I Am a Christian

Greenpalmtreestillmine

I am a former JW just as many here are. I have left the Watchtower just as many here also have. I also died as many here have.

I died, I cried, I died again. I cling to my God now.

Is it really so bad that I continue to be a Christian? Is it really so bad that I continue to believe?

I have no one but you people yet it has been shown to me on the "Born Again?" thread that I am not really welcome here because I am a Christian. Both JT and Dave have degraded my beliefs. They have made great assumptions but without knowledge of my beliefs.

I have never degraded atheists or agnostics. I have never degraded people of other faiths why is it then that my religious beliefs are degraded?

Sabrina

herk

Sabrina,

Thanks for expressing yourself. I know what you mean. I had to put up with the same kind of thing when I was new here and in another forum. Hang in there. You've got lots more friends here than you may realize. Best of blessings to you.

Herk

Celia

Hi Sabrina,

You're free to believe in God and Jesus or anything you want. I don't believe anyone here will "degrade" you for still being a Christian. I didn't read the thread you're talking about, so I don't know what has been said to you. People on this board exercise their freedom of speech, nothing personal.

Aztec

Sabrina, feel free to believe as you wish. I don't usually care what others believe as long as they don't try to convert me or talk down to me because of my beliefs. If it helps you and comforts you then enjoy it. One of the few times it frustrates me is when people try to use specious reasoning to debate me. That doesn't fly too well with me because I've become quite cynical. Do what works for you as long as you don't expect others to ascribe to your beliefs.

Never feel unwelcome here. One of the beautiful things about life and this board is the differances!

~Aztec

Xena

Sabrina,

I read your posts and found them both eloquent and very non confrontational. I am sorry you got the response you did but unfortunately that is one of the dangers on an open discussion board. I hope you will not allow a few people to keep you from posting. You seem like a very nice person

Welcome to the forum!

seven006

Sabrina.,

I did not degrade your belief, I made some comments about specific beliefs and their origin and simply gave a possible explanation to a comment you made to JT. I encouraged you to keep posting but not in a preaching style. Even though I see alternative concepts in Christianity interesting I still do not buy into them as absolute facts or the basis of any real meaning of life. That is not degrading, that is stating my opinion on what I believe to be true. If your current belief cannot stand up to alternative opinions other than just the ones you accept then maybe you need to look at the difference between faith, belief, truth, and fact.

Being an exJW you should have some kind of understanding how many here object to hearing about things they had shoved down their throats as kid and brought some real damage into their lives. Now, if you think I said anything to personally attack you, tell me what it was so I can either apologize or explain. I only stated my opinion about the jesus myth, please afford me the right to voice my opinion just as I encouraged you to do about yours.

Again, take care.

Dave

Xena

but not in a preaching style

I didn't find her style at all preachy...but maybe that was just me.

I expect as a new poster she wasn't expecting to have her post torn apart by a pit bull of a non believer ex JW...now she knows better I guess.

But as I said...one of the dangers of the internet....you have to learn to take the good with the bad.

Greenpalmtreestillmine

Dave,

I posted my religious opinion on a religious thread. I have not posted as far as I can remember a "preachy" comment. If I have then it was most unintentional.

I have refrained from posting on religious threads because to argue religion is in my opinion not productive. The "Born Again?" thread was however a subject which I thougt was not only interesting but important so I posted.

If my post was preachy in some way then I apologize but if it was just an expression of my opinion why was I vilified for it? I understand that religion has caused much hurt but Dave, I myself have not caused that hurt. I am just a person who seeks to understand and who loves God. If someone like me is not welcome to post their views without malicious expressions towards their beliefs being thrown at them then we have not moved too far from the place we have come from.

I am not an enemy though I am a Christian. Neither am I a dog to be spat upon.

Sabrina

Big Tex

I died, I cried, I died again.

Me too. Damn near died literally.

I cling to my God now.

Me too. When the storm rages around me, and fear engulfs me, and all I have to comfort me is my shame, I cry out desperately to my God. I hope he hears me. I choose to believe he hears me. I choose to believe he cares. I choose to believe he was there in my darkest hour. Those far more intelligent than I say that belief is foolish, not warranted by empirical evidence and the trappings of one ensnared by silly religious dogma.

I say this: when I was in hell, tormented by nightmares of my past, tortured by self-righteous Jehovah's Witnesses and in doubt of my own sanity, as the winds howled and I could go no further, a power greater than myself reached out to me simply to say that I was cared for.

This simple message took me years to believe, but to be fair, that had more to do with me and my own dysfunctions. But the message was clear and more importantly, it was true. I can't prove it, but I was there.

I realized that it doesn't matter if I can or cannot prove what I heard and felt. It wasn't meant for others. It was meant for me. At the end of the day, understand that is the core of belief -- faith itself. It is meant for us, and if others ridicule or not, criticize or not, believe or not, it doesn't touch that faith -- that very special belief. That inner person is seen only by our God.

Sabrina, I was watching that thread, and while I think JT was harsh, he was staying true to himself. This is the flip side of faith. If you throw it out there, someone will respond. But realize that's okay. To look for affirmation from others is to deny what you have found. Center yourself in your belief, your faith but most importantly, your God.

Be well,

Chris

Islandboy99

Hi Sabrina,

I can only speak from my own experience, but I still feel pain from my inclusion and subsequent expulsion from the jdubs. If you went online and actively sought out this site, then you NEED to be here.... Talking about some of your pain and how you get through it, does help. So, please don't leave... You'll find many here that you can relate with.

I Am a Christian

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