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Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:27 pm
Hi everyone,
I'm a newbie here so this is my introduction. As the title suggests I was raised as a Jehovah's witness with the persistent brain battering of 3 religious meetings a week plus a bible study. The indoctrination process collapsed on itself once I read the bible in full and struggled to see it as fact and saw no way it could possibly be divine.
Since leaving I've wrestled with the philosophy of creationism but come to the conclusion that all organised religion is completely wrong and is a lead weight around the neck of human progress. My mum and sisters have disowned me as is normal with Jehovah's witnesses which always makes me question whether I may be wrong. Being a believer would make my life far simpler but truth trumps comfort as far as I'm concerned.
So in short I'm pretty much sold on atheism but am always open to being proven wrong and like hearing everyone's differing viewpoints.
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Quote:Since leaving I've wrestled with the philosophy of creationism but come to the conclusion that all organised religion is completely wrong and is a lead weight around the neck of human progress. My mum and sisters have disowned me as is normal with Jehovah's witnesses which always makes me question whether I may be wrong. Being a believer would make my life far simpler but truth trumps comfort as far as I'm concerned.
Why resort to guilt when God can just bring you back?
Welcome!
(March 30, 2013 at 9:51 pm)ThatMuslimGuy2 Wrote: Never read anything immoral in the Qur'an.
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:31 pm
Welcome!
*passes the plate of barbecued babies.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:34 pm
(April 22, 2013 at 5:31 pm)Faith No More Wrote: Welcome!
*passes the plate of barbecued babies.
Get 'em while they're hot! (Fresh outta hell's kitchen)
(March 30, 2013 at 9:51 pm)ThatMuslimGuy2 Wrote: Never read anything immoral in the Qur'an.
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:38 pm
Welcome Sansbury!
Do you guys have anything vegan?
I've given up baby meat for lent.
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:42 pm
 Enjoy the forums
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:43 pm
(This post was last modified: April 22, 2013 at 5:49 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Sucks buddy, I feel for ya, grew up with some very important JW's (important to me) in the fold and out. One of my childhood buddies has to reconcile his friendship with me every time we meet before we get back to being friends, and the other (who left) has no family other than the one she made for herself at this point.
He (the JW buddy) trips all over himself when he talks to me - it's the only way I know he;s still the same jackass I grew up with. He'll say things like "It was great to be round the good people" and then immediately - with truly anguished eyes, say "not that you aren't, you know, you're different" and I see the 8 year old kid who didn't realize we weren't the same again.
She (the ex JW) cries in private, but puts on the solid show.... truly sobs.....
Welcome aboard, I got a soft spot for ex-witnesses. Fucking horrible religion.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Hi! Good to see another Brit on here. Sorry to hear that your family are giving you such grief. There's a tendency to assume that all Brits, religious or otherwise, are a tolerant bunch (statistically we are!) but that can lead to people forgetting that there's plenty of intolerance, too. Worse would be to ignore the emotional damage that such intolerance can bring and the steps that society needs to take to support you and other people in your situation. I hope your family see sense sooner than later and you find what you're looking for.
Sum ergo sum
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Hey, you're free. Celebrate with sex, drugs and rock n' roll! I do.
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RE: Jehovahs Witnesses nearly got me!
April 22, 2013 at 6:20 pm
Welcome, from a fellow JW refugee.
(April 22, 2013 at 5:27 pm)Sansbury Wrote: Being a believer would make my life far simpler but truth trumps comfort as far as I'm concerned.
JWs certainly don't make life simple. 
Sorry to hear about the family situation, though. My sisters had left "the truth" many years ago, and I had built up a network of non-JW friends so that by the time I realized that I was done, it was relatively painless. I have no clue what it would be like to be in your situation, aside from thinking that it would be pretty awful. Hang in there, freedom from insanity is worth it.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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