Is it selfish to enjoy life?

by new hope and happiness 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jhine

  Just in the middle of reading Ecclesiastes and the writer ( maybe Solomon ) says in ch 9 vs7-10

  " Go , eat your food with gladness ,and drink your wine with a joyful heart , for it is now that God favours what you do . Always be clothed in white , and always anoint your head with oil . Enjoy life with your wife who you love , all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days . For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labour under the sun . Whatever your hand finds to do , do it with all your might , for in the grave where you are going , there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge or wisdom " NIV

  So you see it is practically obligatory to enjoy this life that you have been given .

  Jan
• 

  Xanthippe

  We were indoctrinated to believe that doing anything to make ourselves happy was selfish. Instead we had to spend our lives making Jehovah happy which meant supporting a printing company. Our minds were abused, this is not reality. Start by making yourself happy and you may find eventually you have a little energy left over to help someone else, but that might not be for a while yet so enjoy yourself. Don't let a crazy little cult dictate the rest of your life.
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  Phizzy

  Enjoying life is mandatory if you wish to live a good life. A good life is defined as one where you do the least possible harm and the most possible good.

  Anything less, even a pious refraining from enjoyment, is a wasted life.

  As a wise man, with a huge vocabulary said: "Do not listen to anchoritic nostrums", ..... yea, I had to look up the meaning too.
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  WTWizard

  What is selfish, in the derogatory sense, is joke-hova insisting on us being poor while still extorting money out of us. That thing wants us to work crap jobs, yet it wants money going into the Worldwide Damnation Fund. It is selfish for that thing to want us to abstain from sexuality. It is selfish for that thing to try forcing us to waste our lives while itself just loafs. And, if you believe the LIE-ble account in which joke-hova purposed "its chosen ones" to evict Gentile nations off their land just because they were not worshiping joke-hova and enslave those who were willing to concede, that was extremely selfish to have those "chosen people" living on this planet where Gentiles were here first, and evict or enslave such Gentiles. Better would have been for joke-hova to have created a planet just for "its chosen people" to live without evicting or enslaving anything or anyone else, and it could have saved both us Gentile nations and that people from cultural pollution from each other. But no, joke-hova just had to have all the nations enslaved, the ultimate selfishness.
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  new hope and happiness

  Good morning and thanks for the kind replys.

  I think that leaving the watchtower does create mood swings, because to leave did require an act od difiance,and anger of having been led to. The realisation that leaving requirs the rejection of frinds and family . But if you are thinking from my origional post i feel guilt then your very wide of the mark.

  So personally i dont feel it selfish to enjoy my life outside thae watchtower. I feel i have the whole world to myself, its absolutely wonderful and thats a very different story to selflishly dedicating my life to the watchtower. But i must admit it does get on my nerves sometimes having people i cared for giving such gratitude and obedince to something that is really so ungratifying and that takes personal identity away.

  But having said that i realise it would be a grave error not to have left, hypocritical and not true to myself. Now if i want to contribute to society its my choice and i can decide if i care enough about the rainforests ever shrinking girth, or what ever charity or course i wish to involve myself.

  Anyway if i dont contribute to making the world a cleaner healthier enviroment, i will certainly do the world less damage as a non witness, and my bank balance is better to.

  Bye for now and thanks again for the comments.
• 

  LongHairGal

  newhope:

  Well, if you listen to the JW religion it is selflish.

  You shouldn't be TOO happy. According to them, if you are happy you should feel guilty because you should always be doing "more", "more". In fact, I remember an elder years ago saying something along similar lines. Of course, if a new person started a "study" with the religion they would never admit this to them. In fact, they would say they are the "happiest people ever". But, my experience in the religion told me that is not the case and the whole thing is designed to have a person feeling constantly guilty.

  The whole thing is so masochistic it isn't even funny.... Once I walked away from the religion I felt so much freer and happier!

  Be glad you're out and enjoy your life.
• 

  new hope and happiness

  Thanks Longhairgirl, i am enjoying my new- found freedom,but i would like to this cautionary reminder of the perils of using my free time to antagonize the mrs.

  Hey have you seen my wife?

  She left me after a row.

  It was over a vacumn cleaner

  I said " whats wrong with a broom?"

  And she said something obscener.

  Oh please come back

  And i will buy you a new vacumn cleaner.
• 

  James Brown

  You should enjoy yourself, every minute of your life.

  And when you figure out how to do it.

  Watch out because you will piss off a lot of people around you.
• 

  bigmac

  eat the best food--drink the finest wine--and f*ck the prettiest women

  ----IF you can afford to
• 

  jgnat

  I would suggest that those who give their entire lives to a cause are being selfish in their own way:

  Those who love a cause are those who love the life which has to be led in order to serve it. - Simone Weil

  I think we are all happier with a healthy dose of hedonism thrown in for good measure. It's not EVERYTHING to live for; it pays to plan and play with the grandchildren too.