I've been lurking a month or two and letting out a comment here and there.A few weeks ago someone asked if I had formally introduced myself. I haven't as I have been busy.
Here I go>>>
I was born and raised a witness. I always found meetings borning and family studies so bad. It wasn't that I didn't believe it. It was that it was boring and I already had to spend time in meeting and service. The truth was I learned the 'truth' from reading along in the bible story book with the cassette tapes playing. Since the tapes start: "This is a book of true stories..." I belived it.
Forward 30 years. I had never gootten in serious trouble. Ohthere was masterbation and alcohol... But only Jehovah knew and he never sent the elders to me. LOL. I believed it still. In fact at 30 I was very convinced that the bible was 100% science and when God said let there be light it was the creation of Jesus (The truth and the light) and day two the creation of elements etc.
One day about 3 years a ago a guy at work who knew I was a witness asked: "Does Cain and Abel come before or after Jesus in the Bible?"
As funny as the question was I spent the time (as I gave him a ride home) giving him a summery of the bible. Creation,Fall of Man, Flood, Babel, Abraham, Patrarchs, Exodus, Judges, Kings, Exile, Restoration, Jesus, Spread of Chrintianity, Revelation etc...
Sounds good BUT as I was saying it I realized I didn't know the bible....
Oh I knew the plot. But not the words. For instance... 1 Chronicles is 1 /3 geneology.
So I decided to STUDY the bible not as the word of God. But as a book. (Simply to learn the deeper things)
I gathered a few books (careful not to pick religiously biased books. I wasn't going to read anything from apostate Christodom)
I finally got the book "How to Read the Bible"- James Kugel.
It presented the bible (hebrew Bible-Old Testament) as propganda of the ancient Israelites. Such as thought has NEVER come into my mind and at first I laughed. But as I read Mr. Kugel quoted verses showing the bible was not written by Moses (Genesis 12:6, 34:7 14:14, etc)
This was faith shattering. If this was true them.... creation was a myth (a good one though) and evolution was true!
I went on youtube that night searching for PROOF OF EVOLUTION. (Fossils did not cut it) I needed genetic proof. And there it was. Retroviruses giving us 100% proof. Then Chromosome #2. (By the way the brochures about creation skip all this)
I had to struggle for over a month with a terrifying concept. I WOULD DIE and that WOULD BE IT!
Evento this day it streaks terror into me. However since then I realized that this century has the potential for inventing computers capable of storing the memories of us so its a small relief.
However after this month I came back with a vengence! I did not like being LIED TOO! That being said it wasn't the bible's fault. The bible I came to have huge respect for as a work of man (his greatest work) and as such decided to figure out how accurate Kugel was.
Here are some shoking facts the WITCHTOWER is WELL AWARE OF but refuses to disclose:
1. Acheology DOES NOT prove the bible true!
Oh sure. There was a David, Jehu was real. Hezekiah was locked like a bid in a cage. Josiah's reforms match up. Baruch the scribe is real. Even Balaam was some sort or oracle. But from there we take a dive into proganda by Judeans.
For futher reading check out Isreal Finkelsteins books.
2. Science. Nope. Here is a terrible fact.
Humans can choke on their food. Most mammals cannot. Why? Decended lyrax of humans. Is this the work of a loving GOD? NOT
3. Jesus according to 90% of historians existed (Bill Maher and others can kisss their a$$) However when we look as how the historical Jesus lived we might be inclined to be a homeless bum.
That being said 2 years ago I decided to write a book, however YouTube seemed like a fun and safe place to let it off my chest. So I released the entire history of the origin of the texts of the bible on my channel HowTheBibleWasMade in the space of a year. Later i posted several videos about the dangers of the bible for children (not adults) and also many comedies.
As the project is now it needs revisal but that is next year...
I have not left Jehovah's Witnesses... My wife is still in and.... what can I do?... Yeah not much... Just wait...