort to find the so called one true religion for myself is just a tactic to deflect the conversation from considering the facts to simply considering the source. MIND OFF!!! Not to mention that it is also offensive and somewhat hurtful to know that my wife thinks I am vain and shallow to think that all I want is to satisfy my vain interests above doing what is right (whatever that seems to be). Sadly, I can think of times when I use to do something like this to others too back when I was soooo convinced that I knew I had the right beliefs. What a fool I was.
Sometimes, I think we go through life seeking the approval of others. We actually define ourselves according to what others think of us. Seems crazy but I know that there is a saying that says, "It is not what we think of ourselves but what others think of us that defines our character." At least, I think that is how it goes. But what if those people who we are trying to please are wrong in some way? Assuming we can define what wrong really means.