Will It Change You?» Spiritual

JW’s: Would you like to know The Truth?

Ross — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:43:56 +0000

This afternoon my wife and I were at home when someone knocked on the door. My wife answered to an elderly man who appeared to be hoping for a drop and run rather than a personal encounter. “Oh, I thought there was no-one here, I was just going to leave this for you.”

He gave my wife a pamphlet titled “Would you like to know the Truth?”

credit: Erica_Marshall

It’s a catchy line, a bit of a teaser really. Would I like to know the truth… Yes I would, thanks! No one wants to be given false information, we want the cold hard facts! Give me as much truth as you can muster up. What sort of truth? I wondered. The truth about life? Or the truth about a secret conspiracy like the real amount of fluoride in water, or how the government is suppressing the real cure for cancer. How much truth can you pack into a pamphlet, anyway?

Their conversation went like this:

He: “We’re dropping these in every household in the world, you know… Every household.”
She: “Oh, ok…”
He: “It’s not good to be fooled or tricked by people, is it – do you like to be fooled or tricked?”
She: “Errr… no… Are you a Jehovah’s Witness?”
He: (loudly) “Well I worship the Jehovah, yes, but (pointing at leaflet) what’s important is where we can find answers to questions, have a read of that and you’ll find out some very interesting stuff” (hastily backing down the path)
She: “Bye”

What an interesting question, but strange encounter! I was further intrigued to find that nowhere on the leaflet does it mention that the material is presented by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unfortunately one of his lines resounded in my head, “do you like to be fooled or tricked?”

Maybe his spiel and material don’t quite fall into the category of trickery, but I couldn’t help but think that selling yourself, your material or what you believe in under false pretense is probably not the best approach to take. We live in an age where scams and trickery are plentiful – it’s good to have a healthy degree of skepticism. If someone markets their material under a different name than the one they stand by, and does not offer to be up front with their affiliation to a particular company, church or whatever, I tend to ask myself why is that? Do they have a reason to misrepresent themselves?

credit: HeatedGroundPhotography

Even though I do have some fundamental disagreements on Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, such as the special chosen group of 144,000 anointed ones who get to go to heaven, and (even worse) the fact that I have to read these headlines: “Jehovah’s Witness mother dies after refusing blood transfusion after giving birth to twins”, my intention is not to disparage them as a group in this post! Quite possibly there are some fundamental truths we both agree on in some areas. I would like to offer up a few thoughts though:

Why are some religions so intent on professing that their beliefs are right, rather than seeing the bigger picture? “One way to God – through St Matthew’s Church, corner Smith and First Streets..” I’m not suggesting you have to adopt other people’s beliefs, or put other religions down, but isn’t there room somewhere for healthy and open discussion about God, life, religion without misrepresenting yourself?

After doing a bit of reading about Jehovah’s Witnesses, I came across an interesting excerpt from a book by Diane Wilson, a former member, titled “Escape From the Watchtower Society“:

Occasionally a householder would want to give the Witness a religious pamphlet from her own church; while often the Witness would refuse to accept it on the basis that she already had the Truth, at other times another Witness might accept it. However, as soon as we were out of sight of the householder, the pamphlet became like the proverbial “hot potato”—the Witness couldn’t get rid of it fast enough! Some Witnesses feared that even touching the pamphlet could cause a demon to transfer itself from the pamphlet to themselves.

This fear stemmed from their belief that Jehovah’s Witnesses represent the only true religion on Earth, thus all other religions are false and under the control of the Devil and the demons; consequently, they believe all literature from another religion to be contaminated with demonic forces. While some Witnesses insisted that burning the pamphlets was the only safe way to dispose of them in order to avoid demon attacks, others seemed relieved to simply drop them into the nearest trashcan.

Maybe JW’s feel that public perceptions have forced them to be more reluctant to identify themselves. I don’t feel good about it in my heart when I see 3, 4 and 5 year old toddlers dragged from door to door wearing suits in the heat of a Saturday morning though. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with that. Can’t you believe in God and be just as effective in ministry by kicking a football together at the park, and showing other people that family values come first?

Do you want to know the Truth?

On religion and man-made belief: “my last prayer”

Ross — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:16:04 +0000

credit: marcelgermain

I was reading an interesting anonymous post by someone from Australia this week titled So Here It Is, My Last prayer.

I’ve had the opportunity of being involved with different churches for most of my life, and the poster on this particular blog put forth some personal thoughts on faith, life and religion that struck a chord with me. Here’s what they had to say:

Dear God, For years, I struggled with a faith that was forced on me by people without a clear idea of what it was you were. When they finally let go of their own faith, I was able to shed all forms of religion and man-made belief. I could pursue a career that had been completely banned; read books and watch movies without condemnation. I’m still trying to eradicate the last shreds of that overpowering control from my life.

It took me a long time to stop blaming myself for everything that’s happened. It took me even longer to work up the courage to blame you instead. And now, it’s taking every ounce of me to just write this, to say that, while I never, ever want to be constricted by religion in my life once more, I want to stop hating you.

I want to be able to walk past a church and not shudder; hear someone thank god for their success without internally mocking them. I want to be the person everyone believes me to be: accepting of everyone, from every culture and religion. I don’t want to boil with hatred at the act of recieving a religious pamphlet on the street.

So here it is, my last prayer. Not that you change everything, not that you take away all the hurt that you’ve caused. But that I can move on with my life. Thank you.

credit: Hulagway

I found this post particularly interesting because the sentiments shared are common with many, many people I have come across over the years. I had mixed feelings also because the post made me feel both happy and sad. I don’t like seeing people get hurt by the church, and I’m quite against being subjected to strange rules and regulations that are enforced nonsensically (because it’s the rule!), and certainly I’ve come across enough religious nutters to be able to empathise with you over how much of a turn off they are!

Your spirituality is very important when it comes to who you are as a person. Part of a person’s character and personal beliefs are often defined by their past exposure and experiences with churches and God. Some people who have had negative experiences with religion or back sliders tend to become quite anti God, like the poster above suggests (I want to be able to walk past a church and not shudder). Other people do some deeper soul searching and re-connect with God in their own way.

Personally I believe one of the keys to having an enriching spiritual life is to stand firm to your own beliefs and ‘religious views’, but couple that with a healthy degree of skepticism. After all, we all have been given free will. It’s not a smart move to give yourself over completely to any one man’s preaching or leadership because that person is still a person! They have the potential to remain firm to their convictions, they also have the potential to fall victim to temptation, immorality, sin. If that leader succumbs to such things, where will that leave you? Will you trash the church and become anti-God like many people do? Once you have a realisation that people are people regardless of their high titled position (eg. “Head leader district national christian co-ordinator extraordinaire”) then you’re really not as personally affected by other peoples failures, successes and ‘religious influence’.

credit: pbo31

Am I suggesting you become disconnected and not get involved with church? Nope. However, don’t be a rule follower simply because someone else says so. Don’t believe everything that someone is telling you without researching it yourself! Stay true to your own thoughts and faith – don’t become cynical with God just because other people have disappointed you.

This is really an intro post on this subject, because I think it’s a contentious issue and one that needs addressing further. One thing I would add, is that it’s really interesting to read some of the responses to the above poster (original post is here). Some people feel empathy, others get mad about God, others only know how handle responses by quoting scripture.