Welcome!

I was in the Jehovah's Witnesses group since early childhood. I am now a secular humanist. I left because I couldn't not reconcile what I was learning regarding science with what I was being taught as religion. Once I really allowed myself to question further things really began to fall apart regarding my JW beliefs. I will not push anyone towards a belief in god or christ. I have an interest in studying Hebrew, Greek, and Latin as well as the heritage of religion. I have been studying earlier JW books again. I wanted to know the history of that group. There was much I didn't know about the long history of MANY failed prophasies. After reading that material I wondered about the books I read in childhood. Would it all be as convincing to read with adult eyes. What I found has been rife with logic errors. I have a religious heritage. I wish to hang on to the desire to study, to learn, to fellowship, to grow. I want to drop the baggage that comes with that group such as the prohibition against independent research and thought. There is intellectual dishonesty in that group that I just cant tolerate. There is no going back. Once you know they have reset the End of the world date every few years, can you REALLY go back to meetings to prep you to go out and preach the latest version to the public?
I would like to meet other like minded folks in my area. Write me at KatherineRogers@sbcglobal.net. I am the owner of the new yahoo group XJWHumanists. Many groups for XJWs were getting spammed so its a locked site. Write me to get in to that yahoo newsboard.
You may be confused as to what a humanist is. Among other things its the belief that morality is a human work. It is not a belief that those things are handed down by some supernatural being. In the bible we find Abraham being told to murder his child. We find the Jews being told to kill the inhabitants of desirable waterfront property ie caanan. If you would agree that there is a supernatural being and they have the right to say such things you aren't a humanist. If you believe (or hope) that humanity has progressed further than that, that child murder is wrong, that mass murder for greed of property is wrong, then your likely a humanist. If you find lying to the public telling them god says the end of the world is coming is WRONG, because lying is wrong...your likely a humanist. I don't get morality handed down from authority. I believe it is an ongoing struggle to be more moral every day. It is a human work. I believe that humans create gods to explain events in nature, or to cause conformity. If you call higher morality "god" then I do believe in higher morality. If you try to personify that god into something that fights on a particular side of a war, I don't concur with that.
Didn'T Jesus tell people to love their neighbor? Sure, but he also taught of a supernatural god. He also was an apocylyptic. He taught his disciples that in THEIR generation the sun and moon would go dark, stars would fall from the sky and the world would end. He said it would happen in HIS generation. Christians have been fudging ever since with ...well he REEEEEally didn't mean that generation...what he meant was...IF he really meant something else he would have said something else. Christians have been playing the JW change the date of the end of the world game from the time of christ. Apparently Jews were doing it before that. Jesus believed disease was caused by SIN. I believe in the germ theory of disease. There are many other reasons but suffice it to say, I'm not a follower of Christ.
What happens after we die? I don't know. Neither does anyone else that wishes to take your time and your money. The difference is that I am honest about that. I wont tell you what you want to hear...that you can live on after death...just to get you to join up. I have never been dead. If ANYONE claims to know, ask them WHEN they died and when they were brought back to life.
If I at least sound interesting write
KatherineRogers@sbcglobal.net
I hope the group heads toward simple things at first like meet ups at the zoo, the art fair, book stores, a burger place, a park picnic. I hope to take the good things learned from that group, but move PAST that.
Understand YOU will have a tendency to not reach out as you were told repeatedly as I was to avoid nonbelievers as worldly. You will need to FORCE yourself past that point of making contact.
I am on yahoo messenger with the same ID as KatherineRogers@sbcglobal.net. Consider getting yahoo messenger and adding me as a friend. Feel free to then pop in and say hi.
Internet Service Providersdemand freedom from hate speech and harassing emails/messages. ALL require agreement to such policies as part of access. ANY harassment will be fowarded to the ISP and prosecuted as possible. I am free to make my religious choice. Respect that.
Those that want out of the JWS or are curious, your messages will be considered confidential.