The other day I had the joy of being awakened at a bright sunny hour to find Jehovah's Witnesses on my doorstep. I made the mistake of answering the door because I am also expecting a handyman to adjust the front door to seal tightly before winter.
It's the same two I've had before and i expect to see them again before the snow flies. They were trying to convince me what a crappy place the world is. They gave me a pamphlet that i have not yet read, i might read it later.
I'm American. I was born in 1978. I have the right to vote, to work, to go to college. I can have a bank account and credit cards without a male to cosign the account. I can go anywhere I like as long as I have money. I can get a passport and backpack in Europe or I could fly to New Zealand and go to Karekare beach. I have a roof over my head, square meals, Internet access, a library card, condoms and vaccinations. If I should have a daughter she can get an education and not be forced to be married agianst her will. She can be a doctor or a mortician or a guitar player. My life may have its crappy moments but , because of the time and the place where I was born, I'm really very fortunate.
"God made me an atheist. Who are you to question his wisdom." neatly sums up how i feel about religion.
For me the Bible is a mishmash of contradictions and I am probably shit out of luck when it comes to the JW version of heaven. It seems that their beliefs will only get 144,000 people into heaven, so what happens to the rest of the JWs? I'm not sure that i get that ....
When the bible was written by men, women and children were chattel, slavery was allowed, cloth had to be hand woven on looms, bottles were made out of leather, there were no antibiotics, not much was understoood how and why people got sick, women died giving birth, there weren't many books nor public schools, there were no computers, no electricity, and i can give more examples.... but i won't.
The bible is an atttempt to explain stuff to the desert tribes, and to give them good advice in a time when humanity had very litlle idea how the world worked. People believe in astrology as if 6.8 billion people could lead the same 12 lives. Identical twins do not have identical horoscopes. So, NO, Susanna I don't believe in Biblical inerrancy and infallibilty. What I PUT my trust in is science, honesty, integrity, and compassion. I'm all about the golden rule. I beleive that Karma gives us what we put out there.
I have been a reader my whole life. My parents want me to question authority, so i would not do well in a community of Witnesses, being the person that i am, who reads, questions, blogs, votes, and likes to argue. If there is a god, he made it, and it can't change. THAT'S how I ROLL. Belief in God is not for me.
What happens to the cynical secular individual who gives up her blue jeans, voter registration, birthday cake and blood transfusions to follow these narrowly limited rules? I think i'm shit outta luck, because if i could obey those rules and live that life I would still belong to the Baptist Church that my parents sent me to as a child. I am not sure why they chose that church to send us to, but it was convenient for them as this church had a bus service, brought us to the church and then took us home afterwards.
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