Losing My Religion

by joelbear 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  joelbear

  
  I had faith. I believed in the prospect of united world where everyone submitted authority to a higher power and lived in peace.

  I lost faith over a period of years from 15 to 25.

  Events that chipped away at my faith.

  1. Observing how critical some were of others and yet who resisting any criticism of themselves.

  2. Having to believe the end was near and not daring to plan for your future without being scorned.

  3. Hearing elders give direction from the platform that I knew their own families weren't following.

  4. Observing behavior of witnesses at assemblies toward witnesses they didn't know.

  5. Experiencing the numbing bureaucracy of Bethel.

  6. Experiencing the treatment of several completely unloving circuit overseers.

  7. Having elders I thought were friend turn on me when they learned I was battling homosexuality.

  One of my main points here is, I didn't leave because I just had to have sex. I stayed a virgin until I was 30. I left because my faith was eroded. I'm willing to bet that many people who get DFed for immorality (98%) of people, are really just people who have stopped believing and want to move on. No faith, no reason for beating oneself up.
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  AlmostAtheist

  Hey Joel,

  When I left JW's, it was because I had willingly relinquished my faith. I truly didn't want it anymore.

  It sounds like you had yours stolen from you, which isn't the same thing at all.

  Do you WANT to have a faith of some kind?

  Dave
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  tetrapod.sapien

  hey joel,

  that's a pretty damning list, for sure. the homosexual policy of the org always really, really bugged me. but i never did anything about it since it did not affect me directly. and, apart from that, being a dumbass helped me stay in for a long time.

  for me, it was science. all i had to do was sit back for a moment and meditate on how pervasive science was in my life. and then think about the definition of faith, and how the two really do not compliment each other. it was easy to give up the concept of faith, for me.

  TS
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  Billygoat

  Faith and Science - I believe they can co-exist peacefully.
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  LDH

  Almost all religions require you to deny yourself...something. For you it was sex.

  The problem with the JWs is that you have to deny yourself EVERYTHING, all the time. It breaks people's backs. That or they end up old and lonely because they've forsaken everything including normal family relationships.