Apognopho,
“OEJ, myself, and many others here are born-ins. We didn't particularly ask to be born into it and are trying to claw our way out. However, this forum has a non-representative fraction of ex-JWs and "conscious class" JWs. Many ex-JWs still think it's the truth or might be the truth. The ones who are here are largely the ones who, active JWs or not, were unafraid of contrary information and tended to think for themselves a bit more. That being said, many of us believed it was the truth until we were well into adulthood."
Those born into any religion are an entirely different kettle of fish than converts. There is no such thing as a twelve-year-old heretic. Children’s minds are born tabula rasa and malleable which is why, for example, learning one’s native language is so much easier than picking up a second one. I believed in the tenets of the religion that I was born and indoctrinated into without reservation into my young adulthood as well. Indeed, it never would have even occurred to me to question them. There was, I confess, a comforting sense of reassurance in such certainty, even if it turns out to have been a fool’s one, that I have never experienced since.
It is not the obvious high degree of intelligence of many I have already encountered here that surprises me as much as that of their erudition. It was not my perception that those raised within fundamentalist type mind control cults had either the opportunity or the inclination to pursue higher degrees of education (either formally or informally via reading), especially in more esoteric areas. I know that the JW governing body discourages such for utilitarian and understandable reasons (from their perspective).
But as I said, I went through my period of anguish regarding someone very close to me becoming a JW long ago and at this point it is useless to attempt to fight yesterday’s lost battles anew. I’m significantly older myself and don’t feel comfortable contributing toward sowing doubts within others, especially regarding a religion I was never affiliated with. I have read both Eastern and Western religious and metaphysical thought for decades, as well as scientific literature, and still feel no more certain of truth than when I began. So who am I to scoff at the beliefs of others, especially when the potential stakes are so alarmingly high? I too have read Mark 9:42 and no amount of intellectual thought can totally dispel the apprehension it engenders within the psyche of one raised Christian, especially as one ages.
Although I can state with certainty of conviction that I could never accept certain tenets of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that strike me as absurd, I can also say that I can’t dismiss the faith’s basic paradigm in good conscience merely because it seems simplistic. Augustine traveled much the same path and ultimately contented himself with producing as high a level of theological musings as was possible within the early Church, still somewhat anti-intellectual in tenor.
In that light, I think it best if I bow out of here, leaving you to discuss amongst yourselves that which has had such a profound personal impact on your lives and in many cases continues to do so. I can’t do so, however, without thanking everyone for your welcoming comments and most helpful input. I hope you all capture the peace of mind for which we all yearn. Indeed, from the moment of conception, the Sword of Damocles hovers precariously above us all. That is both the trap of religion…and its salve.
Best regards to all,
Don Schneider
