Posts by tetrapod.sapien

13

Precident for elders to have two sets of rules. One for us and one for them

by kwintestal in

i was thinking about this for some reason this morning.

it seems that elders or elders' family are able to get away with quite a bit, while those who aren't are hung.

so how is that any different then things in the ot?.

tetrapod.sapien

i agree that there is most often a double standard. but it is not just the org. it is a human institutional trait. when a human comes into a bit of power, the likelyhood of them being hung for something goes down dramatically. especially in an org where there are not very good checks in place.

63

Is Jesus God?

by Honesty in

.

does the bible prove or disprove whether or not jesus is god?

tetrapod.sapien

for me, i bypass arguments from doctrine or philosophy, not because they are invalid (far from it!), but because i have found no convincing secular evidence that he ever existed. ergo, if there is a high probablity that he never existed, then i have no problems answering: no, he most likely is not God.

37

What has been your most spiritual experience?

by Qcmbr in

ok highly loaded question but i'd like to know!

i come from the viewpoint that we are spiritual beings having mortal experiences ergo we are having constant spiritual experience that maybe makes it seem commonplace..i'd be interested if anyone else has noticed spiritual events happening?

i'll shoot first: .

tetrapod.sapien

Hi Qcmbr, i think this is an interesting question. while i personally lack a belief in the supernatural, i do have experiences of "awe" that perhaps would be interpreted as spiritual if i were a theist. 1. i am in awe of our existence. our small flash of existence in this cosmos, and probablity that I, or any of us could never have existed if natural selection had played out even slightly differently. 2. like you, i am too in awe at our own conciousness mind. 3. i am in awe of, and scared of death. for me, i have nothing after i die. just non-existence. this really shakes me, but also magnifies point # 1. these things that fill me with awe, stop me dead in my tracks sometimes. i get goose bumps all over my body, my vision and sense of hearing become acute, and my mind is filled by an emotion i can only describe as intense awe. thanks, that was a good question

26

Ah! Thursday! Meeting Night!

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

after i left the jws and moved out, it was weird having all these evenings to myself.

i think sunday was the easiest day to get used to without meetings.

it just made my weekend a bit longer.

tetrapod.sapien

totally! i love being somewhere (either at home or where ever), and it being about 8 pm, and looking at my watch and thinking: "yes! now this is life!".

18

hello world (deconversion story)

by tetrapod.sapien in

here is my story as originally posted on iidb.org.

it is only about a week old, but i have been lurking here for months.

it was written for non ex-jw's, ergo the explainations as to terminology.

tetrapod.sapien

[quote] Isn't it a clean, and refreshing feeling to be totally honest about your core beliefs? [/quote] yes! it's the best feeling i have ever had!

50

What stupid things did you confess to the elders?

by sweet tee in

i forced my husband to confess to the elders that we were having os!

damn that was stupid ... he was great at it .

i also made him tell the brothers that he changed a number on our temporary license tag (don't laugh!

tetrapod.sapien

i never told them anything, even if i had to lie to them. i guess i just never thought that another human really had the right to know. i had a "friend" turn me in for drinking whisky with a worldly girl. when the elders confronted me, i laughed. they didn't like that. ;)

18

hello world (deconversion story)

by tetrapod.sapien in

here is my story as originally posted on iidb.org.

it is only about a week old, but i have been lurking here for months.

it was written for non ex-jw's, ergo the explainations as to terminology.

tetrapod.sapien

ya, weird. it was formatted, even after i pasted it into composition box. when i submitted it, it truncated it all. if the mods can provide me with a way to reformat it, then i will re post it. sorry your eyes hurt.

18

hello world (deconversion story)

by tetrapod.sapien in

here is my story as originally posted on iidb.org.

it is only about a week old, but i have been lurking here for months.

it was written for non ex-jw's, ergo the explainations as to terminology.

tetrapod.sapien

hello ex-jw's! here is my story as originally posted on iidb.org. it is only about a week old, but i have been lurking here for months. it was written for non ex-jw's, ergo the explainations as to terminology. i hope this is the right area for this sort of post. if i am in error, then feel free to redirect, mods. nice to be here!! here it is:

greetings fellow infidels!

well, some brief history is perhaps in order. i was raised as a jehovah's witness, and until today, i was officially a jehovah's witness. i was liberal for a witness, but still for years believed the same poison as all witnesses believe, and bugged you all on saturday mornings (sorry about that). i met my wife in "the truth" (as they refer to their faith). all my friends and family are still witnesses, and intend to remain as such until shortly, when at Armageddon God Jehovah will tear all infidels (incl moi) asunder with his wrath, and all witnesses will build a paradise on earth and wear dress slacks and summer dresses and have many happy cobra and lion petting picnics in meadows by streams. this last saturday, i drove a letter around to my family and friends and elders (pastors) that stated i no longer wished to be a JW. everyone reacted adversely, of course, and many cried and said their final goodbye's to me (as obviously being under the official control of satan the deceiver). as witnesses, they are commanded by the governing body to cut off, socially, those who have done as i have. tonight was the night, at their weekly meetings in my city, that they publicly announced to hundreds of individuals that i no longer am a JW. this is a rare occurrence in this religion/cult, as most people who leave are kicked out for "sinning", and of those who leave of their own choice, the majority become born agains or some similar mythology-beleiving/lovebombing/fundie theists. i have lost many friends, and many associates, but gained my freedom of thought and action for what i have come to appreciate as the most logical position for our species, atheism. today, i guess, is really the first day as me, and it feels great. i feel like my own person, and wanted to share the event with you all. hello world (and iidb!).

so why did i disassociate myself from the JWs, and become an atheist?

without taking much more of your time, it all started with questions regarding the genesis creation account that i had suppressed for years, thanks to my cognitive dissonance. i turned to one of the watchtower's books on "refuting" evolution. this book was iron clad to me when i "studied" it as a teenager, but this time something different happened. in the first chapter, it invites people to be "intellectually honest" about the issue of creation, and although it surely was not intended by the WT to include the vice versa application, i decided to apply the truism to myself, and "follow the facts wherever they led me". and so, ironically, one of my own WT books set me on this odyssey of science, reason, logic, evidence and truth. the book itself, after i dug in, was full of logical fallacies, gross misquotations of scientists and very selective "evidence". i see now, the stupidity of all of their output, but anything to do with science is especially laughable. i surely need not explain the details of my journey to iidb, but here is a brief (for me) overview.
one of the first sites i came across in my search for secular essay references, was (thankfully) talkorigins.org. and so i started reasoning (bear with me, i was raised a fundie after all):
if the genesis creation account is rubbish, then what about the rest of genesis as literally interpreted by the WT? what about noah/flood? the fall of man from perfection? Gods dealings with early humans etc.? *imperfection and salvation*? i realized, that if genesis was called into question, then so was the rest of the "inerrant" bible. everything JW's believe has it's roots in genesis afterall. what would it be like to research what i held to be true, through the eyes of a skeptic? and if the WT was scientifically dishonest, then was not spiritual/moral honesty also called into question? the rest was a psychologically hellish tour de force while i learned critical thinking ability, tools of logic and most importantly, the scientific method. i destroyed my faith over the course of six months as i read and read and read and read. it was exhilarating and devastating all at the same time. everything i held true, arrogantly and ignorantly, came crashing down around me under the weight of their own dishonesty's. and here i am today.

i arrived at the conclusion regarding my being an official JW about 2 months ago, that i had to make a stand for atheism. i wonder how many other JWs there are in the closet as free thinkers, in fear of losing friends and family to the cult? but i had to come out. i had to state who i am to those who love me and respect me, even if i knew they would shun me in the end. me, an atheist at the basic level. i could have just faded away from the religion, like many do, but that would have been dishonest.

i am angry. i feel ripped off that i have spent my entire life following the ancient mythologies of some crazy middle eastern backwater nomadic tribe. for being removed from science classes on evolution in school growing up. what a pathetic lie!! i hope with time, as i heal from the indoctrination process of the witnesses, and nurture my atrophied imagination back to working order, that the awe of existence here in the cosmos will turn me into a self respecting individual, trying to make the world a better place.

i hope to contribute to this community, and look forward to becoming more active. sorry for the long-windedness, but i would be happy to answer any supplementary questions regarding my deconversion. thanks for the opportunity to post this to iidb.

i realize it sounds melodramatic, but i want to say that today i officially became "me". i lost a lot, by most standards, in officially leaving "the truth". but was standing up for intellectual honesty, logic and science worth it? yes, indeed.

tetrapod.sapien
a.a #709

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