Take Back Your Life: Chapter 5: Characteristics of a Cult Leader

by Lady Lee 12 Replies latest members private

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  VM44

  Rutherford did have a god-complex, a sense of being chosen by God.

  Ruthford's reasoned that as Jehovah was using the Watchtower to transmit truth to the people, and as he was the president of the Watchtower, then Jehovah had selected him directly.

  Rutherford thus believed he was chosen directly by Jehovah himself, who then conveyed spiritual truths to him via the angels.

  And being chosen by God, Rutherford thought it was only just to live like King David, accepting gifts, liqour, Cadillacs, homes(many, Beth Sarim was only the most famous of the residences Rutherford enjoyed)

  Based upon what he wrote, and how he lived, we can safely say that Rutherford was delusional, he really believed what he wrote!

  --VM44
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  DannyHaszard

  What is a Psychopath?

  "Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret. Their bewildered victims desperately ask, 'Who are these people?'"

  We often think of psychopaths as the disturbed criminals who capture headlines and crowd the nation's prisons. But not all psychopaths are killers. They are more likely to be men and women you know who move through life with supreme self-confidence -- but without a conscience.

  "What makes them the way they are? How can we protect ourselves?"

  
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  Lady Lee

  Thanks for the heads up opn the Freeminds scroller Danny

  My step-father was mostly the type of psychopath who exuded charm. He thought he was God's gift to women (and his 2 daughters from his first marriage, his daughter with my mother, my aunt and myself, whom he sexually abused and my mother's sister whom he had a fling with while he lived with my mother). I have always thought of him as a Clark Gable/Rhett Butler type (sort of looked like that too). He always seemed to have women swarming around him. But he could be cruel and abusive and expected everyone to di whatever he wanted. And if the charm didn't win people over he used rage and fear to get control. Not too many people who knew him saw that side of him though. I had never really thought about him as having any sort of psychological problem, at least not a diagnosable one. But while typing out the above I just kept having images of him in my head.

  My psychopathic father, on the other hand, had no charm whatsoever. He was just mean and nasty. My mother's scorecard isn't too great. her third husband was an alcoholic/pedophile - just not the psychopathic kind

  From what I have read about Rutherford I suspect that he may have had some very good persuasion skills to get so many people to follow him. I believe that when he took over the WTS after Russell's death around 2/3 members left. But it sure didn't take Rutherford long to find replacements

  Mouthy/Grace

  I don't know if you have been reading this, and he may have disappeared by the time Sue came into the family, but I would be interested in your impression of him if you ever did meet him. The last time I saw him I was only 12.