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20 Spiritual Questions and Answers—Belief After Jehovah’s Witnesses

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Transcript for OnionUnlimited podcast episode 027

IN THE FOLLOWING POST, I’m going to attempt to answer 20 of the most common spiritual questions I’ve been asked since leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  1. Do I still believe in Jehovah? No. I don’t think Jehovah exists. I think he was a man-made deity, probably originated by the Canaanites and inherited by the Israelites. If he was real, which he’s not, he would be a pretty unhinged character, and certainly not someone I would want to worship.
  1. Do I believe in God? No. Not in the traditional sense of a personal almighty being sitting on a heavenly throne demanding worship.
  1. Am I an Atheist? Up until this week, I would have said no, but someone pointed out that if I don’t believe in an actual God then, by definition, I am an atheist. I’m actually a Pandeist, but in many respects, my day-to-day life is not much different to that of an Atheist (see below).
  1. Do I believe in a creator? Yes, sort of. I believe in an eternal, unchangeable, creative Source from which all reality including what we experience as space and time arises.
  1. Do I believe Source requires worship? No. I think Source is completely indifferent to such things.
  1. Do I believe in religion? No, I think it’s man-made. I think it’s unnecessary at best, and harmful at worst. I do, however, believe in personal spirituality.
  1. Do I believe in Jesus? Yes.
  1. Do I believe all the claims about Jesus? No.
  1. Am I a Christian? I class myself as somewhat of a follower of Jesus, but not in the traditional full-on Christian sense. I certainly respect Jesus, and I subscribe to many of his teachings (for example, the Golden Rule). I don’t think much of the apostle Paul’s model of Christianity which I believe was just another man-made religion, rather than a spiritual experience. I don’t think Christianity as it is is anything like what Jesus intended.
  1. Do I believe Jesus is God? No, because I don’t believe in God. I do, however, believe Jesus was a fragmented instance of Source, just as we all are, and that he attained to a high level of spiritual awakening. I would say the same about Buddha and other spiritual Masters.
  1. Do I believe Jesus was resurrected from the dead? I believe his essence survived death, just as we all do, but not in the traditional Christian, BIblical sense of resurrection. 
  1. Do I believe in life after death? Yes. I believe our desirable experiences return to Source and are assimilated by it, and the not-so-desirable ones are simply left to dissipate into the ether as bad frequencies.
  1. Do I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God? No, because I don’t believe in God, but I do believe parts of it were written by spiritually enlightened people and that it contains some Universal truths of benefit.
  1. Do I go to church? No.
  1. Do I have any spiritual rituals? No.
  1. How do I express my spirituality? Through creativity and loving other people.
  1. Do I believe in Armageddon? No.
  1. Do I believe in a future paradise earth? No.
  2. Do I feel the need to convert other people to my spiritual views? No.
  3. Do I think I would ever return to Jehovah’s Witnesses? Absolutely bloody not!

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