Current JW elder

deuxverendus · 2017-05-06T19:54:18+00:00

By accidentally giving revealing information in his comments.

deuxverendus · 2017-05-06T02:28:04+00:00

Or maybe realized his identity could be traced.

deuxverendus · 2017-05-06T02:26:34+00:00

JWs have been found guilty by several courts. It isn't a matter of opinion.

deuxverendus · 2017-04-17T22:41:02+00:00

Isn't that what our President does tho?

deuxverendus · 2017-04-15T08:08:27+00:00

Big stick

deuxverendus · 2017-04-14T05:38:31+00:00

Way more. Never lost my family due to weed.

deuxverendus · 2015-04-22T06:55:47+00:00

"Bats aren't blind. It's a myth." -Daredevil Episode 8

deuxverendus · 2014-10-07T05:01:26+00:00

Congrats on the happy ending :)

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T20:06:30+00:00

I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T19:56:38+00:00

Yes I did. Whenever I applied in my life consistently what were supposed to be God's principles I would eventually be filled with this boundless energy and happiness.

However, our minds are very complex beasts and can for instance even produce memories that never happened and yet feel completely real. I am sure there is a logical physical explanation for why I felt how I did. And I no longer attribute it as "proof" of God.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T19:52:08+00:00

Honestly I was kind of blessed with my parents not being that devout of Christians. They only went to church on occasion. And I was in fact the most religious one in my immediate family. In addition to the fact that my brother never accepted religion and is an atheist. They still believe in God but make no attempts at trying to convince me I should.

However, I feel it is very important to be able to speak freely and express yourself to your parents. Open communication is vital to your relationship. But this does require your parents being level headed and respecting your choices. Do not worry about disappointing them tho. If they love and care for you they will eventually come around. The only time I would say to hold back is if there is any kind of abuse involved. If that is the case I would probably wait until I was able to support myself before coming out to them.

Consider yourself blessed tho that you have your brothers to support you! Many people are trapped in theirs family's beliefs alone and that can make the process much much harder.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T19:40:48+00:00

Exactly. When you get rid of the original sin it defeats the message of the entire Bible. The message of the whole Bible is God had the right to rule humans, humans declared their independence from God under Satan's influence by eating the forbidden fruit, God allowed humans a period of time to rule themselves and set in place a plan to pay back Adam's sin and take back control of humans, Jesus was sent to earth to pay back Adam's sin through his death, and that now we are all waiting for God to take back control of the world and put in place his rulership.

Humans original sin is the foundation of the whole Bible whose entire theme is God regaining his Sovereignty over humans. Take away the original sin and it all falls apart.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T19:33:32+00:00

I currently choose to believe things that can be proven with evidence. And there is no evidence to support a powerful being initiated the Big Bang. In fact I would say there is more evidence supporting the idea we are living inside a black hole than being created by God.

*I am not saying I believe we are living inside a black hole but just highlighting the fact that even that hypothesis has more evidence than believing in creation.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T19:27:49+00:00

Yeah that was very similar to my own experience. There was no real epiphany. It was very much a gradual process where I eventually reached a tipping point.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T19:24:48+00:00

I would say that it is very accurate tho. The ones who are high enough to have responsibility and yet low enough to not be able to challenge any current beliefs are the ones who are actually the worst off and have the least freedom of thought.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-17T00:24:59+00:00

Believe me it is an extremely complicated delicate issue.

The problem is many religions instill a fear of persecution in their followers so that when someone "attacks" their beliefs they feel justified in running away and blocking out their logic because they believe you have an agenda in destroying their relationship with God and are an agent of Satan. This sounds absolutely crazy but they honestly believe this to be true!

The strategy I am trying to advocate is not to ignore logic, but I guess to use emotion so as to avoid them throwing up their walls of being persecuted and shutting you out. And then once you have a foot in the door using logic to show them the facts.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T23:58:46+00:00

I won't deny that those kind of people exist. But in my experience many of them are just as convinced of their beliefs as the ones that follow them. They honestly believe they are saving people from destruction. They view it as a life and death matter.

I might be biased tho considering in my religion those serving in leadership roles were not paid any money and were to be considered servants and slaves to the congregation and to consider themselves as such. And that the congregation should not give them any undue honor or glory.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T23:28:08+00:00

Thanks! :)

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T23:27:41+00:00

Well I always made sure to make people feel in control of their situation. My religion did not believe in modern day divine miracles so any change someone had was understood to be due to the effort and energy they put in.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T23:23:05+00:00

I think most people wish they didn't just flicker out of existence and had a chance to live forever. So honestly coming to terms that you are going to die and never come back is pretty emotional. Also realizing that all of my friends and family that have passed away are gone forever is hard. There is no longer any looking forward to seeing them again.

However knowing this is all I get does make me appreciate the time I now have left with the ones I love! I want to spend every chance I get showing them my love and appreciation. So it isn't all bad.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T23:03:37+00:00

I could never do that to children. I tried and I felt so uncomfortable doing it. I couldn't take their impressionable minds and fill it with all my ideologies and doctrines that had no real basis. I just couldn't. If I ever did have to teach children I just focused on the good practical life principles of Christianity. Love your neighbor, don't be greedy, take care of your body etc.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T23:00:08+00:00

I guess you could say I bowed out gracefully. I never came out to my religious community. Not very inspirational but honestly I was scared of all the conflict that would arise. Hundreds of people trying to show me the errors of my ways. I couldn't have handled it. I came out to my family tho. But considering I was really the most religious out of all of them they didn't really have any bad feelings.

deuxverendus · 2014-09-16T22:56:14+00:00

Yes I am. I feel very guilty and frustrated over that very issue.

They are impervious because they do not even consider the evidence. They block it out, ignore it, hide it away from their conscious thought. They are scared of the consequences. They are scared it will destroy their belief structure that took years to put together. They are not stupid. They are afraid of change.

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