One of the characteristics of a cult is deceptive recruting practices. I would like to ask some specific questions about the accuracy of information that I have gathered thus far.

1) How much do the JWs stress on the usage of theocratic warfare
in the field service?

2) Are the JWs given specific instances of doctrines and practices
unique to them that they are supposed to hide from potential converts?

jerome

[typos i before e etc...]

The Bible is a two edged sword wield it for evil and there may be hell to pay.

Come on...

No replys and these question are so easy?

Ok thanks for that reply.

but what aabout the first question? I've asked that very same question many times before but i never got an anwser.

jerome

jerome,Now, that is a very good question. The answer is somewhere between "not very much" and "not at all."

Fact is, growing up a JW, I had never even heard the term before I learned it from opponents some time before I left the movement. Anticultists do, in my opinion, grossly oversell the term "thecratic war strategy" in anti-WTS propaganda. It is simply not true that there are instructions to rank & file JWs to deceive or lie in the 'preaching work.' That some outsiders are left with this impression from reading anti-WT material is IMO very unfortunate.

The simplistic argumentation does not take into account the complexity of the process that makes a convert into a 'publisher' who is willing to give outsiders a grossly distorted picture of the organisation. JWs learn by examples, and they learn by trial and error. WT literature typically tells a tale that may be technically true, but grossly misleading. JWs learn from this example, and practice the same form of deception. Sometimes JW spokesmen tells outright lies. True believers rationalize this dishonesty in various ways, and then they follow up the examples of their superiours.

One example. When I met with objections against the shunning policy in 'field service', and somebody told me that JWs were not even allowed to talk to close relatives that were disfellowshipped, I rebuttted this by pointing out that my own mother was DFd, and yet I had steady contact with her. This was totally true. What I omitted was the fact that I hereby violated official WT policy, and that I had met some criticism from other JWs for this. Yet, when I employed this tactic in field service, I was praised for being able to use such a good argument. So I learned to deceive.

Another example. JWs don't like to be asked if they believe that only they will be saved. The question is dodged by saying that 'god is the judge' or something along those lines, or it can be answered by saying JWs believe that millions of non-JWs will be saved. True, since it refers to those who will be resurrected, but grossly misleading since it doesn't answer what the questioner really wanted to know.

The JW organization is a massive sales organization. Rutherford organized it like a business, not a church. It is typical for salesmen to 'put their best foot forward' as the saying goes, and this includes being economical with inconvenient truths. JWs do the same. The community rewards success, and it does not punish success if it is achieved through less-than-honest methods. Thus, the JW sales force has an incentive to be dishonest, and they generally are.

The term 'theocratic war strategy' really is an offical, if rarely used, WTS expression. One can speculate that it was coined by the topmost leadership, who were able to see they were actually deceptive in many cases, as a rationalization and justification for lying. I doubt there has ever been a meeting in any Kingdom Hall anywhere where an elder has explicitly encouraged deception and lies, using this expression. On the contrary, JWs are somehow convinced through a massive dose of doublethink that even when they are dishonest, they are telling 'the Truth'.

- Jan
--
- "How do you write women so well?" - "I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability." (Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets")

I think most JWs are aware that some of their doctrines could be viewed negatively by the public so these are often reserved for discussion out of the public eye AFTER an individual has made a measure of progress.

JWs logically tend to build confidence in themselves and what they teach by showing new ones things that appear to have been hidden from people such as God's name being "Jehovah" etc. After having slowly built up confidence in themselves and a measure of trust it is easier for the newly interested one to accept less palatable doctrines.

Probably the biggest thing that is hidden from new ones is the lack of love and the problems that exists among members in congregations. This is usually out of a desire not to "stumble" a new person with negativity and these new ones are usually love bombed as well which tends to give a false picture of JW life.

I don't think many JWs would admit there is an organized effort to deceive but they have been influenced to make themselves look more problem free than they actually are and things are certainly hidden from new ones for them to experience the hard way after much time has been invested in this religion.

Path

lol.. Obviously you were never a JW

Basically you throw a bunch of people in a self-righteous and competive environment governed by endless amounts of rules and politics and you are bound to have problems. Personalities conflicts are common and the local authority (elders) in the congregations are often uneducated and incompetent men who seem to make endless blunders. Since JW life is all most people know, they tend to gossip about each other's affairs and this adds to the tension. An environment where people tend to be critical and suspicious of each other exists.

It seems the closer you are to the "inner circle" in a congregation, the more you are affected by these things. I think these things are just an unfortunate by product of this confined and isolated and controlling organization.

Path

I can say that my JW friend certainly gave a bang up version of "theocratic warfare" without using the term itself. When I was questioning him about the United nations ordeal, he described the act of not telling information to people who they deem are unworthy to receive it. At no point in our conversation did he say "theocratic warfare strategy" but without a doubt he knew exactly what it was and was more than happy to refer to it in a positive way. My friend is a "lifer" raised in it and he mostly spends his time trying to fly below the radar. He's completely "in" mentally, but I wouldn't say that he's invested much time in really pursuing the arguments or reasoning outside of accepting the most superficial version of Watchtowerese. I think this is important to mention because I would not consider him a savvy apologist along the lines of a YouKnow. In other words, joe Schmo witness may not know the terminology but they sure can throw out this defense at the drop of a hat.

So, while the term might not be common among the witnesses, I believe the concept is very, very familiar to them.

"The problem that I have with theocratic warfare is who decides exactly is deserving of the truth?"

If you are not a baptized witness, you don't deserve the truth.. After all, you are still attached to Satan, and haven't given yourself to Jehovah (or more accuratly 'his' organization) yet...

It also depends on the individual witness, and where the witness thinks how far along you are in the indoctrination process.. (Are you ready for 'solid' food yet or are you still at the 'milk' phase)?

The more 'solid' food you can digest the more likely you are to be told the real truth...

Jerome,

Do you remember when you posted your account of two JW women talking to you? You said that they lied to you on several occasions. They didn't think they told lies. They thought they were using "tact", or "over coming objections", or they were being evasive so they could get to a point they wanted to prove. This is an automatic process that is learned over years of field service. It is not a conscious, overt attempt to lie. As JanH pointed out, this is a complex, long term process of enculturation.

They definitely do lie by omission, and one big lie that I was given comes to mind. They told me that I could leave the religion any time I wanted, of my own free will. What they DIDN'T tell me was that if I did, I'd be labeled as an apostate, shunned, and basically regarded as the spawn of Satan. I didn't find that out until after I was baptized.

*Rochelle.

---------
"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
-- Professor Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.