So here we are at Christmas, 2009. It's been exactly one year since I wrote my first blog for Freeminds.org, and it's time for reflection. And I understand that one of the primary agendas for this particular holiday is to be thankful and gracious and kind to others --- or so I've been told. I didn't celebrate Christmas when I was in The Truth, obviously, and this holiday has never become a significant part of my adult life, either. But today, I am going to focus on what I think might be some good aspects of The Truth. Something they might have given to me, and something for which I am appreciative, because that is a requirement of this day.
As much as I dislike and distrust the Jehovah's Witness religion, there are, in fact, aspects of my adult life that I think might be attributable to my upbringing in the Kingdom Hall. Good aspects. Bits of morality and philosophy that are pervasive in my life today and might have been given to me by the only religion I have ever been part of, although I might be wrong. I really hate to suggest that a dose of religion is a prerequisite for having standards and morals. There are plenty of atheists on the planet who are perfectly nice people and did not require religion to be so. And I've met a ton of overly-religious folks who are as mean-spirited and duplicitous as can be, so it is naive and simplistic and just flat out wrong to suggest that religion is responsible for the positive aspects of my life.
But if I look back on my childhood, I can find some respect for certain parts of my upbringing. For example, as an adult, I believe in telling the truth. Not "The Truth," but the truth. The real kind. Honesty. That's something I believe in. I believe in telling the truth. Always. I heard that message often in the Kingdom Hall, because The Truth proclaims that one is supposed to be honest and upright in life. Do all people in The Truth follow that guideline? Probably not. Could I have obtained that outlook from a different religion? Probably so. Would I value honesty as highly if I had never once set foot in a Kingdom Hall? Most likely, but still, we're trying to focus on positive things today, so just bear with me.
I'm a gay guy, and contrary to what people often assume is the case for someone of my orientation, I believe in monogamy. I believe in the fantasy that you should find one guy and settle down and live happily ever after. Did that come from The Truth? Maybe, but I don't think so.
But still, if I look past all the garbled crap that I remember from my years in The Truth, I can find positive things that they gave to me, and things that still pervade my life. That's my message for today. Be thankful for having escaped from The Truth, if you have in fact done so, but also be thankful for the good things that The Truth gave to you. I mean sure, I still think it's a cult, but on this day, I'd like to find something positive to say. So I am thankful for some of what The Truth gave to me. That's a nice thing to say. Oh, and Merry Christmas. And Happy New Year. Contrary to what The Truth told me, those are nice things to say too.
After being raise as a JW, I look back on my life with a different understanding. I believe that I would not be the person that i am today without that background. I actually learned to enjoy study and research. I enjoyed public speaking, so the Ministry School was my favorite meeting of the week. But when adding the wisdom of my life to the teachings of my youth, i have learned to respect the faith of many of the rank and file JWs then and now, which includes my late mother. I have come to believe that God judges us by our faith first, so I have hope for those who are following a path they believe in, even if it differs from mine. While I don't remember the chapter and verse, I remember the words "while you examine how their conduct turns out, imitate their faith". I simply pray that all those who are practicing JWs today, and who faithfully follow the Bible according to their present understanding do not allow them to be sidetracked and become disapproved by their actions.
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... written by GEM , December 25, 2009
As I write, my father sits in the lounge.. he is one of the "old school" and has been an Elder since the start of the arrangement in the early seventies. Mum is making herself respectable in the bathroom.. she has opposed the "Truth" since the mid-1960's.
My sister has just phoned to wish mum a happy christmas. She lives in Perth, Western Australia. The religion helped little with her schizophrenia, and she never did get baptised.
Me? 6 years as a Regular and 4 years in Bethel taught me a lot, for which I am grateful.
I celebrate my civil partnership with the man of my life on January 3rd, which is my Birthday.
Mum knows, but I would not even try to explain to Dad. At home now we are enjoying the kind of compromised kosher (LOL) christmas we evolved as kids.
I don't rub Dad's nose in it... he's enjoying a relaxed whisky... my partner walks the walk with me. Dad accepts us as mates.. and has even given my beau a cuddle or two! (about as many as he gave me in a life time)
I cherish his comment, from the heart, a few years ago "..They (!) don't dictate to me how to treat my own flesh and blood"... I am welling up Dad.. cheers buddy (you'll get a double with me later).
Merry Christmas to those who hold it dear.. and to my partner who is concerned that the Pope was attacked.
Whatever your God, may that supreme being, bring out all the good in us.. not just today but the whole year through. Now it's turkey and gammon today, I think.. and Dr Who is on.. ahh, yes.................
To all my true brothers and sisters xxxxxxxx
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... written by Frank Maitoza , December 25, 2009
This is delightful and a refreshing change. I have run the gamut of emotions in regard to the idea of having received anything good from my years with the Jehovah's Witnesses. In pondering the idea nothing really solidified until I began my studies at Holmes Institute about four years ago. Holmes Institute offers a Masters Degree in Consciousness Studies and is a training ground for men and women who want to become ministers in a philosophy called Science of Mind or Religious Science. Currently their "churches" are called Centers for Spiritual Living. For my first internship I was asked to visit ten churches, to attend the service and to talk with the Priest or Minister or Pastor to ask them about their ministry. During the ten weeks in which I did this I visited a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Catholic and Episcopal church, a Buddhist temple, a Jewish Synagoge and several others. In the quiet of those churches I heard many things I didn't agree with intellectually but a feeling came up in all of them that I called a consciousness of faith. After that it really didn't matter to me what the words were. What seemed more important was that consciosness of faith that each member seemed to have. When I stopped to consider my past in Jehovah's Witnesses in that moment I realized that they too, have a consciousness of faith. The intellectual concepts no longer mattered to me. I think my time with the Jehovah's Witnesses broadened my consciousness of faith: "The evident demonstration of realilty though not beheld." Such a consciousness plays a vital role in everyone's life no matter the religion they espouse. It makes hard times a little easier to bear. It brings a support group of like minded people. It creates friendships for people who had none. All I've really done is expanded my view of life and faith beyond the scope of a small fundamentalist group and watched a larger world come into view that has similar needs. Perhaps my time with them was simply an evolutionary stepping stone to a greater life.
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