Knowing how much Everett loves the Mormons, I had to post about the recent Watchtower tract wedged in my door while we were away. The title is, The End of False Religion is Near!, and it has to be the strongest piece of Jehovah's Witness literature I've ever seen. I'm tempted to scribe it word-for-word since I could not find a copy of it on WatchTower.org, but I have determined it's part of a month long campaign for the Witnesses; you may receive a copy of it soon if you haven't already.
The reason I say it's the strongest piece of literature I've seen is because this tract comes close to outright stating that modern Christianity of any demonination is false religion, souring politics and paving the way for Armageddon. It asks questions to determine what is false religion and gives deliberately vague, thinly veiled examples that are easy to recognize without qualifying as libel. A few examples:
1. By teaching the concept of souls going to Heaven after death, churches are practicing false religion by going against Christ's statements that the dead will be resurrected.
2. Jesus Christ is referred to as "a widely respected religious figure".
3. Church groups that ordain homosexuals as clergy members or condone child molestation by religious leaders are practicing false religion.
4. The harlot spoken of in Revelation is false religion. The beast with seven heads and ten horns represents the world's political leaders who listen to the harlot and use false religion to justify their actions.
5. Eventually, the "rotten tree" of false religion will be struck down by the beast upon God's instruction.
The solution? Call a Kingdom Hall and ask the Witnesses to show you how to escape false religion through their instruction in the Scripture.
Some of you may know that I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Mom met some in G-town when I was two, and she liked their message. I went with her to the Kingdom Hall in town and participated in the Bible studies at our apartment or at an elder's house. I read the materials, but had too many questions. By the time I was 8, I began to realize there were some problems when the elders couldn't answer the questions I had about calculating the rings on one of the Cedars of Lebanon, or about the Trinity, or the missing references to Jehovah in the Holy Scripture, or about the 144,000 people from the 12 tribes who would go to Heaven after Armageddon. Eventually, I went only to the Nisan 14 services under protest, and finally stopped going when I was 12.
I find it very interesting that the Witnesses are proclaiming themselves so strongly that they are the true religion--they always have, but not by blatently attacking Christianity as they do in this pamphlet. I learned during my time at G-town Baptist that the Southern Baptist Convention considers them a cult because they have a different translation of the Scripture and use supplemental books to teach about their faith. Irony? Maybe.
Another reason I found the tract interesting is it made me ponder my world view based on what I learned in childhood. Halloween has really stemmed this thought wave for me, and it's similar to what I went through last Christmas. See, Witnesses do not pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag or celebrate birthdays because they see it as putting a false idol or oneself above God. Witnesses don't celebrate common holidays, like Christmas, Halloween, or Easter, because the modern celebrations are based in pagan rituals. As a child, when my classes had holiday or birthday parties, I went to the principal's office and sat in the quiet tolerance of the secretary at his desk, drawing on copy paper. I didn't dress up for Halloween. I didn't meet Santa Claus. I didn't believe in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. No chocolate bunnies, marshmallow Peeps, or stockings filled with fruit and candy canes for me. The closest day I had to Christmas was when Mom brought home the layaway box from Sears with our back to school clothes.
Last Christmas, we made a concerted effort to make sure CJ had a separate birthday and Christmas because of their proximity to each other. I dove into making a birthday cake and buying birthday toys whole-heartedly, but struggled with Christmas. As beautiful a sight as our trimmed tree with presents beneath was, I felt a faint pang of guilt, as if I were wrong in having it. I still haven't decided about Santa. I'm leaning toward teaching CJ that Santa is a personification of goodwill towards others, not a separate being, but I don't want calls from angry parents because my kid told their kid Santa ain't real. This Halloween, I was relieved that CJ's daycare has banned costumes as it means no one will have the experience I had of being the only kid who didn't dress up.
Don't even ask me where I stand on the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. I haven't gotten that far.
Because Witnesses do not believe in the concept of the Trinity, and this was drilled into my head at an early age, I don't believe in the concept that 1=3. To me, the Bible is mainly a collection of creation myths and attempts to explain fantastic phenomena beyond human comprehension at the time, and a way of defining a purpose because people need some sense of purpose. In my personal worldview, I confess I take things a step further and do not believe that Jesus Christ was the literal Son of God. I believe Christ was an exceptional man, very wise and compassionate for his time, who taught great concepts that should be followed. I don't know if Christ thought he really was the Son of God, but I believe that he was certain his death would cleanse the sins of mankind, as God said. Despite my doubts of Jesus' divinity, I accept my salvation without reservation--as I see it, God said it, Jesus believed it, and since we have no proof when it comes to religion, the intent is good enough for me. I'm not comfortable calling myself a Christian, though, because I don't follow the Old Testament, and really only follow what Jesus is recorded as saying in the Gospels themselves--love your neighbors, help the poor and sick, keep the government out of the churches and the churches out of the government, don't judge. Those are my basic morals, and I really don't care what food I should or shouldn't eat, who sleeps with whom, what days I should sit in a tent in my backyard, or whether or not I'm completely righteous and everyone else is going to Hell. I don't even believe in Hell!
As you can imagine, I've been thinking about these things a lot since Christopher was born. While I would rather not taint him with my unorthodox way of thinking, I know the questions will eventually come. While I would like for him to learn about God and the basic stories of my youth, I don't want his knowledge coming from propaganda or from politicized churches spouting judgement and hate in their proclamations of God's Word and Love. I want him to have an open mind about other religions and cultures, but not so open that he becomes lost and doesn't know what to believe--or becomes so open that he accepts any old doctrine that comes along without looking at things from a critical point of view.
This parenting stuff is hard. Forget about diapers, meals, and the constant supervision. That stuff is easy compared to these thoughts keeping me up at night while my baby soundly sleeps.
The Pay Is Good
20 hours ago
12 comments:
I promise, I'll comment soon. I'm still thinking. Glad you are, too.
wow, becca. it's amazing how closely you and i think about some things. (except i didn't have that background with the Witnesses that you did.)
i have had people ask me if i'm christian - mostly church-going asian friends, actually - and my stock answer is "uh, well, not in the traditional sense." vague enough?
That's about my answer. "Um, Somewhat." Luckily, I don't get asked that question a lot. It always puts me on edge, especially with this new breed of politicized religion that's sprung up over the last decade, because I'm afraid my answer will mean much, much more than it should.
You think we're living through the Third Great Awakening?
Just like Ann, I've been trying to figure out a comment for this post. The JW's were at my door today. When I saw what they were holding, I said I wasn't interested. The male asked me if I would read the material, and I said no. I figure if I can't think up a good answer for you, someone I really care about, that I don't ahve any business talking to them.
Man, Becca. That's a lot of thoughts you got goin on. :-) I'd love to talk to you about this stuff if you want to email me sometime.
Anyway, there were some things in here that kind of broke my heart, so I just had to comment. :-) But first, let me just say that I went through a period where I would not eat Cadbury Eggs. That is my favorite candy in the whole world, and I have candy issues!! I used to search for them all year, and all was right with the world when they were finally in stock again! Anyway, what I'm saying is, I had a friend in college who was (and is) a Messianic Jew. She loaned me a book about pagan holidays. I also went to some meetings with her. Anyway, they're sort of the same way about those holidays. I had a hard time reconciling what I learned about Christmas and Easter (let's not even touch Halloween), with my Christian culture. I still think about it. Anyway, it's hard.
Okay, now back to the post here. I think the Trinity is a little odd, myself, but I do believe in God the Father, Jesus as God (and as God's Son...), and God's Holy Spirit. The simplest analogy I have for that is my dad works for Toyota, but not in Japan. (That analogy sucks, though.) I attended a christian church for probably 21 years before I learned a thang about the Holy Spirit. But now I see that He is very very real. I'm not too worried about the concept of the Trinity, because that's a man made way of understanding God, who existed way before man.
And as for the Bible, well, I had some tough classes in college that spun me around and made me crazy for a few months on what that book really was. Then I prayed with a friend one day and she told Jesus she was glad He handn't been changed by my confusion. And I had another acquaintance who told me, in regard to the accuracy of God's Word over time, that God had given us the Bible we were meant to have. But anyway, I've seen in my life in the past 7 or so years the Bible prove itself over and over, and I have found it to be "living and active" (miraculously).
I strongly believe that Jesus thought He was the Son of God (whcih would mean he was a liar, a lunatic, or the Son of God!). He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO one comes to the Father but by me." He also said he was the "bread of life" and the "living water" among other things, and called himself "I Am" and called God "Abba Father."
The thing that really breaks my heart here is, what do you mean when you say "my salvation?" That's what I would really like to talk to you about.
I guess that's enough for now. Oh, and why don't you believe in Hell? Just curious on that one. I've spent hours and hours conversing on that with folks before, too. I didn't believe in it, either. Now I do, and it makes me want to crap my pants sometimes.
Seriously, though, I wanted to say those things, but mostly to invite you to email me (or Bubba, who's more articulate than me and knows more) about any of this.
I pray for you a lot, because I love you.
Oh, and one more thing. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, but I'v been ashamed of many Christians and churches.
OK, I think I can try to answer some of this, at least from my point of view:
Trinity: I'm sure God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus exist (or existed), but I don't think they are the same person. At one point, the Bible tells us there is no other god but God, then later says there are two others who are equal to God? It makes no sense to me, and seems almost insulting to God Himself. Either we have one God who is apart from and higher than the Holy Spirit and Jesus, or we have three. I admit that part of that is JW teaching and the other part may be the math geek who keeps getting stuck on the numbers.
Son of God: I read a book in college about Jesus being a prophet, but not the Son of God. I remember when reading it that I agreed with some points, but not all. I couldn't reconcile that Jesus was just a prophet, yet still believe he had died for me. Earlier this year, I read a book called, "Misquoting Jesus" (I had seen the author on the Daily Show) and he had a section in the book about proto-Christian beliefs and the Ebionites. That's when things kind of clicked for me.
See, I thought that if Jesus thought he was the Son of God, that was enough for me. Then I discovered that there was a group who saw Christ as a flesh-and-blood person who was "adopted" by God at his baptism. When God announced this was His son, Jesus took it to heart and felt he must do these things as he had been called to do them.
Now, by proto-Christian, I mean the period between Christ's death and the third century, when our scripture and modern Christian practice began to take shape.
Anyway, I was glad to find that I wasn't the only one who had come to that interpretation on my own. It doesn't make me orthodox in any way, and sounds rather heretical to some, but it's the way I see it.
Bible: I don't see it as living and active. I see it as a collection of guidelines and stories. Again, after reading "Misquoting Jesus", the examples given for changes to the text and some of the contradictions within the Gospels themselves answered a lot of the questions I used to ask the Elders--why was Jesus mad in this version but not in this one? Why does Paul contradict himself on a woman's place? THe changes were made in response to one groups' feelings on society as an attempt to enforce that point of view. In my mind, the Bible may have been inspired by God, but has been corrupted by man, and it makes me sad when I see yahoos like the Phelps family twist the words into something so unbelievably filled with hate.
Salvation: I had a salvation experience at G-town Baptist, was baptised, and accepted Christ. It's murky to me now with the years. I wondered for a long time if it were all for naught, but I've decided since that I asked for grace and was given it freely, that I try to be a good person, that I do have God's love and that my salvation is still valid.
Hell: I don't believe in it. Never did. The JW kids' book used to have pictures of the inside of the Earth with the molten magna and tortured souls ruled over by Satan, and I was told this is what I was avoiding my being a good Witness. Then I got older, realized no one could (or did) live down there and resented the scare tactic and the lie.
I think the scariest thing to us today as a species capable of rational thought is the idea of nothingness--we can't comprehend infinity, the vastness of space, or the idea that someday for us it all ends and there's just...nothing. To me, that's much scarier than Hell.
I have heard a description of Hell as a separation from God for all eternity, hence the nothingness you dread.I often think it is impossible for our "man mind" to comprehend all the things of God, the Trinity, Heaven, Hell, salvation. We have to eventually say, like Paul, that someday we'll understand it. Right now we are children, and we think as children. But the older we get, the more we realize that despite our doubts and fears, God is still with us and never leaves us, the closer we will be to seeing things the way they really are.
I think it is very important that CJ, who is a child, be raised with Bible stories and good Bible teaching. Eventually he will wrestle with religion and what he thinks is right. But right now, it is important that he have a base from which to START thinking.
Find a church with a strong children's department. Take CJ there, and stay yourself for Bible study and worship services. This won't in any way hurt CJ, especially now, at his age. He needs to know that God and the people of God love him, just like they love Mommy and Daddy. If you find you are having trouble with locating a church that suits you, don't quit trying and quit going. Just keep looking. Every week, every Sunday. Your mama was right about that--take your child to church, despite his/her protests. God is an important part of our lives. And we love you.
Becca: I read this last comment, and was standing in the kitchen, pondering the Jesus adoption story, when I reemembered that Jesus referred to the temple as his father's house when he was twelve years old. I think he was baptized when he was about 30. (I think always go to my kitchen for pondering. God answers lots of my prayers there, very quickly.)
God does answer prayers. That is one way we know He exists and cares about us. He answers them in so many different ways. I found He speaks to me most often through the scriptures. I've taken to reading my Bible with a pencil in my hand, and underlining verses that I think are important. It surprises me where they will pop up! Your turn now.
I didn't need to say all that on your blog. Sorry. :-) I really appreciate how open you are. You're wonderful. :-)
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