by Phizzy 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I recently had this in a message from a JW, a lovely person, but mind controlled, he wrote " A life without hope is no life for me".
How should I respond to that ? I am an Atheist, but want to respond in as kindly a way as possible.
I was thinking along the lies of saying I got no comfort from what I knew to be False Hope, but need to say it in a kindly way.
Ideas please ?
hope of what exactly ?
Everyone's hopes, dreams, aspirations are different.... I do have hopes and dreams... I'm choosing to focus all those things on life as we know it now. I can worry about what comes next when I get there. To each his/her own. 😁
Everyone's hopes, dreams, aspirations are different.... I do have hopes and dreams... I'm choosing to focus all those things on life as we know it now. I can worry about what comes next when I get there. To each his/her own. 😁
We have hope too. We have different hopes, but hope in real things, in real people, in real opportunities. We do not live our lives for empty promises, empty hopes that will never come to be.
"I'm so sorry. There is a big difference between being hopeless and not needing hope to sustain you. Both are a life without hope but one means that you aren't dependent on a fragile emotion to give your life meaning. I hope that you find a life that is independent and free of the need of hope so that you can enjoy it when you have it and won't be devastated when you don't. I'm not sure you will find that kind of life, the kind that I have, in your current circumstances but I'll keep hoping for you anyway."
Check out Stephen Jenkinson.
Start at 1:04:00 where he talks about hope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIN3erN9uoI
HBH
Hope in a fantasy is no hope at all. A life not for me. Hope for things that can live in the light of reality are fine. Hope in a fantasy that is not true is living a lie. Tell him he has to have hope as long as it can live in realville.
When Jehovah's Witnesses refer to "hope" they refer to the hope created by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society through its publications, which they claim is based on the Bible.
First, it is their opinion of the Bible's message that is their hope. The hope is based on the opinion (i.e. belief) that humans were originally created "perfect" and would live forever perfect health on a peaceful paradise earth. Their hope is that through their obedience to the leadership of the Watchtower the god of the Bible will restore them to that set of circumstances. They fear death as they believe that death is eternal non-existence. The idea of not having true meaning and purpose with one's limited life causes a great deal of anxiety in a person. The hope the Watchtower extends is a coping mechanism for this anxiety, but it is not a cure.
The first mistake made in the above belief system is that mankind is born imperfect and because of this imperfection deserves to die. All life, from the smallest microbe, to plants, to complex organisms like animals live in perfect cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. In a sense, Jehovah's Witnesses idea of the way human existence should be is like a true that sprouts leaves and then those leaves never die, fall to the ground to fertilize the earth, and then eventually sprout new leaves.
The second mistake made in their belief system is that eternal life has value. Living forever completely undermines the value of life. Something you could do today can wait 10,000 years if you live forever so one's actions have no meaning.
Life only has value if it is lived. You can only live in the present. If your mind is stuck in the past or worrying about the future you are not in the present. Therefore you are not living. Making plans for the future has no meaning if you are not living now. Jehovah's Witnesses hope is based on sacrificing the now for mythological future created by a late 19th century publishing company bases in Brooklyn, New York.
In short, the definition of hope is simply wanting something to happen in the future. Hope can be a distraction from the present and therefor harmful to one's well being and happiness. If you cannot find happiness in your current situation, in the now, you can never be happy.
At the moment I don't have an answer to the question about hope, but this message board topic reminds me of what I read about 15 minutes ago in paragraph 30 of pages 28 - 29 of the WT book called Man's Salvation Out Of World Distress At Hand! (copyright 1975) regarding Acts 24:15 and 1 Corinthians 15:18, 19. The idea is that if ".... Messiah Jesus were not raised from the dead to heavenly life, there would be no future ..." resurrection of humans and that as a result the generation (or generations) of people living since 1914 who "... have hoped in Christ (especially ones who made huge sacrifices because of such hope) ...", and considering all they "... have gone through since 1914 ...", would be '... of all generations, the "most to be pitied." '
From my point of view of being an ex-JW who is now an atheist, such people along with many other Christians are indeed to be pitied, and I have pity even upon my own experience as a former JW Christian (a former Christian witness of [the idea of] Jehovah).
