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I have commented on this ad before and it made me ask some more questions. Do the missionaries create any real change wherever they go? Helping a person quick abusing alcoholic or nicotine substances is important, but do you need to join a religion to do that? Joining a religion, especially a fundamentalist religious group is not easy. What if you ended up disagreeing with a certain belief or concept or started questioning things? You cannot remain a member in good standing and question the dictates of the authorities within you religious community. If you are a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Amish community, you are excommunicated from the group who are required to permanently shun you, unless you ask for their forgiveness and return to the group.
Openly questioning the beliefs and rules of the group, particularly fundamentalist religious groups will result in you being permanently kicked out of the group. We criticize unpopular cults for such behavior, but why do we let mainstream fundamentalist religious groups get a free pass? I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. I wasn't too close to very many people in the denomination/" the Organization", although there were individual people that I liked and respected. Many of them probably are not alive anymore. Being baptized, despite disagreeing with so much of their doctrines and practices may not have been the smartest decision, but I didn't know very much of anything else growing up. Keep in mind, I recognized at a young age that I would eventually have to leave the group because I didn't fit in and I think that was the best decision that I could have made. I did the same thing upon my involvement with the Christian Scientists, Seventh-day Adventists, the Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Roman Catholics etc.,. Some groups I belonged to for a much shorter period of time than others.
I think that my time with the JW's was largely negative, but it doesn't mean that I "hate them", no I don't. I strongly disagree with their beliefs and practices and I constantly reiterate that point all of the time. Some of the JW's that I knew as individual human beings, I liked and there were some as individual human beings that I didn't like. The only JW's that I ever talk to are my mother and some of our relatives. My mother and I have never gotten along. My father who is a liberal Seventh-day Adventist and quite the family man, it hurts him that my mother and I aren't close. We never have been and we probably never will be. I love and respect my father dearly. My mother's parents were JW's and we always got along just fine. My mother tends to throw hissy fits when everyone else doesn't do things the way that she thinks that you should be doing them in accordance with her denominational beliefs. She's quite self-righteous. That really is how she thinks from what I can tell. Such behavior isn't uncommon amongst the Jehovah's Witnesses in general. Such behavior is quite common in other fundamentalist non-JW Christian groups or even fundamentalist non-Christian religious groups.
She knows that I am an atheist who has an interest in secular Jewish culture and that I am not religious. She knows I am not a Jehovah's Witness or a Christian. My dad and his family do have some Jewish blood in them. Their ancestors had been religiously Jewish at one point and ended up mixing with Gentiles from what I have heard, which should help explain to you why I am interested in Jewish culture and history. When I am around my mother, I am polite, however I do make it quite clear that I will not tolerate listening to her religious ranting when I am around her. There is a more appropriate time and place to do those things. My Jehovah's Witness relatives know that I am an atheist, as do my Seventh-day Adventist and Roman Catholic relatives. They largely don't make a big deal about it, because despite our differences in our worldviews, they recognize and respect the fact that I have the right to make my own choices, even though we may not see eye-to-eye on everything and I am okay with that. We don't really talk about religion or my atheism because it just isn't necessary and I don't want to start an argument.
One of my aunts who is a very devout Roman Catholic is always enthusiastically talking to my annoyed mother about how wonderful she thinks the RCC is. It can be somewhat amusing, because it reminds me of what it was like growing up and going door-to-door with my mother and her JW friends and seeing the responses of the householders that we visited. My best friend that I grew up who is also an ex-JW and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Orthodox Mormonism), she knows that I am an atheist and respects the right for me to make my own choices in regards to religion despite our differences. She is actually quite liberal and life hasn't been very easy for her, especially since her JW family not only shunned, but disowned her for leaving the "The Truth". My wonderful husband is what you might call "spiritual-but-not-religious". He believes very strongly in the existence of a deity and in the concept of an afterlife, but he is not fond of organized religion, a point that he made very clear to me when we started dating. He largely respects my right to make up my own mind about religious issues. I don't discuss religion with people in my personal life, even though the temptation to do so can sometimes be very strong. I feel that it is best to avoid talking about it as much as possible. unless the situation is necessary for me to do otherwise.
What do you think?
Sincerely,
B.W.
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