Posts by schnell

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

How could I forget the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius?

Stoicism, now that's a legitimate philosophy to fill the void after religion.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

Oh, I'm sure they won't read it, and I could summarize everything with a list of other books you could read to get the same thing....

Like this:

"30 Years a Watchtower Slave" by Schnell

"The Hero With a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins (especially hilarious when he brings up "Life: How Did It Get Here?")

"The Bible Unearthed" by Finkelstein and Silberman

"Forged" by Bart D. Ehrman

"Spooky Science: Debunking the Pseudoscience of the Afterlife" by John Grant

The Ken Ham vs Bill Nye debate on Youtube and anything from Potholer54 or Matt Dillahunty.

And pretty much anything by Alan Watts.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

I'll say this. If I do DA, I want to write a freaking dissertation on every single thing that's wrong with this. They aren't in for a letter. They'll wish they only got a letter.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

@Village Idiot, it's a great book. Comparing that to the Faith in Action videos, you see how much of a jerk Rutherford was and how they still try to paint him in a positive light.

@dubstepped, I hear you. I thought I could just try to ignore everything and be a JW anyway... Cognitive dissonance doesn't allow that for long. The first nice lady out in service who expressed how much she loved the Trinity had me thinking, "She seems happy with this. Why should I debate the details of something I personally find ridiculous?"

@rebel8 (and others making this point) yeah, I agree. I stopped seeing elders as wise sages a long time ago. They're not. Many of them are delusional homophobes who watch Fox News but don't vote. Why would I want this person's opinion on my spirituality?

I fought hard for my wife. I loved her before she was baptized, and the elders looked down on me for it. She has promised not to leave me, even through all this. If she does, then goddammit will I be heartbroken, but I'll let her go because it's her choice. Because I'm not the "head," I'm her partner. Thankfully, I see a lot of the same doubt in her eyes that I've had, and her reaction to stuff like the anti-gay Caleb and Sofia cartoon is priceless!

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

@Heaven, heh, Christmas. Never had any desire to celebrate it but I do love my Christmas Vacation and Krampus was freaking awesome!

The whole holiday thing is just weird. I seriously saw a conversation on Facebook where a brother asked if Bosses Day has pagan origins......

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

@Pete Zahut, that's been my stance so far. I believe you're right. It gets annoying and even painful when people ask me, or ask my wife about me. It's the worst when a nice, wonderful brother who's dying, whose whole reason for waking up in the morning is because of his beliefs, wants to talk to me about them. I am not enough of an asshole to challenge that and take his faith away from him.

All the other cultist dorks who should know better, the ones who rationalize all the faults and failures by looking forward to the new scrolls in the new system, I can sort of deal with and would rather shoo away. The old ladies who think Buddhists worship a god named Buddha... they can take an especially long hike.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

@Giordano, fantastic response! Thank you so much! I have some reading to do tonight.

And hell yeah, never better!

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

Thank you everyone for the welcome. It's nice to have a place to express all this.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

@Sanchy, she's hanging on. We love each other, but she feels down on meeting nights and doesn't like to drive by herself at night.

I understand. As I said, I held on for years, and my standing on this threshold is a lot for her. I get that.

But it's not the truth. As William alluded to, these guys talk about a water canopy as the source of the flood, while also accepting climate change.... Do they not realize that those ideas don't go together? Preaching this doctrine is intellectually dishonest, and exposes people to a flawed judicial system that can shun people. That's really enough for me.

28

So getting disfellowshipped sounds kind of great.

by schnell in

i grew up in this religion, i was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now i'm 31. i'm also evolutionist and atheist.

i wanted this to be the truth.

i spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything.

schnell

Hi everyone,

I grew up in this religion, I was baptized at 14, married at 27, and now I'm 31. I'm also evolutionist and atheist. I wanted this to be the truth. I spent years as an apologist trying to reconcile everything. Nope. You really can't do it, and as you see all the flaws, it just becomes a rotten experience to go to the meeting.

I've read The God Delusion and 30 Years a Watchtower Slave (hence my username) among other books. My family wants me to stay, and my friends want me to stay, and everyone who sees me just knows that that I haven't been to meetings and they ask "Are you okay?"

Frankly, I'm tired of being asked if I'm okay. I'm good, it's the religion you're preaching that you should be looking at.

So now I'm considering writing my letter and making it official. The benefit is simply that people in this cult will finally leave me alone, except possibly for the elders. I'll deal with them. They can bring it, because creationism and Bible literalism and prophecy cannot stand up to science and Bible criticism.

As with seemingly every atheist, I pursued the truth, and the truth set me free. Thanks everyone.