estatubatuar
JoinedPosts by estatubatuar
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10
Zoroastrianism
by estatubatuar ini was wondering if anyone can relate to the following: i was led to seriously doubt the jw organization and the uniqueness/infallibility of the bible upon learning that many of the beliefs and doctrines of the judeo-christian tradition were predated by a persian religion by the name of zoroastrianism.
for example, according to many if not most scholars, the concepts of monotheism (one god), satan, angels, resurrection, baptism, paradise on earth or in heaven, etcetera..., weren't clearly mentioned/emphasized in the hebrew scriptures or espoused by the israelites until after they were exiled in babylon - circa 6th century b.c.
one example i would like to cite, which many a witness can probably relate to, is that no clear mention of a resurrection/afterlife is made in the hebrew scriptures, i.e., we all end up in sheol (non-existence).
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10
Zoroastrianism
by estatubatuar ini was wondering if anyone can relate to the following: i was led to seriously doubt the jw organization and the uniqueness/infallibility of the bible upon learning that many of the beliefs and doctrines of the judeo-christian tradition were predated by a persian religion by the name of zoroastrianism.
for example, according to many if not most scholars, the concepts of monotheism (one god), satan, angels, resurrection, baptism, paradise on earth or in heaven, etcetera..., weren't clearly mentioned/emphasized in the hebrew scriptures or espoused by the israelites until after they were exiled in babylon - circa 6th century b.c.
one example i would like to cite, which many a witness can probably relate to, is that no clear mention of a resurrection/afterlife is made in the hebrew scriptures, i.e., we all end up in sheol (non-existence).
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estatubatuar
Seedy3,
In addition to discovering that the post-exile Jews beliefs were, as it were, tainted by Zoroastrianism, noting that Satan played different roles in the Hebrew Sciptures (a public prosecutor for God) compared to the Greek Scriptures (evil incarnate) accelerated my exiting the troof. This led me to doubt the existence of Satan as a god of evil and Jehovah as a god of love. I thought, well, if Jehovah allowed Satan to do his thing, then Jehovah must be the one at fault because he let it happen, which led me to conclude that man is the one to blame for evil, if there is such a thing. Anyway, this brings back memories of asking people to tell me their demon stories to convince myself that Satan really did exist. Ha ha...all I could think was, either what they're telling me is true or they're out of their minds. The latter is what I ended up concluding. I recall trying to explain all of this to the elders. It was like talking to a brick wall. They were very nice about the whole thing but can you imagine trying to explain these doubts to a mailman, a steel worker, a dry cleaning shop keeper, and a painter? They must of thought, "Hmmm...this guy really needs to get laid." Actually, that's still the case.
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10
Zoroastrianism
by estatubatuar ini was wondering if anyone can relate to the following: i was led to seriously doubt the jw organization and the uniqueness/infallibility of the bible upon learning that many of the beliefs and doctrines of the judeo-christian tradition were predated by a persian religion by the name of zoroastrianism.
for example, according to many if not most scholars, the concepts of monotheism (one god), satan, angels, resurrection, baptism, paradise on earth or in heaven, etcetera..., weren't clearly mentioned/emphasized in the hebrew scriptures or espoused by the israelites until after they were exiled in babylon - circa 6th century b.c.
one example i would like to cite, which many a witness can probably relate to, is that no clear mention of a resurrection/afterlife is made in the hebrew scriptures, i.e., we all end up in sheol (non-existence).
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estatubatuar
I was wondering if anyone can relate to the following: I was led to seriously doubt the JW organization and the uniqueness/infallibility of the Bible upon learning that many of the beliefs and doctrines of the Judeo-Christian tradition were predated by a Persian religion by the name of Zoroastrianism. For example, according to many if not most scholars, the concepts of monotheism (one God), Satan, angels, resurrection, baptism, paradise on earth or in heaven, etcetera..., weren't clearly mentioned/emphasized in the Hebrew Scriptures or espoused by the Israelites until after they were exiled in Babylon - circa 6th century B.C. One example I would like to cite, which many a Witness can probably relate to, is that no clear mention of a resurrection/afterlife is made in the Hebrew Scriptures, i.e., we all end up in Sheol (non-existence). In other words, the whole idea of a resurrection and/or afterlife can ultimately be traced to the time when the Jews rubbed shoulders with Zoroastrians in Babylon and consequently ended up absorbing many beliefs which were foreign to, if you will, primitive Judaism. It wasn't until much, much later that the aforementioned ideas became central to the faith of the Jews and by extension, the Christians. Upon learning all of the above, I realized - at least in my mind - that the Bible was nothing more than a book written by men, not God. In my eyes, the Bible became a kind of political manifesto for all the various groups/religions that use it. Hence, if the Bible isn't God inspired, then JW's can't be either.
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How did you adjust to the world after leaving JW land ? friends/lonliness ?
by run dont walk inhow long did it take you to adjust to the real world ???
and make real friends, who didn't care about religion.
did you suffer from lonliness and depression after leaving ???.
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estatubatuar
Leaving the dub's has been the worst and the best of times. After realizing I didn't have the security net of JW salvation to cover my ass, I became psychologically crippled by a chronic fear of dying, which is why I joined in the first place. Right after fading, my life became consumed by the thought of possibly dying in a car accident, terrorist attack, etc.... Every day was a battle to survive my own imaginary ARMAGEDDONS. I've never experienced loneliness, but plenty of health problems as a result. Trusting people is very hard especially after discovering that the people you thought never acted in self-interest disown you for being honest with them: how can you trust anyone after having been brainwashed to think non-JW's are evil? After nearly seven years, I'm finally meeting real people again through a good high school friend I've managed to keep. I'm chronically angry and hoping the rage will someday subside. The good side of all this nonsense is that I don't have to rely upon an organization to hand me a belief system on a silver platter. I believe what I believe because I believe and that's it. I don't need the pseudo-proofs of Bible prophecy, etc., to explain to people why my morality is right for me.
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JW friends, did you keep any?
by Victorian sky injust wondering.
how many of you have kept any active jw friends?
i have a few i've known for years.
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estatubatuar
There is one active witness (ministerial servant) with whom I'll still have a drink with from time to time. We pioneered together. I'm amazed at how he hasn't shunned me even after having seen me smoking, swearing, and bragging about my escapades. I've often asked him how his conscience can justify associating with me. He says it's because I'm inactive and not disfellowshipped. Maybe he figures I'll return someday. I think the real reason he'll hang with me on occasion is to ventilate his Watchtower induced madness. It looks to me like he despises most of his fellow witnesses. For me it's therapy in the sense that I can be reminded of how good I've got now that I'm out. I just hope that one day my friend will wake up.