HELP!! Trying to find right religion brough up as JW (page 3)

mouthy

Flash!!! Sorry bud!!! JW have lied!lied!&lied again....For Gods sake put down the WT books.....

If you want a good read -the Bible is OK. Another interesting book is Jehovahs Witnesses & the Third Reich....

Terry

The question you make; or, is it a plea? Anyway--the premise you raise is a matter of EXCLUSION.

The "true" religion EXCLUDES.

The concept it is close out, shut down, eliminate all troubling questions and replace the doubt, uncertainty and investigation with simple black and white thinking.

I would urge you to see this as THE PROBLEM and not the finding of a "true religion".

The more you INCLUDE and the less you EXCLUDE; the more data you leave on the table.

That which is a lie covers up what is true and distorts it. By removing from view an alternative that is there you serve yourself poorly.

I'm afraid my opinion is this. Religion's chief task at its core is to shut out "other" points of view followed by an effort to load up your emotions with promises of "better" things which you then __risk losing__if you don't follow the lockstep march of rules. It is the protection racket of mobsters. Threats of harm and promises of desirable rewards are the stick and carrot of people who control others by obtaining power over them.

Your own mind is yours. You have the right to it. You surrender your mind to others and you are a drone; a slave of them and their agenda. It is true the "apparent" rewards seem too good to pass up; but, it is mere advertising jargon. An "only true" religion is a hamburger that claims to taste better.

Spend some time, for your own sake, considering outside the religion box. Learn how to think with some measure of objectivity by leaving out of the mix that body of religious doctrine which is full of cliches and mumbo jumbo nonsense parading as fact.

Be your own person. Own your own mind. Surrender your will to no one. Educate yourself through many sources. Learn to distinguish fact from fiction by looking at the difference between emotional claims unsupported and realistic claims backed up by something more than authority.

You don't have a choice when you enter a religious community. You surrender choice. The only choice is to enter or not. Postpone such a choice until you learn to look at your options with better tools than have been given you by mystical power mongers with a track record of medieval claims of supernatural backing.

This is your life you are selling at bargain prices.

Markfromcali

Hi Emma,

The thing I want to point out is religion is not the same thing as spirituality, and in your first post you mentioned wanting to figure out what to do with your spirituality. By this I also mean spirituality has nothing to do with a person's beliefs, but when you're around someone who is spiritual it comes through doesn't it? It has to do with how they relate to you as a person.

Matters of belief is something the mind deals with, spirituality is not limited to just a matter of your mind - otherwise why bother with an online discussion group like this, we can just go read a bunch of books. But the reason we're all here is there are live people here to interact with, it's not just a matter of holding certain ideas.

You know, when I was still a Witness I was living in a small apartment building next door to a non-denominational pastor, and this man had the wisdom not to discuss anything doctrinal. He said in his experience it only divides people, but his love and kindness was evident even though the intellectual discussion never got anywhere. What I remember about him was how he was as a person, a neighbor and a human being, it wasn't about religion. This is what I'm getting at, if you can make friends with people like this, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof, you can't go wrong.

garybuss

If religion was a house would I buy it? How's it's foundation? Has it needed any repairs? Has it had any damage? How have previous occupants fared? How is the roof? Good and solid? Or is it leaking in places and need repairs or maybe it needs replacing . . . again?

Reading the article in the Encyclopedia Britannica titled, "The Bible" helped me see the secular history of the book. Reading "The Age Of Reason" by Thomas Paine helped me analyze the contents of the book. Reading the book titled, "The Demon Haunted World", by Carl Sagan helped me see the fallacy of it all.

Looking for the right religion is a bit like trying to watch a sunset while blindfolded. All religion is is philosophy . . .by man, for man. GaryB

Phil

I am impressed with the responses to this fundamental question.When one analyzes the responses you can see the diversity of people who are willing to help the people who are still searching for an answer to a fundamental question.

Although I personally do not rely on Religion for spiritual survival, I can certainly understand that some people have a definite need for such spiritual guidance for every day life. The diversity is certainly out there. From religious cults such as Islam and Jehovah's Witnesses to Atheism, it's all out there. Good luck.

Phil

Mouthy

You forgot the "Crisis of Concience"

frankiespeakin

Em,

HELP!! Trying to find right religion brough up as JW

Stop trying it is a waste of time. It is all base on the false assumption that there is a true religion out there somewhere and if we find it we will get everlasting life. No one has any proof that there is such a thing. Instead accept the fact that we will all die some day and live your life as best you can "now" and let go of the "pie in the sky" dream.

drwtsn32

My search ended here:

JamesThomas

Religion?

What is religion, but a lot of words and beliefs. It's like numbly looking out a window and thinking that thing outside with it's branches moving in the wind is some kinda Pine tree.

How much more wonderful it is to go out and be silently present with this big, wondrous and beautiful expression and feel it's aliveness: inhale it's special and unique sent, feel its rough bark, not one centimeter of which is exactly like another, hear it's nettles sing as they dance is the swirling ocean of air. In a moment like this it fills your universe with awe and life. This, is what you hunger for: reality and actuality, otherwise know as Truth.

Stop shrinking God down into some old dead words on a page. You don't need the dead sleep of religion. You need to wake the hell up!

gumby

All this advise givin, and not ONE person against religion can answer any of lifes questions for a certainty as to what truth is. So really, no true advise is given ....just answers of what isn't truth. Not comforting....but perhaps true.

Gumby

HELP!! Trying to find right religion brough up as JW

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