Hello. I’m new to the forum. I’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join. I left the Watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in God. I knew the GB/organization didn’t represent God, so when I lost my faith in them, I managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent Creator. But I noticed on this forum that the most prolific members are atheists with very strong personalities that quickly beat down those who manage to remain believers. Hence my reluctance to join.
Based on what I have read on this forum, it seems most ex-JWs become atheists. But then I wondered if its just that those who remain believers remain silent here. Perhaps there are many ex-JWs like me who are just a little timid about expressing their belief in God on this forum. I wondered if the believers are the silent majority or whether, as I first suspected, the Watchtower organization simply churns out atheists.
So if you are a ex-JW believer, like me, would you be willing to start a conversation about why you believe in God in spite of what the organization did to you? And in spite of the ridicule that might come?
I will start by briefly stating that I continue to believe in God because, to me, it is the only logical explanation for why we are here. The wonder of life leads me to believe that a God who could create all the wonderful things we see and are able to experience must be greater than our religions describe him. I have to agree with some atheists that religion is a problem, but I don’t agree that God is the problem. I can separate the two.
And I believe in God because God is the only concept that opens the possibility of more life after our physical bodies no longer work for us. I can’t subscribe to the idea that this life is all there is. The body has capabilities far greater than we can now express. The mind has desires that extend far beyond our limited life span. That tells me that there is more to life than we now know and now experience. Science admits that they do not know it all and have only discovered a very small fraction of what life is about. So I am not willing to abandon my faith based on such a small slice of information. It would be like quitting school after the 2nd grade.
Nope, I’m a believer. Not based on blind faith, but on everything I see, know and understand. And that faith keeps the door open to the idea that there is so much more to learn about life and about God. Are there any other believers out there? Or have the Watchtower leaders succeeded in its apparent determination to separate man and God with its ‘rule or ruin’ doctrines? I hope I’m not in the minority here.
Believer