former Jehovah's Witness

TRBG

New member
Got out of the cult when I was 20. Not really looking for recovery/support. Just checking for common ground in another community. Currently identify as non-religious Christian (I agree with the philosophy but not the mythology ).
 
Not Sure (lol), but I think this might be a Fireplace topic rather than Spiritulosity. Or else, since they do celebrate ONLY weddings and wedding anniversaries, do they have nothing in the book against plural marriages? I never thought to ask you that...
 
I'd say it's of a spiritual nature but yeah, not specifically in regards to JWs and poly. They would ne against it though, they're against education and there's kind of some math involved
 
Hi Flear,
The joke was that the cult would be against poly because the math would get too complicated and therefore possibly require a degree of some sort.

The weird thing is I think they've lightened their stance against members going to college. It's one of many things they've changed their minds about while continueing to refer to themself as 'The Truth.' I'm pretty sure truth is a constant, something is either true or it isn't. And when you have an all loving, all powerful, omnipresent being on your side how hard could it be to get that stuff straightened out?
 
Got out of the cult when I was 20. Not really looking for recovery/support. Just checking for common ground in another community. Currently identify as non-religious Christian (I agree with the philosophy but not the mythology ).

Congrats on getting out of the cult.

What is the "philosophy" of Xtianity when you leave out the magic? Golden rule? That's a common theme in many world religions. Why the need to call yourself Xtian?

Do you think you've found the real Truth now? Isn't "truth" in religion different for everyone, according to their life experiences?

Can something be true without being real?
 
Yeah, the golden rule thing, commonness of it acknowledged. I don't exclusively refer to myself as listed here, that's just a way of simplifying it and the way a few of my coworkers started identifying what we've found to be a pretty common belief system, usually among people who were raised a variation of Christian.
 
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Re: real truth. In regards to "origins of the universe" and "life after death" types of truth I don't think religion has anything to offer. I do believe however that since religion has been part of our evolution since we first developed conscientiousness that the need for it is still ingrained in us.
 
Agreed... I've decided that, for me, the focus on the resurrection and divinity of Christ overshadows what he actually TAUGHT. And I feel that his message has more weight when you believe he actually died for it, rather than the deus ex machina at the end.

Then again, perhaps the push of the resurrection and divinity angle was to differentiate him from every other martyr... who knows?
 
Mag, Not sure I get the truth without reality question. Are you asking is there truth in God even if there is no God?
 
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Mag, Not sure I get the truth without reality question. Are you asking is there truth in God even if there is no God?

Nah. I meant, for me, there is truth in myths (psychological, emotional), even if the myth didn't happen. Men don't come back to life and breed (Osiris), or "ascend" (Jesus). Really. But what is the meaning of ruling a spiritual under-or-overworld after physical death?

Jesus told parables. Going deeper, perhaps his whole life is a parable someone made up after reading the obscure theological rantings of Paul of Tarsus. Christianity is rife with pseudo-history.
 
christianity (whatever sect your looking at, even all of them)

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it's like the english teacher that has overanalized a book for their class, "why did the writer use this color?" -to symbolize ....

ask the writer and find out the teacher is a bigger quack then the doctor who just got his license yanked.

everyone else has decided they know what messages jesus was trying to teach, yet, ... have you ever looked at it ?

"free will", ... or gods will be done ???
"unconditional love" ... on one condition ... ???

and stories are created by learned "christians" about symbolism about what everything means.

you love your children right ?, ... would you punish the good child because the other did something bad ?

it was a guy hundreds of years after the death of jesus that decide "jesus died for our sins" this was a guy who had never met him, never talked with him, ... even the apostles who were closest to jesus didn't come to this conclusion. wouldn't judas been seen as more the hero as he enabled jesus to be the one that enabled jesus to die for our sins ?

many stories are created after the fact to explain problems with inaccurate conclusions by other people prior to them, ... instead of reanalyzing the initial conclusion and wondering "i don't think that's really what it was about"


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then you've got many people looking to what's in scripture and interpreting some things as symbolic, other things as literal, stating everything is the divine commandment of the lord.

don't eat shrimp
don't eat pork
men should not sleep with other men.

well we know shrimp and pork can be carriers of some pretty nasty diseases ... this sounds like health advice not some commandment of god.

have a look at the "men shall not sleep with other men" and you find "because this is discussing" ... really ??? that doesn't sound like an all-loving god, that sounds like a homophobe.

health advice, a homophobe, considerations for a time when without men the population would die off ... doesn't sound very divine at all, just ways to stay alive and look out for future generations.

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i've got less an issue with the bible and more an issue with how it's practiced.

the view that it's against polygamy, ... it wasn't till about 300 years after jesus died that a roman emperor who declared war to kill christians declared an end to polygamy, jesus lived in a time polygamy was accepted and the bible states rules for when a man should be married to more than one woman.

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it's easy to push a view you insist is right if you ignore everything to the contrary and exile everyone who sees things in a different light or wants to question things so that they may better understand.
 
Oh, you mean you WERE looking for other former JWs?
 
It was a curiosity question. Never know where they might show up. Unless you count all the ex-JW forums. You do kind of expect them there.
 
I am no longer one, but was raised JW. They do indeed believe in education. I went to college as an active JW. It's encouraged nowadays to do what you need to do to make a living.

I may not have agreed with all of it, but my congregation had some of the kindest people I've met in my life. I will say just that.

That being said, if you are happier out of the religion then that was obviously the right choice for you. I wish you well in your journey. :)
 
I am no longer one, but was raised JW. They do indeed believe in education. I went to college as an active JW. It's encouraged nowadays to do what you need to do to make a living.

I may not have agreed with all of it, but my congregation had some of the kindest people I've met in my life. I will say just that.

That being said, if you are happier out of the religion then that was obviously the right choice for you. I wish you well in your journey. :)

Understood and likewise. FWIW I am glad that they changed on that one. I'm happy for the next generation who will have to grow up in that environment whenever improvements are made. I just kind of wish the org wasn't so hardline on things that they end up changing their mind on.
 
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