I just can't do this anymore (page 4)

sizemik

Awen, great post well written.

I recall only a year or two ago "clearing out the clutter" as well on religions.

Actually, it takes a fair bit of courage and honesty to get there.

And then there's the "great unknown" stretched out in it's place. I found it a bit scary at first.

But it's still better than living in deception . . . dead end streets.

Even if it's only meagre . . . at least what you do believe from here . . . can be more soundly based.

We don't need religion to tell us when we're good or not.

cantleave

Awen, my search led me to the conclusion that religions, and god itself, are all constructs of the human mind. This wasn't just me trying to be clever, it was the inlt conclusion I could come too!

I hope you find something you are comfortable with, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. What does matter is how we live our lives and what we contribute to society whilst we are here.

Robdar

It's okay not to know. Once you admit you don't know, the adventure can begin.

darthfader

Awen, well written post!

I too am a member of the "I don't know" group.

Although many things taught by Witnesses are way off base, I believe a few are reasonable. The point of Jah answering the greater questions of who has the right to rule man & would any be loyal out of love & appreciation. The time that such answers would take. God's view of time as opposed to ours. A resurrection of everyone unless you directly piss off God. So why no answers to prayers now? It's just not the time yet. The JWs (and a few on this site) believe the end near. I don't see it. Life continues on as it has for thousands of years. At some point I believe God will intervene & correct everything. In the meantime, Live Well......Enjoy Life.

dgp

Don't see this as the end of something, but as a firm rock upon which you can build. Now you know the truth.

LongHairGal

AWEN: I feel the same way you and PRODIGAL SON feel. I am finished with Christianity also. I would NEVER again get involved with religion! I wish you all the best.

donny

Very good post. When I left the borg 19 years ago I was sort of zoned out. I peoceeded to check out various religions but none of them really passed the smell test. It took a while but I finally had to admit that I just do not know if there is anything living beyond that which is physical.

I have not closed my mind to it completely, but I am not expecting anything to come along that will change my view.

Juan Viejo2

I just reread "Misquoting Jesus" by Bart Ehrman. Then I listened to it on CD while driving back and forth on a recent trip. I strongly recommend that everyone searching for the TRUTH of the Bible take time to read it for themselves. It's very enlightening.

While some of it is a little technical and can seem to be redundant at times, when you finish you fully understand why the Bible, as we know it today, can not be the "word of God," nor is it even an accurate account of the life of Christ. Ehrman never comes right out and blurts out those facts, but let's you come to that understanding on your own.

So why would any of us base our lives, our hopes, and decisions on a book that has no authority, no real basis on any facts, and has been changed thousands of times since the earliest manuscripts were copied nearly one hundred years AFTER Jesus lived?

Bible thumping religions like the JWs claim to base everything they do on the "inerrant words of the Bible." There are no such things as "inerrant words of the Bible" - PERIOD!!!

Some time ago I also read the "Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins. He very clearly explains how we know for sure that the earth is not 10K years old. Anyone ever heard of the Petrified Forest? I've been there a couple of times. There are petrified forests all over the world, some buried hundreds of feet below the surface. Those old rock-hard trees still show their rings and those rings are like a magnificent history book. They make it very clear that the earth is millions of years old, not 42,000 or so as the JWs teach.

AWEN, you've made some good points. Mankind tends to believe only what they are taught based on the limited understanding of their parents, their geography, and their time in history. "Truth" has nothing to do with what we believe. Environment and social pressures demand that we believe a certain way.

We live in a wonderful time. We have a massive library at our fingertips here on the Internet. We can read, watch, and almost feel the facts of life, science and history that appear on our screens. To discover the paths to real truth, all we need to do is open Google, Wikipedia, and other resources and then ask the questions we want answered. Then we can toss out all those answers and search again for new ways to come up with our own understanding of what is "truth" based on hard evidence.

Good on you all!

JV

I just can't do this anymore

Black Man