a long time ago, before television radio and films, before printing, before the invention of writing, people listened only to the spoken word—and the cry of birds, the wind whistling through the trees and the sea crashing on the sea shore.
before written text they knew about the gods because high up there in the night sky was where they lived; gods, goddesses and immortal heroes.
the constellations told of their exploits.
But, when someone takes the stories of the Bible out of context and uses them to control, condemn, or abuse others, it's wrong.
The whole story of the Bible and what we are meant to do with it is to believe in Jesus, and to take the love that he gave us and love others.
Love is not control or abuse and unfortunately there is a lot of this going on. But, this is not the spirit of Christ.
a long time ago, before television radio and films, before printing, before the invention of writing, people listened only to the spoken word—and the cry of birds, the wind whistling through the trees and the sea crashing on the sea shore.
before written text they knew about the gods because high up there in the night sky was where they lived; gods, goddesses and immortal heroes.
the constellations told of their exploits.
Michael Heiser has a book, The Unseen Realm and other talks I have seen that agree that a lot of what that culture and writings and belief are based on astrology. Like the vision that Ezekiel saw with the cherubim and the wheels, the story in Revelation about the woman and the dragon...all about stars. It is very interesting, for sure!
Ancient ideas were that the sun, moon and the stars were a representation of realities beyond...kind of like a metaphor. As I learn more about the natural world, it is easy to see that they are metaphors for greater realities of God. Some religions just worshipped the actual creation instead of seeing the beyond.
There is awe and wonder in creation and seeing the beyond. But, I just happened to be wired in such a way that metaphors, similes, connections, callbacks, parallels fascinate me. So, the Bible happens to satisfy my particular brain, which I am really grateful for.
A relationship with my creator is very personal. I may tell you a story about a time that I prayed and then God showed himself to me through what happened after I prayed. You see no connection because you don't see how poetic and beautiful the answer truly was.
I have a handful of stories that just blow my mind to recount of God's faithfulness! But they wouldn't mean much to you. They mean everything to me.
So, it's tough to talk about belief, faith, the Bible with people who don't have that inner eye that sees beyond.
We all have our strengths, though, and it's fun to wrestle with these things!
a long time ago, before television radio and films, before printing, before the invention of writing, people listened only to the spoken word—and the cry of birds, the wind whistling through the trees and the sea crashing on the sea shore.
before written text they knew about the gods because high up there in the night sky was where they lived; gods, goddesses and immortal heroes.
the constellations told of their exploits.
I love the Bible. I always have, even as a child reading my book of Bible stories. I love the one story aspect, I love all of the parallels and callbacks, the symbolism, the lessons we can learn and how when I read and learn from it, it literally helps me to love others more. Here is a quote that I love from G.D. Watson in his book "Our Own God" about God
"He makes each of our lives to seem the center of a vast system, and makes us see a significance in his dealings with us which no one else can see, so that reading our lives in the light of the Holy ghost is like the biography of some of the patriarchs, and our individual history is so pervaded with it interferences of our heavenly father and it seems like adding another page to the old testament."
two days ago, i experienced a spiritual epiphany while visiting the library of a catholic university: i was shocked to find thousands of religious literatures produced by the catholics and protestants in the last few hundred years.
someone could easily spend a secluded lifetime trying to read them all.
for years, i was told by my religious leaders (jws) that the catholics and other religions did not provide spiritual food to their members.
For me, "food at the proper time" is when I am praying through a trial or struggling to understand something or seeking answers and I am reading the Bible and it speaks to these things. Or I go to church and the song sung or the message is just what I needed in that moment, or something my husband says that gives me that extra piece I was missing. The source is God, the food can come from anyone he is using to provide it.
after posting on another thread it became apparent to me that it can be difficult for some ex jws to totally shake off all wt teaching , even after leaving the org.
do you still feel guilty going into a church for a wedding or a funeral .
can you bring yourself to celebrate birthdays or christmas .
I did have an issue with performance, which I think came from being a JW. I used to volunteer at places until I was so busy and burnt out and crying out to God "is it enough" or "now do you love me"
It took a lot to get over that and realize that God loves me separate from what I do. He chose me to walk in good works, yes, but not so that he will love me more or that I would be good enough.
I still struggle with black and white thinking. All or nothing kind of behavior. And genuinely loving people without a hidden agenda (like trying to win God's favor - which I already have)
would you stop buying nike products because you didn’t like their politics?
conversely, would you give business to a company because you liked their political stand on a matter?
would you stop watching an entertainer because you disagree with their political perspectives?
The only place I stopped "shopping" at is planned Parenthood. I used to get birth control from them because it was cheapish and I don't have insurance. But after learning more about abortion and all of that I get my birth control from New Zealand.
*I don't judge anyone else for supporting them, I just don't feel right about it for me.
after posting on another thread it became apparent to me that it can be difficult for some ex jws to totally shake off all wt teaching , even after leaving the org.
do you still feel guilty going into a church for a wedding or a funeral .
can you bring yourself to celebrate birthdays or christmas .
Christmas took a while. I fought it as much as I could. Every year I say that we should just skip it, but it comes. Some years I really get into it, trying to find that present that will make someone feel special.
One year, I called Christmas the Riddle family gift exchange and did it on a different day so that my Jehovah's witness family could come, but they all said they were too busy that day.
My birthday is nothing special, but I do like to go out to eat and pick the place. I try to make as big of a deal as I can for my husband and son's birthday.
I have been going to my church for over 10 years, but that first time was weird. Nothing bad happened when I went and so I kept going and I still enjoy it!
I get medical marijuana and the first time my husband and I did it, we went to the book store and I noticed that in the Christian section I was feeling weird and I realized I still had some indoctrination left in me. When I was a teenager, I got the cd from Jars of Clay because I liked their song flood on the radio. When I listened to it, I discovered it was a Christian band and immediately threw it away because, y'know, it was "satanic". Meanwhile, I kept all of my Nirvana stuff and Soundgarden, which probably actually was satanic...
due to the fact there are about 27,000 members of this religion that are known pedophiles, and the information about it is kept in a secret database file, i wonder how many lurking jw's as well as others are aware of the severity of this problem?
remember, it's 27,000 pedophiles that they know about.
what about the thousands that don't get caught?
My great grandpa was a Jw and molested my grandma and my mom. We lived in the same house as him for many years, but thankfully he never molested me. I didn't find out until I was 18 when my mom told my sister and I. When my grandma found out my mom told us, she was furious. If I had known sooner, I would have understood why my mom acted like she did and had more compassion towards her. I was kind of mad, too. I am glad she told us, but he was never exposed while he was alive. They probably wouldn't have believed my grandma anyway. But by not telling, my mom got molested, so that's why you have to tell the cops.
why the shunning if someone leaves?
why are they working so hard to keep everyone in?
is it money?
It feels like they are going to disappear one day, making people think they were taken up to heaven, but really retiring to a tropical island somewhere drinking scotch, haha!
why the shunning if someone leaves?
why are they working so hard to keep everyone in?
is it money?
So, do you think the governing body really believe in this or do you think they are, with malice, keeping people in what they know is a scam. I think they are evil, but maybe they are just that delusional? It's hard for me to believe that there are people who want to hurt other people on purpose. I have seen it first-hand, though, so I know it exists.
