questions and comments

alison

Let just start off by saying that I hope everyone in this forum is doing good. Moving on, I bumped inot this girl that I used to go to the kingdom hall with, before I dissociated myself. I told her some of the reasons why I left but not everything because I'm the type of person who llikes people to choose for themselves and I don't like to influence others. She basically just said that she is not going to leave because of the mistakes the society has covered up in the past besides she states they help you raise kids the correct way without growing up to basically be a menace to society. I felt like what she said is so ignorant. She said she goes tot he meeting every now and then. I told her how could imperfect humans tell you how to lead your life and shun you. I also told here about this elder who is suppossed to set an example but is a corner in far rockaway queens ny picking up prostitutes, I know this because a friend of mine who left the religion told me. Has anyone ecountered such ignorance? Another question since you left the religion do you think is okay to celebrate holidays? Is there prove that true followers of christ and jehovah don't celebrate these holidays? How do you stay on top of your spirituality? I don't want to join no church groups. I just pray, I threw out all my jw books. Does anyone have a recommendation for a bible? I just wanted to let some things out, thanks.

SixofNine

Does anyone have a recommendation for a bible?

Yeah, throw it out with the other supposedly "spiritual" books written by whacked out men.

Country Girl

Alison:

I would suggest just read what the Bible says, and continuing your prayers. The version of the Bible that I have felt most comfortable with is the New International Version Study Bible. It contains a lot of footnotes from very knowledgeable sources, and also contains a lot of context notations.

CG

peacefulpete

Allison...Glad that you have begun asking youself just how much of your freewill is still captive to the WT programming. Holidays are othing but traditions. People find confort in tradition. Traditions, by being securly established provide stability in a changing world. It is only when traditions become unhealthy to a person or society that they ought to be broken. Nearly all traditions have religious roots, and this does not require that the person benefitting from the traditions share those religious ideas. That is easily seen in that most of those who celebrate holidays do it with very little concern about the silly origins of the specifics of the tradition. Rather, just like married couples who set aside a special day or two to celebrate their love, so too extended families have special days for gathering and expressing love. For some reason we humans need to have it on our calanders. Looked at in this balanced way I promise that in time these traditions will become cherished regardless of whether you are Xtian/Jew or Atheist.

Flash

Zondervan NIV Study Bible is a great choice!

My spirituality? Like you I pray and read my bible. I do think the Witnesses are right about many things the Holidays being one of them. I am careful to separate their human thinking from what I clearly see in the bible though.

Hello and welcome

Panda

Read: Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels for info on the witers of the NT.

We have dates for holidays only because once the modern calendar got wide acceptance it was the way to keep seasons and full moons in a written form. seaonal celebrations always had to do with food...planting, harvesting, eating and fasting. Food meant survival. We aren't so close to the agriculture which provides us our "daily bread", but there was a time up until the last century when famine or plenty decided the health of a community for the next year.