Do Jehovah witnesses exploit the most vulnerable in society?

by Blind_Of_Lies 37 Replies latest jw friends

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  thetrueone

  I think the mentally venerable would be a little more accurate, such as people who are going through some stress or strenuous problem

  in their life, such as a divorce, a death of a loved one, a poor annihilating social life, even the naivety of youth who are so more

  open minded to things. Of course there are also ones who are suffering from a true medical mental disorder such as paranoid schizophrenia and alike.

  Human psychology is varied and precarious as the open seas, so the answer to the posed question would be yes.
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  dgp

  One could perhaps play the Watcthwower's advocate and say that people who are positive and uplooking will be less receptive to the so-called truth, and, also, that those who join the Watchtower "perceive" they have been helped with their problems. But, that would be a lie. All cults exploit weaknesses. They know they would not be accepted if they did otherwise.
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  av8orntexas

  I agree they'll take anybody.

  But those who are having a hard time in life; Sickness,financial problems,jobless,any problems.......

  Those who are already in a position of dire need and looking for something positive...well boy do we have something for you ! The JW's may fill the need for comfort. If life is REALLY bad, paradise and living forvever sound great. Especially if you don't have the means or support to weather whatever issues you may be having. My mom blew off my aunt ( who has been a witness since before I was born ) and JW's for YEARS. My mom had a great job,would go to Atlantic City ( before I came along ) traveled. Even after divorcing my dad,my mom blew the witnesses off.

  But when she encountered problems with my stepdad,they sucked her right in and played on that.

  They aren't interested in helping you with your problems. Its how can I use your issues for selfish gain to recruit you.
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  life is to short

  We had one brother that an elder studied with, he was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was totally loved bombed until he got baptized then he was expected to produce and get out in service which was just too much for him with his mental state.

  As long as he was on his meds he was fine though a little standoffish and something was kind of scary about him to me like you really did not want to tick him off. He even got married to a sister who had her own problems though she was not really mentally ill like he was.

  Well and year and a half ago he went crazy during Halloween and decided to try to kill the children going trick or treating, not a good thing. There was a police standoff, etc it was on the news and in the paper. The whole hall got mad at him because he got off his meds and blamed him. It was so sad and crazy as the religion made him who he was. He was upset about Halloween because of all the garbage he was being feed at the meetings about Satan and it was just too much for his mind to handle and at that point he was getting no true support from the brothers.

  The elder who studied with him after he got baptized dropped him like a hot rock. Here this elder was at his home two times a week, took him places showed a ton of interest in him, he was even on an assembly part with this elder, the elder bragging about how great a study he was and how much progress he was making etc, but once he got baptized it was like 'see you, you're on your own now. I have a job, a wife and I am busy being an elder and I do not have time for you now.' I mean you just cannot do to someone who is normal much less to the mentally ill. Plus the elder was an attorney and I am sure the schizophrenic was one over by that. An attorney showing an interest in him much less an elder. It was just so sad how it all ended.

  There is another sister in the hall who is totally bat #$#% crazy. For years the elders did not know what to do with her until this really nice older couple moved in. They have time on their hands, so the local elders gave this sister to this couple to help, in some ways it was good as this couple have adopted her as a sort of daughter, they have helped to bath and clean up and not fall asleep at the meetings but she is still so very, very, very crazy. She is going to pioneer next month, yeh, a crazy mentally ill person going door to door, that will be a great witness for Jehovah's name. I am being snide as I have had to deal with this most of my life.

  When my husband was an elder he always felt sorry for the crazies and most of the other elder ran and I mean they would walk fast in the hall away from the truly mentally ill but my husband would give them is time and listen to them. In some ways it was good but it drove me nuts because they wanted to work with us in field service. The other elders would put all the nut cases in our car, some of them smelled so horrible, some heard voices, etc.

  Every hall I have been in, including when we were at Bethel had more than their fair share of mental illness. There were meetings and days in field service that I would go home and just be so wiped out from spending the day with them and they I would feel bad because I knew they needed help but I did not have the skills to truly help them and gooing DTD is not cutting it in helping them.

  So from what I have seen the religion is really full of mental illness and I truly think it makes people mentally ill with depression.

  ITS
• 

  watson

  I propose that most in the congregations are "handicapped" in one way or other...certainly disabled.

  Don't forget the the "brothers" back east teach and train the "friends" to be patient with "worldly" prospects, to watch for a time when tragedy hits so that their hearts will be softened, more receptive to "the message".
• 

  PaintedToeNail

  I never, ever thought about how JW's target people with problems, but blondie and the others are right! How many meeting did I sit through where they were 'teaching' how to approach someone with a problem such as: illness or death in the family, job loss, family problems. I've always wondered why there were so many needy people at the Hall, but somehow this thought alluded me, probably because I was doing everything to get out of going in service, as it was never the joyful experience the org. said it was.

  My mom was definitely a target: she lived through a war-torn european country in WWII, both parents died when she was a young, she was placed in an exploitive guardianship situation. She married an American GI and moved half a world away, knowing very little English, with small kids in tow. Prone to anxiety problems due to her early life esperiences. When someone called at her door-she was ripe for the picking.
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  Scarred for life

  My mother's whole family became involved with the JWs in 1952. My mother's brother had been killed in WWII in 1945. Then my mother's father and breadwinner for the family began having worsening mental illness evenutally becoming psychotic, paranoid and a threat to all around him. He had to be sent to the state mental hospital in 1948. All this resulted in the family being financially devastated with no way to make a living for my grandmother and her girls that were still living at home. My mother's brother who should have "taken over" the farm and try to earn a living for the family got married had 3 children very quickly but he went right on drinking and carousing and womanizing until his wife left never to be seen again. This added 3 babies for my grandmother to care for. I actually could go on................. But obviousl. they were ripe for picking by the JWs. It's not anything new that they attract the vulnerable and the damaged.
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  Band on the Run

  People with problems are more vulnerable to the nice treatment from all religions. I've noticed that many groups have mentally ill pets. If I believed they were treated as full and regular members, I would say bravo, this is the Jesus method. After my physical illness, I started going to church again as rehab. My career had been flourishing. I was at the pinnacle of my profession. My honors and resume were full. Half the parish treated me as an equal and half treated me as their disability pet. The pet business drove me crazy with absolute fury. I knew my Bible and theology better than they did. As an Episcopalian, I had worshipped at world famous churches and knew many church leaders on a personal basis. Suddently, I was thrown with middle class people.

  They were nice, pleasant but not extraordinary. I was used to a NY edge (which has its pluses and minuses). When someone who attended a state college with a beauratic job talked down to me, I had fantasies of stabbing them with a knife, while I acknowledged they intended no intentional slight. I was used to being in the upper classes. Half the parish considered me competent with a NY world view. They appreciated the diversity I brought. Many commented to me how my comments were so thougtful. Others thought I should wash dishes after events.

  I chose not to attend church than be a pet with a cute collar. My new church is more upscale and so far I am not a pet. Social welfare agencies tend to treat clients as pets. The staff would not be considered mainstream middle class yet they feel better by looking down on clients. It is very strange for me with my background. I read disability literature and others describe what I found.

  Compared to God, we are all lacking. Many mental patients are not well educated b/c of the early onset. When I hear stories, though, I see very profound stories of bravery and courage. The church should reach out to the mentally disabled as part of its mission. They should be treated as full members of the church, not pets. Most do not need the attention they seek. When you cater to someone b/c they are ill, you enable them. It is not innocent. Such people satisfy diseased traits within themselves. I prize intelligence and sophistication highly. It is a false value in a Christian congregation. I believe people treating them neutrally, with no special allowances, would be the most therapeutic. There is a culture of dependency currently b/c dependent people require help. Mediocre staff make money. Large companies make money. It is a growth industry. Other cultures integrate the mentally ill.

  If they are completely able to conform their conduct, they should not be in a KH or church. If they can, allowing them to get away with murder is patronizing and not Christian.
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  Blind_Of_Lies

  baltar447- That is exactly what I am talking about. They may have veered away from targeting the mentally ill in years past, but the numbers are down so its time to dip into the emergency fund...
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  ziddina

  "...So was that WT,articles about mentally ill people coming into the "truth", frequently. Eventually the WT realized that maybe it wasn't something to boast about, as they were more or less confessing to a religion chock full of the mentally ill. (Not a good look). So they stopped putting these embarrassing articles in the WT. ..." Leeca

  Leeca, WELCOME TO THE BOARD!!!

  And thanks for posting that.

  Does anyone have a copy of that magazine or article[s]? Please scan and post it, if you do!!