by AwakenedAndFree 270 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
OH, one more thing...
He will forgive in a large way??? What the hell does he have to forgive me for? For being human? For living as one of his "creatures" that is imperfect?
That's nice that he will forgive me. I would like to ask him what kind of "sins" he is forgiving me for. For being normal??? I don't think so. That is NOT my fault.
I would like to ask him what kind of "sins" he is forgiving me for.
So do it.
Can we not rejoice for someone who has broken the chains of the society in (what some consider) small steps, instead of bounds?
Asking someone to go cold turkey or else is a little harsh IMHO.
Lots of us remain Christian, get to know God in new ways. It is growth, and exciting, and healthy.
Must we be so bold to critisize a different path to wellness?
Awakened, I am happy for you, and I am glad you feel so happy, it makes me happy too!
I
rejoice for someone who has broken the chains of the society
and
I am happy for you, and I am glad you feel so happy
Awakened. If it works for you, run with it. If it allows YOU to love and feel loved, emmerse yourself in it; swim in it.
Did you leave the Watchtower Society and The True God ,too?
I left behind many things. I left an organization created by imperfect humans. More important to me, I abandoned an old, worn out, terribly inadiquite MAN-MADE CONCEPT of god.
Many of us have been flung so far from our roots, that we can not go back. Nor do we want to. And that works for us.
I do not seek forgiveness. I instead prefer to be responsible for ALL my actions-good and bad. If I need to make amends with another, I pray for the widom to see it, and the courage to cary it out. I also don't beat myself up when I fail in this regard.
I am not trying to invalidate YOUR beleifs or feelings; they belong to you. Many here might take offense at your seeming lack of empathy-due in large part to the nature of this medium. An important lesson I have learned in life is to NEVER devalue another person's pain(emotions?). It is their's. THEY feel it.
In your defense, I don't believe that you did so purposely. Only inadvertently.
Best to all.
Dark uncle
I don't usually comment on threads like this but....
He gave up his son to rid us of sin, yet he allows children to die of horrible disease daily, as I type this a child is being raped. He gave up what? What did he give up? His son? His son was supposed to have instantly risen to heaven, right? Oh what a horrible thing to do.
God could end this crap right now but..... he doesn't. He lets it continue and if I don't buy this faith BS I end up either dead or in hell. Oh I'd better start loving him right now. He's so good.
God could take lessons from my parents.
Stacey, you continue to boggle my mind with your insight, & ability to hit the nail on the head!
you either believe or you don't, it's as simple as that. Does leaving one religion signify an end to all spiritual belief? Who knows?
Does God live in a different dimension than us?
If so how can I have a relationship with someone in a different dimension? I can hardly have good relationships with beings in the same dimension as myself.
One uses the term "True God" as opposed to "False God". Can you see the issue with this supposition if we are told we cannot demand proof of the True God but instead we must have faith in the True God and Reject the False Gods? How can we we establish TRUTH without evidence? Truth is the proof of a FACT. Without EVIDENCE there is no fact. So when I must worship the True God I can only do so by having established that God is true and in order to do so we are in need of the evidence. Otherwise it is all a game of chance and according to some a game of probability. Even if it is a game of probability one has to honestly say that probability does not translate to fact - by extension truth. So as a thinking person i cannot subscribe to this mantra.
One needs to step back or aside from ones own framework of thinking and try to observe the framework as an outside critic would. For instance one could ask oneself: do I call God the True God because thats the God I believe in? If you answer no then you just lied to yourself because then you would admit you would worship a false God. Now you might answer that God is giving us freewill. But thats a whole different debate. In essence if believers are honest they would say: "I worship what I think is the True God, but is possibly a False God". That is such a powerful admission isn't it? When you do get around to admitting this to yourself you have moved into the path of growth - even if it is an uncomfortable place to be.
Jack
Donkey,
How can we we establish TRUTH without evidence? Truth is the proof of a FACT. Without EVIDENCE there is no fact.
Exactly. If a statement is not a fact, it is an opinion. Unfortunately we were suckered by opinions, or interpretations, of statements that are contradictory by themselves.
It took me a lot of searching to find out that we delude ourselves when we don't examine the evidence as presented by the bible itself, and worse yet by a cult that kills the natural love of humans towards others, and especially family members.
Look both at the OT and the NT for a god that condones human sacrifice, life-time slavery for females or non-Jews, and women as second-class citizens.
Of course we know women are worth 60% of man. Killing a slave is allowed if s/he dies two days after a beating, handiccapped are not to approach the inner sanctum, etc. But of course Jehovah loves all equally!
AwakenedAndFree, Thank you for responding to my questions. You come across as a very loving and caring person. There are other Christians like you -- several on this board -- who seem to be cultivating unconditional love for their fellow man. They are some of the kindest people here. This brings up a dilemma for me, a situation that so far I can not understand. Perhaps you can help me with it. You quoted a scripture that strongly implies that if we do not "exercise faith" in Jesus, we will be "destroyed". Some people try and downplay this, but the Bible seems to strongly support at least some form of undesirable punishment (not doubt a strong motivator for many people to become Christians). Here is the problem. You, a human, would most likely help your own children any way you could whether they accept you or love you or serve you or even appreciate your help and love. This is unconditional love, true-love. On the other hand, the love of the one you worship (according to the scripture you shared with me) is clearly conditional, a much lower form of love (actually it is not true-love at all, but rather abusive manipulation) than your own. So, my question is "how can you, with a sincere and clear heart, worship a god whose love is less than your own?" How can you love a god who will kill or severely punish you if you do not love Him? Excuse me for saying this, but it seems that He, should be worshipping you -- as you are more kind. Isn't it strange that a loving Christian casts a shadow over their god? j
