by Witness 007 30 Replies latest jw experiences
I believe in religion. I believe religion is a Snare and a Racket.
Regarding GOD, I’d really really like to believe but frankly there is insufficient evidence. The fact that the distance between the earth and the sun is “just perfect” for life as we know it just is not convincing “evidence”. The Evolutionists are more convincing if you look with an open mind.
RIVERGANG:
Amen to that.
People also forget a Revolutionary War was fought and I live in a relatively free country (last time I checked)…Why, then, would I forget I am Free (especially as a woman) and then put myself in servitude to any cultic religion that acts as a little country within a country and then tries to strip me of my freedom, rights and dignity???..They wanted me to abase myself and pursue poverty.. For any newbies reading this: Yes that’s what a cult/high control religion tries to do when you analyze it..It’s Freedom of Religion gone too far..Don’t misunderstand me, though. I still believe in religious freedom. This is just what happens when the pendulum swings too far to one side!
HOSER:
Thanks. That is very true. People should open their eyes!
Here in Italy, The church and politics go hand and hand. It seems they are partners in crime.
I knew that God existed...but I also knew that the BORG was clueless after 1975....I eventually (1982) gave my life to Christ and became a christian.
It’s Freedom of Religion gone too far.
I am pleased to hear somebody acknowledge that no freedoms are absolute!
There can be no freedom of religion unless there is also freedom from religion.
I'm still a believer
I am a deist. I believe that there could be a God or Gods. I believe where each religion finds common ground is how one should live. Each person should decide for themselves what is appropriate for their faith until such a time that God tells everybody on Earth what we should know.
I don't think I ever believed it. I was conditioned to repeat the mantra but it was never real to me. "God" just seemed like all the other "gods" ... an invention, stories.
What leaving and learning more about the bible did was give me a basis and confidence that religion is just a man-made invention for power and control.
But I recognize that religion can be beneficial to some. For whatever reason, some people need some framework to operate in and some authority telling them what is right and wrong. Sometimes it's dangerous and open to abuse, sometimes it works.
I think militant atheism is a mistake - not only can it be damaging, but it's also not often convincing if the aim really is to "help" people trapped in religion. I think the point is often an excuse for someone to be a jerk to people they don't like and pretend they have some moral high-ground.
Hello friends! May I backtrack a little? And btw tell a little of my story. Please excuse my probably poor English. ;-)
As a 60s-born-in in Germany, I had the typical JDub career: As a youth I made "the truth my own", education, alternative civilian service, work, marriage, children, service assistant, elder, privileges on assembly and district level. At some point, I pulled old doubts out of the drawer, dealt with "Ötzi", ancient human fossils, evolution, the flood, 1914, 1975, etc., found and enjoyed this site with a more or less bad conscience (Thank you all!) ... Soon I was done, faith-wise. Resigned tasks and privileges gradually, but quickly. Told wife and children, they fortunately joined my thoughts immediately, we all bekame inactive, PIMO, that's it. Today we are regarded as apostates, shunned, but have our peace.
But now to the topic: After all I couldn't believe in a God anymore, certainly not in JHWH or another, who cares about us. For me, the question of whether there's a God is not really a question of faith at all. Two possibilities: Either there is a God, or there is no God. What does the evidence say? There you go! As simple, as it sounds! Nevertheless, many things in nature, physics, in the universe remain a mystery for me. Some things seem to be simply too finetuned or constructed to be only the result of a blind, unplanned happening.
By chance, a few months ago I came across an interview on YouTube with a woman who had had a near-death-experience (NDE). Somehow, the interview and as well the woman was so convincing and credible that I was increasingly pulled into the topic until today. First time in my life I allowed myself to deal with e.g. stories of children who remember previous lives, reincarnation, far-east religions like buddhism, etc. I think, I am still very sceptical, but I would no longer call myself a decided atheist, but rather an agnostic. I am curious to see where my way of life will lead me. I am still a truthseeker.
