Has anyone else felt like they should believe something after leaving WT? I am an agnostic atheist and its so so hard for me to believe in a god or higher power. It just doesn't make sense. But sometimes I feel like maybe I am just being stubborn and there might be something out there. I can't be the only person who deals with this. If you do believe, how did you get there and why? If you don't, why don't you? I don't mean to pry, I just don't really have anyone in my situation to talk to lol my whole family is JW :)
Sometimes I feel like I Should Believe something...
by freemamaof3 50 Replies latest jw experiences
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cofty
"Belief in belief" is a commonly a residue of a religious upbringing.
Information is the antidote.
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ToesUp
I wish I could help you but since leaving the WT, I don't know what to believe anymore. How can I trust one belief system when everything I believed in all my life was a lie.
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freemamaof3
cofty- Yes, I agree with you. Information is what makes the thought of a god very far fetched.
ToesUp- Trust is really a hard thing for me too. Being raised in a complete lie will really kill your ability to trust anything, especially religion.
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cofty
How can I trust one belief system when everything I believed in all my life was a lie.
Don't trust any "belief system". Be committed to following the evidence. Reject faith and authority and peer pressure.
Being rational means our beliefs should be commensurate with the evidence. There are some things we can then say we know for sure and a lot of other things we should admit we don't know yet.
Knowledge is hard work. We were too used to being told what to think.
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freemamaof3
cofty- you sir or ma'am, are my hero :)
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jwundubbed
"I don't care what you believe in, just believe in something" - Bishop in Serenity to Mal.
Even believing that there is no God, or believing that you don't need to believe in God, or believing that you could never know if there really is a God is a belief in something. Just because you don't believe in an all powerful Supreme Being, it doesn't mean that you don't have any belief at all.
When I left I had severe PTSD which was most commonly triggered when I contemplated my own death. My attacks were so severe that the muscles all over my entire body would lock up essentially paralyzing me. That put me in both a physically vulnerable position and in a position where I was stuck inside my own head. Initially I learned how to deal with and lessen the physical symptoms of my panic. Long term however I needed to figure out what I believed because it was the not having any belief that really caused the panic.
First, I trusted my instincts. I knew that I believe in possibility and always have but that I also need evidence. The only time I felt like God was a real being was when someone described him as energy. Well, everything is possible with energy. Everything in the universe exists because of energy. Energy makes the possibility of beings with more intelligence and more capabilities than humans very possible. Aliens are possible, angels are possible, and even Gods are possible. Does that mean that I own my existence to some greater being? No. Does that mean that some greater being could have created everything including that which eventually evovled into us? Sure. But that also doesn't mean that I owe my life, my liberty, my mind, my allegience, nor anything else to any other being. You don't normally have children and then expect them to be your slaves for the rest of their lives. But, do I believe that a greater being than myself is responsible for creating me? I don't care. I have what I needed. I don't need to "know" anything. I need to believe. And I do believe in all the possibilities.
I still struggle with my fear of dying even though it does get better with time. A few months ago I realized that my biggest problem with this fear is that the JWs set me up with the unrealistic expectation of 'knowing' what happens when we die. That isn't something that anyone actually can know and it isn't something that I need to know in order to have a wonderful life in the here and now. If I am always focused on my future death then I am still stuck in the JW mindset. This can be applied to belief as well. We don't need to know, but maybe we do need to believe in something. It doesn't have to be what everyone else believes in. Just find what you believe in and take comfort from that belief, whatever it may be.
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Absolutesbeginners
"Believing something " ....would make life a little "easier" isn't ?
Like a kind of drug maybe ....no . not maybe . it is a drug .A self-made , free and legal drug .... Why not use it ?
And it definitely make life kind of "easier " .
No more worries about death !!!( and fews other questions... )
If you feel to , find something to believe .
and you have many choices around the world!!
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Me i dont "believe" .
I am going to die .
tomorrow or in twenty years .and i dont care very much about the " tunnel of light " . ( i just prefer in 20 years than tomorrow...but who knows ? )
My only big wories is to wake up "after death" in a Jw "paradise"
Going out of my grave and see Tony the third with a panda on his knees asking me if "i want to be a Jw man" ..........i would strait go back to my grave ...
and lock it !!
( we all have crazy nightmares ....)
Take care on your journey about life .
Ps: me i drink . and it is a drug indeed ........we are all the same ...
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sweetgrass
I don't feel I need to believe in something as I used to but I like to be open to others viewpoints as the more informed I am the better choices I make.
My first boyfriend was Catholic, after attending church I felt 'not for me'. My dad, a Jew put me off Judaism. My mother a 'Born Again' was a no, no. JW I bought hook line and sinker but now would not touch it with a barge pole. I was a mentor for a Muslim man, it was very interesting but a big no, no.
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punkofnice
I miss my faith in Jesus. But, as I discovered that him and his Dad don't actually exist, it's not an option. Shame.