Sometimes I feel like I Should Believe something...

by freemamaof3 50 Replies latest jw experiences

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  sparky1

  Quick question Believer: Are you drawing the conclusion that I am thin-skinned?
  
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  OneGenTwoGroups

  I like it when I find my fellow cult fleers educating themselves about epistemology. Too few ever have.
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  Believer

  Sparky1 you said:

  Quick question Believer: Are you drawing the conclusion that I am thin-skinned?

  It seems like you might be based on what you wrote:
  

  Believer, maybe you need to look into one of these once in awhile. I mean this with all due respect: Sometimes what you post and the manner in which you present yourself could try the patience of a 'SAINT'.

  But I could be mistaken. Perhaps you are just looking out for the saints. If I'm wrong, I apologize.
  
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  Believer

  Epistemology. Great word! Never heard of it before. Thx.
  
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  sparky1

  Believer.......I accept your apology. If you will notice, any time that I have posted on one of your threads, I have never, ever resorted to calling you names or demeaning your personhood in any way. If you check back, you will find that I have stated that you have every right to believe anything you want. What I have done is 'lampooned' your beliefs quite heavily and this I certainly own up to and I will continue to do so if I have the urge. When I gave you my friendly advice it was in reference to how other posters are reacting to you. The mirror and the advice have nothing to do with me since I can't find any instance where you have said anything personally negative towards me. I have been on this forum for 10 years and never once have I felt that my 'skin' was abraded to the point that it was too 'thin' to continue a discussion. I hope you enjoy your time here but you must realize by now that the majority of the posters here are not 'religious' to any degree. There are some very nice, kind and thoughtful believers here. Maybe you should restrict your interaction on this forum to like minded individuals and respectfully decline to engage in a discussion with those whose beliefs do not resonate with your own
  
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  Giordano

  Bringing this back respectfully to Freemamaof 3 you asked:

  "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.

  My wife and I felt we should be able to believe in ourselves apart from the opinion of JW family and friends.

  Over the years we stopped believing in anyone else's gods. In the dogma that surrounds a religion. I did a fair amount of reading..... reading to understand what people actually believed in.......... not that silly what Religion Teach's book the wt published a Reader Digest version of the worlds religion's.

  We decided to take a break from religion....that was over 50 years ago. Instead we read, thought, talked and found that we would and could be true to ourselves and raise our child to be strong, good and kind.

  Here is what we came to understand and what the JW's didn't.

  • we are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
  • We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms.
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  • We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
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    We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
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  • We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
  • We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations
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  • We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
  • We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility.
  • We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
  • We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
  • We believe in learning not dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, we do not believe in blind faith or irrationality.
    
  • We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings. If we can achieve many of these things we will have lived a life worth living.
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  • I didn't realize that what we felt so strongly about was Humanism a non religious movement that stood for a caring and practical spirituality that was self empowering.
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  • And this is how we have lived our lives.
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  rebel8

  OP, have you considered exploring Humanism?
  
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  freemamaof3

  rebel8- No I haven't. I've heard of humanism but I haven't really looked into anything about it. I will give it a look.
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  freemamaof3

  Giordano- What you said is how I feel perfectly summed up!! I will be looking into humanism. Thank you for that.
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  Vanderhoven7

  Hey Believer,

  I have enjoyed your posts. Glad you didn't throw the baby (faith in Jesus) out with the bathwater (Watchtower religion).