by minimus 33 Replies latest jw friends
millie210: Well apparently a lot of people do that! But you didnt ask how many, you asked "what kind". I dont know but that is a good question. A scared person maybe? A person who is afraid of loss? Afraid of change?
I think you're absolutely right.
And so a lot of people pretend to believe things they don't believe because they are afraid.
"Fear is the mind killer" - Frank Herbert in Dune
I feel a great deal more peace of mind.
It took a little while to get there, though.
Almost ALL of Jehovah's Witnesses do not physically or mentally act as if they believe in God. They will not take responsibility or accountability for any wrong that they do, and they can justify anything from theft to sins of omission as long as there is a sob story attached to it. They do not act as if there is a God who is looking at their human actions as if he were to judge character, compassion, love, honor, and integrity.
They take this to the point where obeying an organization is more important than obeying god himself.
So upon leaving and no longer believing in god, what is there that changes? What difference is it if you just admit the truth? Nothing actually changes except one thing: You are now accountable for your own actions. Good things are not “miracles from god” and bad things are not “attacks from satan.” That is pretty much the only change.
Otherwise, good people are still good, moral people are still moral, mean people are still mean, and the cowardly will still be cowardly.
I'm much more tolerant and generous toward my fellow humans as an agnostic than I ever was a God-fearing JW. Weird, huh?
I'm sad that once my parents go, they will be gone, period, and that I will follow. The resurrection was a wonderful hope and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. I have way more anxiety over our environment, because I know it's up to Homo sapiens to get us out of this mess and, as a species, we're not so great at long-range planning or sacrificing short-term benefits for long-term gains.
I'm able to assess the Bible's guidance and "rules" with a more pragmatic eye and have found that some things really are excellent to apply, like the Golden Rule. Others, by contrast, are nonesense. I still have admiration and respect for aspects of the Bible, particularly the OT stories, about which I believe people should at least have a working knowledge, since they have been a critical influence in Western thought.
it saved my life.......
In every situation I have to decide how to act, whether ethically, with compassion, or not. It's all up to me. I like it!
millie210, I am older but tender - and stilldisappoint you?
nice video stuckinarut2
Never felt more positive or fearless.
millie210, I am older but tender - and still disappoint you?
You could never disappoint Steve!
That is the trick I think...to stay tender (as in open and responsive) to new ways of thinking and new people, new ideas etc.
Barbara Anderson seems to have done a masterful job of that I think.
She has taken all the passion and zeal she had in the organization and uses it to promote the falsehoods she found.
Me, I am still trying to sort it all out.
