We are not the only ones who have lost our faith

by Xanthippe 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Xanthippe

  It is not unusual to lose faith in the religion that you're born into. I actually think it's quite common to move away from you parents' belief system and find that you are a different kind of person to many members of your family. 

  I have read in national newspapers of famous people including politicians who have left the faith of their birth and found family relationships very difficult, some of them have even been shunned by family.

  Quite often in local newspapers I see books for sale from one individual about eastern religions, philosophy, evolution and so on. It is not unusual for people to research what they believe and read many books on a variety of different subjects to try and find a new direction in life.

  Believe me I am not minimising the suffering of those of us who have lost loved ones after leaving this cult. I know there is a huge difference between slowly and voluntarily looking at new ideas and suddenly and shockingly finding TTATT and being thrown out of something that was our whole life. 

  All I want to say here is that after feeling lost and separated from everyone it was a revelation to me to find that the journey of losing faith and looking for something to replace it is not so weird. In other words, I found I have a lot more in common with 'worldy' people than I first thought.

  We are all just humans waking up on this planet after years of ignorance, superstition and darkness and trying to find a meaning. The more I read and the more I talk to people the more I realise many of us are so similar in our experiences of human life. It made me feel less alone.
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  Xanthippe

  This is the original topic. I suppose I should be flattered that a newbie liked it so much he borrowed it and 'made it his own'.
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  TTATTelder

  Switching to original thread :)

  Jewish families, families of Indian decent, Mormons, Pentecostals, etc. all have stories of hard line black-and -white thinking, family ultimatums, and shunning based on religion. That is one of the things the WT doesn't want people learning from therapists and counselors.

  "Go to the elders if you have doubts" - yeah right- just a trick to have you "out" yourself and get hard core one-on-one indoctrination.

  There are a lot of people out there with the same struggle coming from a variety of backgrounds.

  -TE
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  Xanthippe

  Yes it's true if you do go to a therapist or counsellor they do have experience of people leaving all sorts of religions and coping with the fallout from their families. I remember talking to my doctor, who is Indian, about it and he wasn't at all surprised that my family shun me. He may have been through the same thing himself.