Can you choose what you believe?

by noonehome 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  noonehome

  I hear it all the time.

  People who decide it isn't the truth and leave are said to deep down know they're leaving the truth, choosing instead whatever ideology suits their imperfect desires. In the new DVD the little kid asks why people believe in evolution and the dad basically says people believe whatever they want. The actual issue is never actually addresed though: "did life evolve?" ...because if so the bible got that wrong. Those are big implications. I for one think the matter should be looked into regardless of the implications. Yet nothing is done to find an actual answer... other than filling your head with stuff that confirms what you want to believe: that the bible is infallible and Jehovah's Witnesses are God's only chosen organization aka the only way to be happy (...oh and maybe probably not be murdered and eaten by birds at the joyful time of Armageddon).

  I'm sure this has been discussed before but I think it's a major issue that guilts allot of people into staying. I know I feel guilty as hell for questioning and delving into facts, so it must work...if I leave because I don't believe it well that must be because I just want to pursue my own selfish desires and I'm rationalizing it... 'making excuses'.

  There's allot that could be said about the DVD but this is one major reasoning I've noticed time and again lately. Thoughts? Can you CHOOSE to believe something that is demonstratabley false? If so, is that true belief or is it delusion? It's almost like either way the concept of truth itself gets left out of the equation.
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  OneEyedJoe

  People choose to believe things that are demonstrably false all the time. The problem is that when the consequences of an idea (i.e. "this isn't the truth" to a JW) is too much to bear (it means they'll have to leave and be shunned, armageddon isn't comming, they're going to die in this system with no savings for retirement, etc, etc) it's a more pleasant thing to go on living in ignorance and push down the opposing evidence. At a certain point (the threshold is different for different folks) the evidence can force them to face facts and change belief. Unfortunately, the WT has done such a thorough job of controlling what information JWs are allowed to take in, the opposing facts don't get seen as much as they should and most keep going despite any doubts.
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  Giordano

  As a witness no.......... at least not openly.

  However the WTBTS has changed it's mind about so many essential doctrines so many times........ you'd be a fool not to have doubts.
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  problemaddict

  Noone home,

  Nice thoughts. I agree that the real question is never answered. it is assumed you muct be on one particular side of it. If the other half of the discussion is forbidden from even being CONSIDERED, as it is with JW's, then you will never get someone to think until they are already willing to be disobedient.
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  LisaRose

  It's an important point. The fact is that every Watchtower, every meeting and every publication confirms, over over, that there is only one way to look at things, the Watchtower way. It's not surprising than that many otherwise intelligent people stay stuck in the cult. It's a very difficult thing to wake someone up because they have been so deeply indoctrinated. You can see the walls go up the moment anything remotely controversial comes up in a conversation. I remember being that way myself. In fact many people leave the JWs, but are still brainwashed, they still can't ask the hard questions, they still can't think outside the Watchtower box. They often go back because they never really broke free.

  When you do manage to break fee, the whole world opens up. It's like being in color instead of black and white. People just don't get that you can't go back to believing in something once your eyes have been opened. It's like trying to pretend you still believe in the tooth fairy. You are not choosing anything really, you simply become aware of the facts and act accordingly.
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  wanderlust

  Good question. We have no control over where and to whom we are born, which influence the prevailing beliefs that we are exposed to growing up.

  People inside and outside of high control groups like WTBatShitcrazy find it difficult to challenge their old belief systems and change the way they think. An open mind is needed and a willingness to listen and not just “be right”.

  When you have been told your entire life not just what to believe, but that your beliefs are the only right ones to the exclusion of all others, it takes a great deal of energy to overcome. It’s like you have to rip yourself apart and put yourself back together again. The new you might become something that the old you wouldn’t even recognize, and that can be scary to a lot of folks. This requires a great deal of humility and courage.
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  transhuman68

  It’s a good question. Religion is an 'optional extra' in life- it's not necessary for our survival and there are no immediate consequences for choosing one religion or another, so people really don’t look at it objectively, preferring to go with what ‘feels right’, rather than what can be proved right by years of open-minded research and questioning.
  I guess many people stay in religions or join a different one because of the ‘feel-good’ factor- the rituals, the fellowship, and trusting in some higher intellect- whether that is the elders, a priest, or ‘god’- because feeling confident and motivated in life is very important. People will choose to more or less believe in their religion because the pay-off is there.
  Searching for actual facts, and sorting truth from myths, making decisions for yourself- that is a much different experience and requires a whole different mindset.
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  hybridous

  For a person committed to reason and rational thinking, I don't see how there's a choice about what to believe...
  
  It may be a delightful notion to suppose that the moon is made of delicious candy, but since plenty of evidence says it's not, what good is a 'belief' that evidence refutes?
  
  I simply can't believe that the moon is made of candy, I can't believe that 2 plus 2 is 5, and I can't believe the claims of the JW religion regarding their exclusive link to the Divine.
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  MadGiant

  Belief in belief is the notion that religious belief has positive benefits and should be fostered or tolerated, without the need to subscribe to the belief in question. This is commonly expressed in cases where people feel that religious belief brings comfort and moral guidance.

  If you are not accepting real life, you are in fact living in a fantasy. The question remains, for every parent who has to tell a child they have lost a pet, should I lie and say they are at a farm, or explain life and death and face their pain. Is the avoidance of pain worth the disinformation?

  Religious views come with an ugly side, which must equally be acknowledged. Consider the case on an individual who is convinced that their relatives or friends will spend an eternity burning in hell because they hold to the "wrong" religion.
  And just as religion can be used to motivate for good, it can be used to motivate people to go to war, slay neighbors, or impede various classes of people from access to equality.