by purrpurr 94 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Purr whined: " While I'm glad I found this site, it has also crumbled to bits everything I've believed in my whole life. I feel like the certainty, magic and wonder has gone out of my life. This has left a huge hole in my soul. Just what do I believe in now? Is there a god? I feel like I need god in my life, I just don't know where to find him anymore??? Help??"
By saying that, you never believed in anything but what men said. Try believing what GOD said.
Here is what Doug Mason advised me:
suavojr, I have travelled the road you describe. Remain true to yourself; respect the right of others to their beliefs, and ask for the same in return. Break free from the regimentation imposed by religious leaders; recognise that all wriitngs, including the Bible, are the imaginings and assumptions of men and women. Theology, eschatology, soteriology are interesting but nothing more. It does not matter what you think of God - every believer has a different idea anyway - what matters is that if there is a God, what she/he/it thinks of you. Do good to others, be satisfied that during your life you have made a contribution to someone. Go outside and hear the birds, smell the flowers, marvel at nature, the clouds, the real things that matter. As I said, I have travelled the journey you speak of. There is the desire to dip the toe in the water but to hang on to the land. I have gone from rabid believer to agnostic, probably verging as an atheist. I have survived the journey, just as you shall. Know with complete confidence that the feared Armagedon and the Divine "Coming" will not take place. I wish you freedom - freedom from religion, from the pressures of religionists, freedom from people who want you to feel guilty. Break out. Doug |
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I also wish you true freedom and do not allow other men to enslave you. Also, not knowing all the answers is not a sin, is not bad, and is what keeps us in wonder and awe
Also, remember you don't really have to believe in anything. You are at a great starting point in your journey. The goal of this journey does not have to be figuring out what to believe in, it can be what ever you want it to be.
Good luck.
One of.the best things about discovering the truth about the WTBTS is that we don't have to have exact answers for every question. If someone tells you he/she has all of the answers, he/she is lying.
What are you supposed to believe now?
Believe what you want to believe.
You have the rest of your life to resarch and turn over stones.
I find its hard to find something to believe in that other people will believe in also.
If you find something that a group of people believe in,
another group has already disproved it.
If only you believe in it. Then nobody else knows.
So they cant disprove it.
One thing I don't believe in now is any religion. I have had enough.
I know some people leave the JW religion and have to fill the void. Some become born-agains, some join a church and still others find some other non-traditional belief system. I am not judging any of them. I am just not interested in any of these things.
I suppose whatever I believe or don't believe can be subject to change at some point. But whatever it is will remain private.
PurrPurr,
To go from faith to no faith is painful. It is like recognizing the hypocrisy of your parents for the first time...devastating.
There are many on this forum that have simply repositioned their faith. For some, that is a viable option. Some people need to "believe" in something. Others, like the humanists on the forum, recognize the importance of living a good life, a good virtuous life, without the constraints of organized religion or some creed to hold onto.
I, like you, was lost. The realization that it was all a sham led me down a very depressing pathway toward self-destruction. Fortunately, I recognized what was happening before I made any irreversible moves or actions. When I did, I came to realize that I didn't need faith, I needed answers. I didn't want religion. I didn't want god or gods. I simply wanted to address the reality of this life.
So, I started searching for answers. I read Hassan's books to determine my programming and combat it. I read Franz' books to justify my realization that it was all malarkey. I read books on philosophy. Books on religion. Books on psychology. Just books.
I came across a book by an author, Stephen Bachelor, entitled Buddhism without Beliefs. It intrigued me. It answered the most important question I had..."Why do we suffer?" It just made sense. By the end of the book, I had come to the realization that the difficulties that we all encounter have plagued mankind since the dawn of time and that no magical "paradise" or "eternal life" was the answer. Those hopes did not address the "now," they served as a bandaid for the open wound that is suffering. When I came to the realization that life is suffering and the kind of life that would help mitigate that suffering, it was an epiphany beyond description. I did not, however, become a Buddhist. I simply began to view life in a different way. It has helped tremendously with the void. It has been both therapeutic and transformative.
Good luck on your journey.
SOP
To go from faith to no faith is painful.
You don't have to go from faith to faith. You don't have to lose faith. Finding out that Jehovah is a false god and that the JWs are a cult, doesn't mean you necessarily lose all faith. True, some do lose all faith, for varied reasons, but so many of us don't. Especially is this true for those who were not born, nor raised in the JWs.
Faith is the opposite of reason.
It will condemn you to a lifetime of delusions.
An evidence-based worldview is the only sensible option. It also opens up a whole universe full of mystery, wonder and awe.
