Leaving the jws or becoming inactive does not, in my opinion, necessarily mean one gives up hope of living forever. I personally feel that the jws err in that they are trying to earn everlasting life, despite their assertions to the contrary. Personally, i've just given up trying to earn it. That doesn't mean I still don't hope for it.
No Eternal Life---Now What Hope Do You Have?
by minimus 26 Replies latest jw friends
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voltaire
Just because I used to think I was going to live forever doesn't mean it was really going to happen. I didn't really have a hope before, I just didn't know it. False hope=no hope.
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Robdar
Who needs eternal life if enjoy this one and live it to its fullest?
Love,
Robyn
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undercover
To actually enjoy now, today. For JWs it was always tomorrow, tomorrow. "O woe is the world, we can't enjoy life, conditions are so bad. But one day, the world will be a paradise and we will know such happiness." Once you are out of the mindset you can enjoy things right now, today. Travel, see places. How many dubs wanted to travel but didn't because of being "too busy in the service". Enjoy your family if you have one. Spend weekends getting closer to them instead of knocking on doors or sitting in assembly halls. Take up a hobby. Hobbies take time. Most dubs feel guilty about them or don't even bother with hobbies. Go to school or get a degree.
JWs waste their life waiting on a hope that doesn't exist. I hope to enjoy what life I was given and along the way be charitable enough to help some people who aren't as fortunate. Anything else is gravy.
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minimus
I agree that we should all enjoy life to the fullest because tomorrow we may not be here. Perhaps our hope is to live another day happily.
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Double Edge
Talk about putting all of your eggs in one basket. Just because you found out that what the JW's teach isn't the truth, that's IT, end of story? I've read numerous threads on this board were ex-JWs said they've found out that the rest of the world barely knows the JWs exist..... wellllllll, how do they cope - do you think the rest of the world completely lives without hope? (I know, it's a mixed bag.... but at least it's MIXED and not all negative).
Edited by - Double Edge on 11 February 2003 16:36:16
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DanTheMan
Ultimately what the WT taught us was that the life we're living now is all for naught, and that the only thing that matters is surviving the big A (Just like the evangelical fundies sitting around waiting to be raptured away). I never quite could totally adopt that mentality, I felt like this life has meaning (to learn something, I don't know), and perfection in paradise seemed far-fetched.
Interestingly, starting around 1998 or so, I occasionally would here the brethren saying things like "regardless if whether or not the new system ever gets here, JW is the best way of life in this world". I think that for most JW's who are still in, they just like the JW lifestyle (hard as it is for me to understand that, but then again I never was in the "in" crowd at the KH). Well, JW life was really starting to get pretty nauseating to me at that point, but I hung in for a few more years (fear is powerful).
I don't necessarily have any great hope or anything. My greatest hope is that mankind can overcome the animal impulses that threaten the future of this planet. And that I find a woman to love someday. (awwww)
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Mary
Whether there will be a future earthly paradise, or whether there is a life beyond this one, I'm not sure.......I don't believe God just put us all here to live 70 or 80 years and then vanish out of existence. John 5:28 does talk about a resurrection. Is it here on earth, or in heaven??? Just because I don't believe alot of what JWs teach, doesn't mean I don't have hope for the future, cause I do.
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minimus
So is your hope to live forever in heaven or on earth???
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ikhandi
I know it may sound crazy to some but I still have held onto my beliefs mainly because I still believe them to be true. My father died when I was when I was nine and the only way I was able to deal with his death was my belief in the ressurection. Now whether any of us will be there to witness our loved ones back is another story.I honestly believe it will occur. For this is was Jehovah has promised and he can not lie. So no doubt I believe it is possible to live forever.