i have been testing the waters with a fade.
waiting to see the reaction.
my friends and family still talk to me, although i haven't been to meeting since november of last year.
@MadSweeney: good point about the distortion with which people act. I know that all of my friends, and JWs in general are genuinely sweet, ignorant and naive. And I believe most act out of good motive. That is not to say there are not truly deceptive and gnarly people involved as well. But, the rank and file, for the most part are not in that category.
DS
i have been testing the waters with a fade.
waiting to see the reaction.
my friends and family still talk to me, although i haven't been to meeting since november of last year.
Thanks for all the great advice. I'm not sure what tactic I will finally take. One reason I don't just up and move away is that I have a nephew here who needs me to stick around because his home life is really crappy. So, what I have done is travel a lot - and that sort of keeps people at bay because they don't really know when I am in town or not. And I might work out of town on a temporary basis - which would also keep people out of my hair because they can assume I'm going to meeting down there.
As far as a relationship goes, I would just have to be up front with whomever I am with about my situation and the need to be discreet. I wouldn't have him meet my family until after it was more serious - like we were married. :-) And Flipper is right - if I want a new life, I will need to do many things privately and secretly. I just have to get brave enough to do it, I guess.
I do like the suggestion of being a spy though. I do want to keep in touch with things enough to know what is going on, and what is being taught to my nephew. I think children need moral direction, but obviously, I'm not interested in supporting twisted thinking that might arise from his situation either.
Thanks for the support everyone!
DS
that is indeed my question.
what difference does it make what we believe?
seems like a lot of people are motivated to believe the "right" thing to avoid punishment.
If we were not orderly and productive, of course nothing would get accomplished. Which, in the end wouldn't matter much except that people may be more miserable than they already are. The moral standards are innate - it seems that all human societies basically have very similar standards around stealing, murdering, fidelity, etc. It is the human conscience that produces the standardization of the behavior codes. They are set up by the authority created in each society...external authority does not always equate justice with fairness, but for the most part it does.
that is indeed my question.
what difference does it make what we believe?
seems like a lot of people are motivated to believe the "right" thing to avoid punishment.
I do believe as humans, we require a moral code just to keep order and to be productive. However, if the everything in the Bible is true, and the whole concept is based on the issue of Universal Soveriegnty - then God is going to win - no matter what any of us do personally. So, if I choose to wait on the sideline to see what happens, I'm not convinced it matters or affects the outcome in any way. And, as I stated before - if when we die, we are dead (as I believe we are) then what is there to fear? I'm not afraid to go to sleep, and I'm not afraid to die.
that is indeed my question.
what difference does it make what we believe?
seems like a lot of people are motivated to believe the "right" thing to avoid punishment.
That is indeed my question. what difference does it make what we believe? Seems like a lot of people are motivated to believe the "right" thing to avoid punishment. But in my view - if death is like going to sleep - then what is the harm in that? Either you go to sleep and stay asleep, or you go to sleep and get woken up to watch the next chapter in our saga unfold.
And, while i'm here - if the world was going to be a Paradise (which I know many here feel is inaccurate), what are we going to do after everyone is perfect? What is the real reason we are here?
Discuss.
:-) DS
a witness trying to reason with me throws out a doctrine supportive question like "don't you think it makes more sense that god wants us to go back to his original plan of being on a paradise earth, rather than being in heaven"...so why would i think going to heaven is the more correct outcome for believers.. ok, so if that's the case, why the need to depict all the clothed people in all the "after" renderings in the watchtower, where everyone has clothes on?
by her argument, why isn't there renederings of naked people, if that's what god's original plan was?.
i just think it's funny, that certain details are overlooked in the reasoning with these people..
OK, so if that's the case, why the need to depict all the clothed people in all the "after" renderings in the watchtower, where everyone has clothes on? By her argument, why isn't there renederings of naked people, if that's what God's original plan was?
I think the WTBS would be uncomfortable producing porn, don't you.
i have been testing the waters with a fade.
waiting to see the reaction.
my friends and family still talk to me, although i haven't been to meeting since november of last year.
I know the words she says sound controlling, but actually I know that is not her intention at all. She is of course concerned, and her motives are pure. She is not a meddler, and has not mentioned much until now. I'm just working on how to skirt the issue.
It is tricky because I can go with the "depressed/overwhelmed" scenerio - which sounds good, but will only hold so much water as people find out I'm active doing other things.
There was recently an article in the WT about not judging what will happen to people - that Jehovah is the one who judges hearts and that we do not have all the facts of situations, which I think is in my favor. If people take that to heart at all - it will at the very least provide a reference point that someone can use when people hassle them.
I'll have to think this through carefully....
DS
so, the whole concept of jehovah having people going to heaven to rule with christ doesn't make sense to me.
doesn't the idea that christ "needs" helpers insinuate that he is not the perfect ruler that he is portrayed to be?
why does god need people in heaven?
ok, I can get that. But the explanation I was always told was that the humans were being invited to heaven to ensure fairness - because they bring with them a wealth of human experience to "inform" Christ's leadership....therefore, I always looked at it as a deficit because I assumed that Christ experienced everything he would need, and since he is perfect wouldn't need the human experience of others.
Confused...
DS
so, the whole concept of jehovah having people going to heaven to rule with christ doesn't make sense to me.
doesn't the idea that christ "needs" helpers insinuate that he is not the perfect ruler that he is portrayed to be?
why does god need people in heaven?
So, the whole concept of Jehovah having people going to heaven to rule with Christ doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't the idea that Christ "needs" helpers insinuate that he is not the perfect ruler that he is portrayed to be? Why does God need people in heaven? If Jesus is a perfect ruler, he won't need "assistance", right??
Am I missing something??
DS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skvrcnehw6k.
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i couldn't agree more!.
@chickpea: Amen and Amen.
