Paying someone to help my dad out with religion

[garbonzo607]

While it is well known at this site i am an atheist I see no reason generally to proselytize atheism, and A Trip, you my friend are a trip. I know you are religious and I respect that simply because it's your right and you seem to be somewhat less than fundamentalist but seriously Trip, there are religions and their are religions. Jehovah's Witnesses are not exactly a live and let live type group. I would say they are every bit a cult by any definition of the word, in fact i would say an extremist cult.

 

Every last one of them I've spoken to that got away from them described it as "escaping" They actively seek to not only convert you, visit my house almost any Saturday morning, they pursue apostates vigorously and demand their members do not associate with apostates or any unbelievers or as they put it anyone not in the "Truth" and do their best to make it impossible to leave. They demand you cut everyone out of your life who is not JW, this makes it ever more difficult to get out since all your "friends" and "family" and possible support outside JW do not exist.

 

I honestly have no tolerance for them or their "beliefs" what so ever... They are creationists and believe every word of the bible is absolute truth.. but they decide on what those words actually mean.

 

I know it's anecdotal but I have heard some horror stories from apostates that make you want to call the police when they show up at your door.

 

Jehovah Witnesses are a danger to modern society in my estimation, in some ways a bit like Mormons and Scientology mixed together...

 

More on topic, all you can do is provide your dad with the information, extremist religions have a real hold over their members, brain washing is difficult to over come, he is your dad, be kind, but be who you are not what others want you to be... and as Trip said, let your Dad be who he is, it's sad he can't let you be who you are but that is the way of many religions and especially the Jehovah's Witnesses...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses

 

You have Jehovah's Witnesses defined for the most part.

 

He told me that he would rather truth and be miserable for the rest of his life than be living a lie and be happy. I don't want to force him to do anything, only give him the tools to do it himself.

[Exabyte]

The problem of "cult religions" like you call them or sects as I would call them is, that they are not just stupid believers who could not harm anyone, but they can be really dangerous.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, so far I've heard, are a real dangerous problem because they are looking so peaceful and innocent that you would never guess that they are systematically abusing children, brainwashing people and making money from it.

I don't want to offend anyone here, and my point of view is very tied to the the the Jehovah's Witnesses at my country and the ones I've made, so I can't say it in general; but, I would take Mikes problem very serious and I would suggest you, that you get in contact with some kind of sect commissioner in your region and he/she will hopefully guide you to some special psychologists who know how to handle that. Because this is nothing you can handle alone, and this is also nothing which goes under freedom of religion or anything else.

 

I know that this is a fairly old thread, but I thought I might just add some information.

 

I am currently living in a Jehovah's Witness family. I, myself, am an atheist (closeted). I can't tell anyone (except school friends and people outside of the religion) about my beliefs, as I'd be excommunicated by my entire family (literally everyone in my family is one of them, including my grandparents and great-grandparents) and end up on the street. As soon as I graduate high school and go to university I'll be free.

 

They get mad at me for focusing on school work, as they think that I should be focusing on the religion. In fact, my parents removed me from my previous school because they felt that it was having a 'bad' effect on me (in reality, the school was simply motivating me to work hard, as it was an academically talented school). This didn't affect my grades (I was able to maintain straight A's through hard work), but it certainly affected my overall happiness, as I had to leave many good friends.

 

I'm unable to express any opinion that I may have.

 

They pester me daily about pursuing higher education, which they view as coming from 'satan.'

 

I'm forbidden from making 'close' friends, as they would say (I honestly ignore this and have quite a few good friends, but I can't text them, or go out with them).

 

The JW's view the scriptures in any way that will aid their agenda of converting people. They cover-up information, lie, manipulate and so forth.

 

If anyone here believes that this is an innocent religion, I beg to differ. This is a dangerous cult that is currently, ruining many lives.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Exabyte

[Ophiolite]

Thank you for posting that.I wish you well in your program of escape. It sounds like you have the motivation and the mindset to make it.

[koti]

Exabyte, thank you for posting this. You sound very wise for your age (any age in fact) so I am confident that you will be more than ok in your future life. With your wise attitude you might even keep some of the relationships with your family in the future. Stay strong man.

[Tampitump]

There's a quote by Danel Dennett that goes, "there's no polite way to tell someone they've committed their life to a folly." I think this is definitely true. Religion is one of the only subjects wherein criticizing it can lead to hard feelings and sometimes severed relationships (or even violence in some cases). People are usually fine with someone criticizing their beliefs on virtually anything else. Religion is usually held in special regard from other beliefs. It sucks, it is a needless ill on the human species, it is a detriment to human flourishing and progress, and I wish there were something that could be done about this, but there isn't much. I firmly believe that atheists should support the idea of being tolerant of the beliefs of others and not use coercive methods to force beliefs on people (or out of people). We'll let the religious fundamentalists handle that kind of ridiculous behavior and keep the moral high ground. Having said this, things are getting better on that front.

 

There are many great people out there fighting this fight of ideas like Dawkins and others. The world has changed alot since many of these prominent atheists starting writing their books, and since atheism started becoming more known and recognized. We are seeing the world enter the beginning stages of shedding religion I think. Its not going to be a smooth transition. There will be pushback for quite some time. But I believe in the next 100-200 years we will see a world wherein far fewer people are religious, and those who are are still secular and liberal

 

I understand how hard it is being an atheist and freethinker whilst being surrounded by religious people. I live in the south and EVERYONE is Christian. The only atheists I know are one high school friend who is now moved away, and my brother in law who is from Chicago (and I'm the only one who knows he's an atheist). It sucks, I know. Its a crying shame that the people who think and speak reasonably have to watch what they say and how they act around the people with delusions who believe in the adult version of Santa Claus. The only thing we can do is start coming out of our closets, declaring ourselves as proud atheists, and ending the stigmas and negativity (like most other minorities had to do at some point).

 

I know this probably wasn't much help for you and your situation. I hope maybe some day you and your dad can sit down and have a good discussion about these things. If not, don't worry about it so much. Just live your life. My parents and everyone I know are all religious too. I came out as atheist, I have no problems letting people know this, and if they have a problem with it, that's their own ignorance and bigotry.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Tampitump

[Exabyte]

Exabyte, thank you for posting this. You sound very wise for your age (any age in fact) so I am confident that you will be more than ok in your future life. With your wise attitude you might even keep some of the relationships with your family in the future. Stay strong man.

 

 

Thank you for posting that.I wish you well in your program of escape. It sounds like you have the motivation and the mindset to make it.

 

Thank you so much, Ophiolite and Koti for your encouragement. It really does mean a lot to me.