by vikesgirl101 26 Replies latest jw experiences
I feel no need for "religion", since I am aware that Man Created God.
Having said that, like that good 'Ol Boy, our fellow poster PunkofNice, Mrs Phizzy and I go two or three times a year, simply for the singing, we usually go to a Cathedral where the quality of the Choir is really high. But at Christmas time we go to one or two local Churches for the Carols.
We wouldn't waste our time with normal Services, however good. Life is too short.
In the control room of the 61" Kuiper telescope on Mount Bigelow, there is an I-beam in the center of the room, painted white, in the way of chairs and walking, unavoidable, inconvenient, and helping to hold up the great mass of the telescope on the second floor. Overhead, crossing right in front of this I-beam is a cable tray for various network cables. If you stand back and you squint, the two compose a cross. The I-beam dates to the construction during the Cold War when gobs of federal money were poured into a project to beat the Soviets. The cable tray dates to more recently, a development, innovation, improvement. I don't gamble that there's a Jesus the way they paint him, or a God the way anyone paints it, but I do gamble that there is a future of and for humanity in the heavens, in the future. Not an oil-and-canvass Revelations heavens, but a heavens of life and economic activity in the solar system, that grows up and out like tendrils from a well-tended blue marble.
One primary mission at the telescopes on Mt Bigelow, Mt Lemmon and nearby Kitt Peak is the unsleeping search for harzardous asteroids like what the local JWs in Chelyabinsk, Russia, may have had to come to grips with on Feb 15. Asteroids at the right time (long ago) deliver essential rare earth elements we need for iPhones and catalytic converters. The wrong asteroid at the wrong time (>1km, future) have the calculated power to cause damage eclipsing a human conception of Armageddon. The most fevered apocalypses of any Biblical writer could not match the KT boundary extinction. So, the DATA tells me that although there may be evils among men, and destructive men who beg the existence of an orchestrating Satan, the event that has a greater claim to hellfire, brimstone, Gehenna, Gomorrah, the earth opening up, or coming as a thief and the heavens passing away with a hissing noise, and other firey outcomes, is a thing we might be able to anticipate, and, perhaps avoid by carefully directing our own step.
Another substantial use of the telescopes on the mountain is to characterize the atmosphere, periods, mass and radius of extrasolar planets. Extrasolar planets are logically the first place to look to see if life has evolved elsewhere. If we do one day see conclusive signs of an oxygen-rich atmosphere, or other bio-markers, and the reserved, guarded concensus among the professionals (not me) is that it is a likely signature of life, that will be yet another dinosaur bone that Satan has buried to fool the gullible.
I went a long time with no religion of any kind. I presently have a kind of faith, I can point to a cross, I can point to firey demons (>1km, or less) and I can point to guardian angels (exoplanets in habitable zones).
Repetition for emphasis: If you are inextricably bound to a purpose, I think you 'have religion'.
Thanks for all of your insight. I am glad to know that I'm not alone. When I started to leave the Borg, I had started attending college. One of my Ethics and Philosophy classes said that religion was created to "control the masses". It's power over people has led me to believe that this logic might be true. It stuns me what people will do in the name of their Gods.
Religion is not faith... you can have faith without being in a religion
When it comes to that: Was Noah part of a religion? Was Abraham part of a religion, or Isaak or Jacob??
The "religion" that was called Israel started when Moses left Egypt together with all the Israelites... They did not HAVE a organised religion before that... only people with faith in (a) God
Up to around 1950 the Watchtower taught that ALL religion is a snare and a racket.
A search of Rutherfords books "Enemies" and "Religion" shows that the concept of "false religion" or "true religion" was a later invention.
I have avoided any and all religions since I left JWs 12 yrs ago. It really did cause me to have an extreme distaste for religion in general. But this past year I became a bit involved with a "new thought" church. The new thought philosophy can vary from church to church but is generally based on the laws of attraction and the idea that we are all connected, all ONE. So it's actually more of a philosophy than a religion, but it does provide me with a spiritual outlet and the opportunity to meet and socialize with like-minded people. But groups of people will be people, so i still feel the need to keep my walls up , as I am always on the guard against negative or judgemental people, and I have an aversion toward anyone who feels the need to control or have authority over other people. I suppose these are left over "issues" (ya think???) However it's nice to be aware of these things and to know the choices are mine. I do know that I will never make a committment of any kind to a church or religion again.
Welcome back.
In losing your religion, you are finding reality.
Hey vikesgirl,
Are you from MN? (Vikings fan?) I am. PM me if you want to see if we might have once been acquainted.
No Regrets
I think most ex JWs have a hard time trusting any religion after their experience with the dubs. It's not impossible to find a church if that's what you want, just go into it with your eyes open, know what you hope to get out of it, and research the church thoroughly before you commit. After 13 years I am attending a United Church of Christ, they are quite welcoming and have no set doctrine. I am agnostic, but I found I missed some things about belonging to a faith based community, so I will see how that works out.
When I was a dub, I had this idea that I had to conform to the organization, it should be hard, and I should make whatever sacrifices were needed (narrow the gate and cramped the road, yada, yada, yada). Now I feel that it should work for me, or what's the point?
It's OK not to have all the answers, it's OK to find a group where you fit in, not force your square peg self into a round hole church. Not going to church is fine too, you don't need a church to express your spirituality. I feel spiritually can be expressed in how you interact with others on a daily basis, or how you give back to your community.
Oops, posted to the wrong thread.
