Toss overboard >:(

[Jarl Bobson]

Bieng raised as an AK, what is "TRUTH"?

What I fear more than GOD, is those that Speak For GOD.

[al Hartman]

Hi Jarl & welcome aboard.

Bieng raised as an AK, what is "TRUTH"?

Your being brought up as an AK naturally raises that question, especially in the atmosphere of today's pop one-size-fits-all pseudo philosophies.  It is popular to teach that all roads lead to the same conclusion/destination.  The truth is:  The truth IS.  Whatever you or I may choose to believe will not change reality.  Lots of people want to believe that there are many "realities," but that doesn't make it so.  Deep down, we all know or sense that Truth is absolute and unalterable, and it scares us to death, so we make up "alternatives."  The reality remains, however, that Truth is the only absolute, and that all other ways lead to falsehood & deception.

What I fear more than GOD, is those that Speak For GOD.

It's important to realize that your fear is a very common, and not unreasonable fear.  Anyone with any kind of extreme religious background may feel the same way, and many with unreligious pasts share the same fear, based upon the religious excesses they have witnessed around them & throughout world history.  Years ago, I told my college poli-sci professor that I believed the only right form of government is theocracy.  He was horrified.  What I meant was a world in which the living God was enthroned and ruling-- what he heard (because of his training and perspective) was that I was in favor of a government run by "priests" who claimed to know what God wants & demanding that everyone else produce it (much like the assembly).
Your title for this thread, "Toss overboard," is intriguing-- what exactly does it mean?

al

[Elizabeth H]

Hi Jarl.

Your post is truth. Your experience as an AK is truth. As children born into this system, we were fed since infancy a "truth" that was held up as The Truth. Now our task is to sort through what was of man and what was of God. It is a task you might be working on for many years. Sometimes you might need to take a break and not think about it for awhile. Other times you might need to come back and try to untwist those knots again.

It's Ok to not have it all figured out. It's Ok to be angry and frustrated. We were robbed. It takes time to get over that.

There is, however, hope. It is up to you to find where that hope lies.

One of the questions I ask myself is: was there any experience, any thought, any situation where I truly believed I had found God? If you can answer yes to just one of those, cling to it. And then ask for more.

At least, that's what has helped me. Your journey may be far different.... but know that you are not alone.

E.

[Oscar]

Bieng raised as an AK, what is "TRUTH"?

What I fear more than GOD, is those that Speak For GOD.

Jarl,

A reasonable definition of "truth" would be: "Statements that correspond to what is real." 

Just remember that it we have to address the issues of "what is true?" one issue at a time.  We all have to do this.  Some of us did it while in the assembly system, and left.  Others have had to do it after the collapse of the system.  But asking such questions is very important.

We are not, however, alone.  Christians have been dealing with these issues for 20 centuries now, and have worked out very good answers.  Where to look for answers depends on the specific question.

Blessings,

Thomas Maddux