Do a quick look on the web and you will find most EX-JW or anti-JW sites are made by so called born again christians.
I remember from being a witness that the general view of apostaes was that they had become born again christians.This was probably because so many actually do.
Is this having a negative effect or reducing the chances of witness reading information that may help them?
Since in my opinion Born agains have got it just badly wrong as JW's I can see no benifit in help Jehovahs witness from jumping from one religion to the other.
As a witness with "doubts" I would have been less inclined to read something from another christian group than say a atheist group.
If the information that can be of benifit to JW's largl;y comes from other christian sources is this fact stopping JW's reading things that they may have read if it was from say, a more non-religious source?
Do born-agains dominate EX-JW's?
by sleepy 25 Replies latest jw friends
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sleepy
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Narkissos
I guess the "born-again" type is just one of the first steps out of the WT for many ex-JWs. In the first few months after I was df'd you would have called me a born-again Christian. But that was not the end of the story.
I think the large variety of people on JWD offers a much more complex, truer and better picture.
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ozziepost
so called born again christians
Labels, labels!
It seems to me that what one person understands to be described that label can be much influenced by their own experiences or locale and environment.
What do you mean by "born again christian"? Funny, but that's the argument used in the "Reasoning" book, but still it's valid, so I'll pick up on the original question and reply "Aren't all christians born again?"
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DanTheMan
I remember from being a witness that the general view of apostaes was that they had become born again christians.This was probably because so many actually do.
Is this having a negative effect or reducing the chances of witness reading information that may help them?This was also the impression that I had when I was a JW, primarily because the few "apostates" that I knew of in my area left JW's only to become BA fundy Christians, which IMO are the most annoying people in the world.
One of the sourest experiences I had as a JW was spending a brief period working with a guy who was 25 years old, and just a few of years earlier, after leading a bit of a wild life during his teens and early 20's, had become a BA Christian. In that short period he had risen to the level of associate pastor at his fundy baptist church in a small little redneck town an hour south of Columbus OH. He was one of the most f*cking hateful people I have ever known, just ranted on endlessly about Clinton and liberals and Clinton and liberals and Clinton and liberals. Such a self-righteous, moralizing a**hole, I couldn't stand him. I thought that my only choice was JWism or become like this guy.
I never really thought that leaving JWism and returning to my non-religious pre-cult personality was an option, since I had been so dramatic about repenting about my former ways. This board was so key in helping me overcome that particular mental obstacle.
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roybatty
I believe most become agnostic. They feel burnt out by religion and indiffernt. The only reason you see ex-JW "born-again" web sites is because these people are motivated to "help" other people. Well, at least they believe they are helping them (just like they did when they were JW's).
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CeriseRose
Making a correlation about ex-JW websites and born-again "content" and then using it to theorize that a lot of ex-JWs become born-again is a little skewed in logic. You'd have to look at all religious sites, how many of them are "born-again" from your definition, and then determine how many of those are ex-JWs. You'd also have to look at all ex-JWs, find out if they have a religious belief now, whether they have published it on a website, etc.
All it means is that those ex-JWs who 1) have something to say, and 2) have the web-savvy to publish it on the www, are doing so. People that have something to say and go to the trouble of making up the site, buying the domain, etc., are going to be passionate about their subject. So the majority of the sites you see up are religious in nature, or warning against child abuse, the "big" subjects. There's not too many ex-JWs who feel a burning desire to pronounce to the world that "I left JWs and now I'm just living my life quietly and happily. The end." ;) And if there are some, you'd better believe that they're probably not focusing on the ex-JW part for the most part.
Personally, I'm in the process of learning how to get my designed site on the web...it's on writing. There's enough ex-JW info out there for those who need it, and more than enough people willing to expound on their views, write dissertations refuting the logic, etc.
It's an interesting thought, though. I just don't know if the web is a good place to gather your data. I don't think it's without sufficient bias to be of value.
Of course, that's just my opinion. -
ozziepost
It just what pentecostal group are generaly called
OK, thx for making that clearer. Now it 's eaier to respond to and my answer would have to be a resounding No!
My experience has been that it's the mainstream christian churches which are the ones offering support to ex-dubs and alerting the community to the dangers of cults in their midst. Mrs Ozzie and I have been invited to speak on many occasions to groups and seminars about rescuing people from the WTS and each time it has been organised by mainstream churches.
However, we are seeing downunder a growing popularity and support of pentecostal churches bearing different labels. They are certainly appealing to the younger generation in the community and presumably filling a need.
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sleepy
If christian groups are the vocal majority, then it gives the impression of being the actual majority to on lookers.
Really I'm thinking of the impression given to a person if he was to look things up on the web or buy a book, you could easily conclude that a large number of ex-JW's become born again christians. -
FreeWilly
I always had the impression most here were agnostic - like me.