I am sure this has been discussed before. This is kind of a continuation on of my previous post. We have just recently lost a close family member. Seems like the JW relatives are taking this death very hard whereas myself so far I have not taken as hard. My theory on this is that as I have done the slow fade for the last 40 years, I have come to terms with death whereas the JW relatives have not because of living in this false paradise where they were not supposed to see death as the new system was to be here by now. What do others think of my theory?
JW's and Death
by William Penwell 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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sparky1
I agree with your theory 100%. My mother died in the year 2000. She had been a staunch Witness since the 1950's. On her deathbed she told me if she 'just held on a few more days......I KNOW Armageddon will come and I will go right into the New System(tm)!' She went into the hospital in November of 1999 and never came out again. Having been told over and over again that she would not die in this system of things it was hard for her to accept the inevitable. She was a 'hardcore' Jehovahs Witness and made my life and my siblings life mostly unbearable while she was alive.
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William Penwell
sparky1, I can relate to what you are saying. I knew an old fellow back in 1975 that was dying of cancer and he thought that if only he could hang on a few more months that he would not have to face death but walk into that new system. Ubfortunately he died with the dream. The only good thing with my mother is she held the hope that her last thoughts would be to fall alsleep and wake up in a paradise earth to be greated by all her loved ones. Who am I to take that hope away from her.
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NAVYTOWN
To me it seems that almost all religions center around mitigating the fear of Death. One of the things all humans have in common is uncertainty about death.....and what happen after we die. So religions have historically exploited those fears by providing comforting myths about a Heaven or Paradise we supposedly go to after we die. Of course the leaders of these religions set the ground rules as to who 'lives forever' and who doesn't. A perfect way to make their followers toe the line. There isn't now and never will be any actual PROOF that anyone has EVER lived beyond physical death. The answer from the religions is: Because we say so'. Jesus's so-called 'return from death' is just one in a long line of tall-tales written of in the bible. I know there are MANY folks who completely believe they will somehow continue to live on after they die. That's fine, but they really need to come up with some concrete proof before I will buy into it. Until then, I will consider that death is THE END for all humans, myself included.
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William Penwell
You would to think that religious people if they truly believe in a better life after this one would be celebrating and rejoice when someone dies. I really think that it just shows that these religious people deep down actually don't believe the BS.
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exWTslave
This is what a departed soul wrote to his mother overwhelmed in sadness:
“Time is something the earth gave a name...to mark its passing as it came. Though really it does not exist...may you come to terms with this. Past is now as the present unfolds and future begins as though it were told. Creation has no beginning or end… all is happening at once around the bend. Forward or backward a circle is made, forever revolving this earthly charade. Imagine a circle spinning in air….. the essence of life is what is in there. The mind of a human holds all that is known and those that succeed the answers are shown. Birth is a gift that you measure with time. Life is the process willed by your mind. Death is the passing into eternity, beginning a new kind of spirit journey. You may not fully understand, but that is just part of a larger plan. This world was created with so much love, have faith and believe in the world above. Mom, it matters not that time goes by….for what has been will never die.”
Reading this over and over I came to realize what my son meant by his first words, “Mom, you were right.” I’d always believed in a hereafter and he was never sure.
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smiddy
Jehovahs witnesses live their lives beleiving they will never die before paradise is restored / Muslims seem to welcome death because that is their gateway to paradise.
smiddy
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joyfulfader
Death is a touchy subject for me. Coming to terms with my own mortality and that of my parents has been a hard pill to swallow. I only thought about death superficially. Now the permanence feels all too real. I don't know what is going to happen at death. I have no faith in an afterlife of any sort so I have begun to live life with happiness now as my goal.
i grew up around a family whose daughter had a chronic genetic illness that required a lung transplant that they decided not to have done. She was 16 and in the hospital on her deathbed surrounded by family. She said she was going to close her eyes and wake up in the paradise. Her dad told me that she opened one eye a little later and said "I'm not there yet, am I?" That made everyone laugh a bit and they had a few more hours with her and then she was gone for real. Maybe her faith was what kept her spirits up. I don't know. I can't say where she is but I feel in my heart that I had better make the best of my life now because I have found no basis to believe otherwise.
To me the God of the bible is mean and hateful. Do I even want an afterlife from a totalitarian dictator prone to tantrums and ridiculous demands of obedience? Nope.
Death is bad. Period.
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Kalos
I have no fear of death. I take the hint from sleep. When I go to sleep, I die figuratively—in deep sleep it’s like nothing exists. But I get up in the morning renewed (in new body as millions of old cells being replaced with new ones).
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3rdgen
My experience with the cult is different. Old school JW's were usually very matter -of -fact about death. They viewed it as temperary sleep. To grieve more than short time viewed was "spiritually weak" implying the berieved didn't put enough faith in the resurrection. TWO WEEKS after my 20 something son died in an accident my devout JW mother phoned, hubby answered. Mom asked "Is she OVER it yet" Mind you this was her firstborn grandchild.