I, too, was raised in that religion and didn't realize what it really was until I hit 30. Rapidly that house of cards collapsed and I walked away into the real world, not knowing much about it due to the 'sheltering' you mentioned. But thirteen years later I can say that waking up at the red-pill-blue-pill moment was the best thing that ever happened to me. Of course, my family disowned me in a very public way, as they are taught to handle apostate situations. The family of real friends that populate my life now are of much higher quality and without the trappings of cultish thinking and judgments.
Anyway, I hope you were able to move on and find happiness. I love to hear stories about survivors of the Watchtower who made the most of what was left of their lives.
Who'd of thought that a tale about a cat's incorporation into a home could be that interesting? There is a great style and flow to your wordcraft that elevates your work among the vast throng that is Writing.com, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Nice dialogue, too. I tend to judge stories more on dialogue than on narrative; it's a quick measure of a writer as to their true knack, in my opinion. Yours was dialogue that MUST have been spoken as you penned it (or it least in subsequent drafts) to achieve just the right inflection and phraseology to pass as authentic conversation. For it, you sincerely made me care about Misty and the gang.
I also loved how you portrayed their view of humans and their place in a cat's world. And I liked how you introduced Jack, how his personality came across, how his life was markedly different than Misty's because of his willingness to venture out, how their relationship evolved, etc. And for the icing on the cake: FPT. Priceless! What a twist. And to think that they really do have nine lives...
You have a very real talent. Keep up the good work!
Very well written. And the question is indeed one that haunted my mind over the past years. Your arguments are sound, and should they be presented in alone in a vacuum, I would cave to their logic. Though I would probably diverge from your point of view in two key areas.
First, that God is beyond empirical proof. It comes off as a very convenient method of overstepping powerful lines of logical argument that God exists only in our minds. When we begin to place concepts outside the need to prove their existence, debate stops and dogman sets in. As I have come to despise dogma, this point is a tough one to get over. I do feel that God can be empirically proven, it just hasn't happened in our lifetime. Maybe it never will.
Second, that thought is beyond Nature. To me, science has proven that thought is merely the result of the electrical and chemical inner-workings of our amazing brains (which stand out as very unique among Earth's creation). To date, I do not think thought is divine, though I am open to discussion.
As I was raised to believe in God, and still do by the way, I never truly questioned His existence growing up. I had no reason to. But one day I did delve into the subject of God and all that makes Him real to me, and a question popped into my head: How did God get here?
I realize this is not a new question. But I had always used the tack of "Look at a house and its design. Who would think it got there by accident, by the chance jumbling up of its respective pieces and dropping them on site? No one. And yet the Earth and human beings are so much more complicated. Therefor, we must have a designer as the house has a designer."
That argument is quite sound until you take it one step back. Who designed God? If we use the logic that because something is complex it MUST have a designer, then we necessarily have to use the same logic that the One who made all the things (including us) is infinitely more complex and therefor MUST also have a designer. If we say that God has always been, we are making what is termed 'a leap of faith', since that assumption will always safely remain beyond the realm of proof.
So we must ask: What is more reasonable, that out of nothing came this powerful god or out of nothing came everything we see? If we, as complex intelligent beings, must have a creator, shouldn't God, Himself a complex intelligent being, have a creator as well?
In the end, faith (to me) is the only satisfying answer. And not faith in a dogmatic religious sense, as I am no longer religious. It is due to faith alone (not reason or logic) that any of us believe in God. Faith that there is more to life than our eighty years. Faith that our lives fulfill a purpose.
That's how I've come to grips with it, anyway. But you crafted a great piece on a subject that brings many of our passions to the surface.
Thanks.
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