Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: March 28, 2024, 8:29 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
#1
Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Hi everyone. I was raised a Jehovah's witness, and I was devoted to that for years. I believed in a global flood in 2370 BC as well as other myths that were mistaken for literal history, and I believed in a philosophy of history that anticipated a coming "new system".

None of this makes sense to me now, and none of it passes the straight face test, but there it is.

My deconversion story begins with disillusionment. My brother was bureaucratically shunned from this pretty obvious cult. I'll spare so many details but it opened my eyes, and in despair, I decided to take a second look at the claims our religion makes about the world and history. I already understood evolution to be a fact, even if I tried to rationalize it with the whole "microevolution" business.

A global flood? Nonsense, and the human population has evidently never fallen below 10,000. There are also relics from around the world right around the 24th century BC and before AND after. Just, so, so, so many problems with this if you take it literally.

The first man was created about 6000 years ago from a golem spell? Absolute nonsense, and the artifacts of our evolution remain with us today, such as EVRs and fucking wisdom teeth.

The Bible is the inspired word of God and the first five books were written by Moses? I'd read in Watchtower publications all my cognizant life that Bible critics were foolish and to be avoided, and so I decided to read them too. Inspired word of God? Apparently, that depends on your definition of "God".

This led me to ancient theology, where I looked to the origins of the concept of the Biblical god, Yahweh/Elohim. This is a Canaanite storm god with roots going back to Ancient Egypt and into Africa, as mythology developed throughout the ancient world. Homo sapiens like to tell lies to gain power and control.

And this led me to read up Qabbalah, astrology (Ezekiel 1), etc. Not because I believe it, but because it obviously had an effect on the theology. I'm a naturalist, not a spiritualist.

So yeah. Smile
Reply
#2
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Welcome.

And glad you caught on to the JW crapola.
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




Reply
#3
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
How did your family take it?  How did your disillusionment effect your relationship with your brother?
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!
Reply
#4
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
(February 8, 2017 at 12:25 pm)Khemikal Wrote: How did your family take it?  How did your disillusionment effect your relationship with your brother?
My brother who I mentioned in the OP still believes, weirdly. He believes it's generally the truth, except for this and this and this and that all that is wrong will be corrected. I love him but I think he has a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, personally.

My family has not taken it that well and I've had a few great friends toss me aside, but that's fine. It's fine. I had to be honest with them and with myself, because the cognitive dissonance was killing me. I'd rather move on and just live a free life. If I can do a bit of street epistemology, that works too.
Reply
#5
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Ah friends who toss you aside just like that aren't friends at all. I hope you'll find a few good friends here. Welcome friend Smile
Quote:To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lau Tzu

Join me on atheistforums Slack Cool Shades (pester tibs via pm if you need invite) Tongue

Reply
#6
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Howdy pardner.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
Reply
#7
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Welcome

Glad you followed your path, man. Hope to see you around!
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great

PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---
Reply
#8
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Hi.

I have a similar experience with my deconversion.
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard P. Feynman
Reply
#9
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
JW hierarchy tosses members frequently, it's the big impetus for rounding up new members. They never get any bigger it seems, just trying to keep up with attrition, both individually and as imposed by the poohbahs.
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




Reply
#10
RE: Millerite crackpots and Noah's ark shenanigans
Thanks guys.

Yeah @Sal, are you an ex-JW as well or just a similar story?

@vorlon13 yep, they are in decline. People like Paul Grundy of jwfacts.com have showed this. Most of the baptisms are born-in kids who don't know any better, and don't realize it's a lifetime commitment. The restrictions on college education have served a brain drain for years. They aren't doing anything conducive to growth.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
Reply





Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)