by Half banana 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Phizzy - "...Very very deep down they KNOW it is bulls**t, they constantly suffer from Cognitive Dissonance and cannot begin to deal with the thought that their beliefs may be total rubbish..."
I don't know if they "know" it's bullshit, but I'm very certain many are afraid it might be.
Room 215 - "...on a certain level, they're quite aware of the indefensibility of their beliefs, most of which can't hold up against even the most cursory scrutiny..."
Really well put.
Obviously, for all the big mouth talk about how violent ALL Muslims are(because the religion demands it, according to the blather), most don't buy it, they just like the rhetoric - sorry for going off-topic but I have to respond to this piece of nonsense by JWdaughter.
I'm not saying all Muslims are thin-skinned and violent. I don't know anyone who claims this.
But just look at the facts: Charlie Hebdo is an equal opportunities offender that regularly pokes fun at Jesus, Catholics, Jews, politicians, etc. and no staff members were murdered. It poked fun at Muhammad (peas be upon him) and 20 of its staff were gunned down in revenge. Just let that sink in: 20 people were massacred for drawing a cartoon of a religious figure. The gunmen were reported to have said "Allahu Akbar!" and "we've avenged The Prophet!".
We should not lose sight of what is happening in the world, neither should we buy JWdaughter's ridiculous strawman argument - that people are arguing that all Muslims are hypersensitive and violent. But it's obviously a serious problem among Muslims ...
Psychologists say that sensitivity to criticism is symptomatic of an unhealed ‘wound’.
My thought is that perhaps it has to do with not making the healthy transition to adult life. Being “grown up” means making our own decisions and taking personal responsibility for things we choose to do. The opposite situation is found significantly among Jehovah’s Witnesses, JWs exhibit that raw, unthinking dependency on perceived authority which is found characteristically in children. (The NT typically endorses such foolishness to be practised as an adult).
The JW religion supplies both the instructions and a community strictly conforming to that ethos; a whole new ‘family’ ruled by a patriarchal governing body who act as surrogate parents to all JWs both adult and children.
To comply with this social arrangement, spurred on by the dream of an impossibly perfect life in paradise is an offer a child-like mind cannot refuse. A mature adult used to making judgements on testable evidence would instantly bridle at the absurdity of the reward of everlasting life. Just for the moment suppose paradise is possible; what is the cost? To win this prize you must relinquish your self determination, limit your thinking and also you must hand over your conscience to another party!
@Punkofnice, I’m not so sure that Witnesses are conscious of their delusion in the first place (when I was a JW, I was deluded into thinking that I was not deluded!) but it seems that bubble bursting is absolutely at the heart of the sensitivity. The bubble is the certain belief in the over-inflated hype of the GB and reliance on the sanctity of an ancient set of fables.
Perhaps the JW does have a nagging suspicion that membership satisfactorily covers their private psychological wounds; their inadequacy, abuse, poverty, poor education, ill health, bad parenting or even the inability to stand on one’s own feet.
As WB Yeats said,
(ps my edit omitting the second half of the third paragraph didn't stick)
But here's something from WB Yeats which gets close to the heart of the matter:
"But being poor, I have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
I agree with Punk's assessment too. This is the reason that JWs at the door will not tell you much about their beliefs. They come with a bible and say, 'Let's talk about the bible'. You will find a defensive posture from the beginning. No talk of the Angel Michael being Jesus. No talk of never dying. No talk of previous JW history. Hell, they won't even tell you that they're JWs unless directly asked.
Deeply ingrained religious pride. JWs have been indoctrinated with the head-swelling idea that they alone have the true religion and everyone else is in error and serving satan. They also tend to point scornfully and ridiculingly at all other religions, because of the errors they teach.
So in the JW mind, teaching truth is associated with being the true religion and accusing a religion of teaching falsehood is associated with labeling the religion as false and ridiculing it. They have been conditioned to think this way. So when you point out errors in Watchtower teachings to a JW, in his mind you're treating his religion with the same disdain that they treat other religions - you're accusing his religion of being false and you're ridiculing it.
Another important reason is that JWs are extremely patriotic - idolatrously patriotic - toward their organization. They have been indoctrinated to esteem the JW organization and it's governing body as being as essential to their salvation as faith in the bible and Jesus. To the JW faith in the organization is as important as faith in God. So they equate any criticism of the organization with blasphemy against God and see it as a threat to their spirituality.
To use a sports analogy: JWs are like fanatic supporters of a soccer team(Watchtower organization), who love and idolize the team more than the game itself(worship of God). Tell them you're not a soccer fan and they might be a little disappointed and try to convince you that it's really a great game. But tell them their team isn't all that good and get a good beating.
